Following the deaths of her parents, Hailey McBride has been living with her aunt and uncle in a small community in British Columbia where her uncle is a police officer. Many young women have disappeared from the area and it's believed a serial killer is preying on vulnerable women. Hailey feels bullied by her uncle and goes on the run after discovering pictures on his laptop that make her very uncomfortable.

I read some of Chevy Stevens' previous novels and enjoyed them but I didn't like this book as much. It had a young adult feel to it and seemed to drag on and on with not much happening. I found it very difficult to relate to the characters and really couldn't decide what age they were although it was probably mentioned somewhere. (Towards the end, Beth's age is stated to be 21 which seemed about right but I don't know how old the others were except younger than Beth I thought.) The first part of the story is told from Hailey's point of view, the second part from the point of view of Beth, the sister to one of the dead girls and the third part is told as a kind of combination point of view. I'd rate this book 3.5 stars if I could.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press via Netgalley for the opportunity to read an ARC of this book. All opinions expressed are my own.

|| 𝐁𝐎𝐎𝐊 𝐑𝐄𝐕𝐈𝐄𝐖

Dark Roads
Chevy Stevens
★ ★ ★ ★ ☆

|| 𝐒𝐘𝐍𝐎𝐏𝐒𝐈𝐒:
Women go missing on the cold creek highway. There have been many women found, but so far no one has found the killer. But who is the woman from the prologue? Who is the killer? Will we ever know?

|| 𝐑𝐄𝐀𝐃 𝐈𝐅 𝐘𝐎𝐔 𝐋𝐈𝐊𝐄:
•Mystery/Thriller
•Multiple POVs
•Women trying to survive

|| 𝐌𝐘 𝐓𝐇𝐎𝐔𝐆𝐇𝐓𝐒:
While the story is false it is based on real indigenous women who go missing in Canada. The author traveled such a highway where so many unsolved cases of women going missing have happened. She decided to rewrite the narrative on this story, and give an ending for one of these women. You’ll have to read to find the ending though, but be sure to read the author’s note as well at the end. I also did the audiobook for this and the 3 women narrators did a great job. I felt invested in their lives and what happens to each of them. It does have twisted and dark elements to the story, so be sure to check for trigger warnings. The women in this story represent so many that deserve their story told. I think the author does a great job of discussing her inspiration in her note.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for a copy of this E-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Wow, Chevy Steven's sure knows how to write an edge of your seat dark thriller! I was surprised by the twist, and did not see it coming. While some aspects of the book are a little over the top when it comes to believability, I like that she drew inspiration of the dangers of the highway, and acknowledged how the Highway of Tears inspired her writing. I like that though it's a work of fiction, Dark Roads was able to provide an ending where justice is served.

And I loved Wolf! 🐾

Chevy Stevens is one of my favorite authors, she always, always keeps you guessing until the end. I had been in a little bit of a reading slump lately and this book pulled me right out of it, I read every second that I had the chance, stayed up until I couldn't hold my eyes open a couple nights. If you like twisty, suspenseful books then you will enjoy this (and every one of her other books)

For decades, women have gone missing from or have been found murdered along the fictional Cold Creek Highway, in British Columbia. Five hundred desolate miles of highway where women hitchhikers and drivers with broken down vehicles have been preyed upon and the killer or killers never found. The story begins as we get to experience the brutal death of one of the victims, just another anonymous battered soul to roam the scene of unspeakable violence.

We then meet seventeen year old Hailey, having recently lost her only living parent and now living with her aunt and her despicable, cruel, cop step-uncle, Vaugh. Everyone is scared of Vaugh, as he throws his weight around town and Vaugh has his sights set on Hailey, never letting her have a moment to herself, actively doing his best to instill fear in her that there is nothing she can do or say that he won't know. Hailey longs for the past days with her father, who taught her to love the wilderness and all the survival skills she would ever need, as they had enjoyed time in the wilderness surrounding their town.

Vaugh hates Hailey's longtime friendship with Johnny, her best friend, and her newfound friendship with Amber, a waitress at the local diner. When Hailey finds evidence that Vaugh could be behind a lot of the bad that has gone on in the area, she fears for her life and flees to the hills. Townsfolk think that the serial killer has gotten Hailey although she had just wanted people to think she had run away. But maybe it's better this way, because Hailey thrives on her freedom, with a stray dog she names Wolf, a dog who adopted her and is her savior in so many ways.

A year after Hailey disappears, during which time Amber has been murdered in the manner of so many other young women, Amber's sister, Beth, comes to town, filled with a grief so overpowering that she's dropped out of college and lost her internship. Beth plants herself in the midst of danger, calling attention to herself as the sister of Amber and as someone who is going to ask questions and dig into secrets. It doesn't help that Beth gets through her days and nights by medicating herself with alcohol and prescription meds. There is little to protect her from bad cops and murderous predators.

Wow--what a thriller! Thank you so much for my advanced readers copy! I really enjoyed Hailey and Beth's characters and therr journey in this dark world. Well done.

Young women in Cold Creek know to not travel the highway alone. A killer finds his victims there, and he has never been caught. Hailey knows to avoid the highway, but she also knows how to survive on her own. After her father’s death leaves her living with her aunt and uncle, who restrict her social and work life, she decides to take off. Her disappearance is assumed to be connected to the highway killer. Meanwhile, another young woman, Beth, arrives in town to learn more about her sister’s murder. She gets the same job her sister had, and starts searching for answers. Unfortunately, this draws some unwanted attention to the newcomer, and brings more attention to Hailey’s disappearance.

Dark Roads is told using the alternating points of view of Hailey and Beth. Hailey knows the town and all the locals. Beth is new to Cold Creek, and she’s on a mission to find out what happened to her sister. The characters are complex and relatable. The story is slow-burning and suspenseful. A page-turner for sure.

Dark Roads is a dark and atmospheric thriller. Recommended for fans of Chevy Stevens and crime fiction.

I received a digital copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I thought that the book was interesting but it took quite a long time to get to the good stuff. The last fourth of the book is what I enjoyed the most. I also felt like we were left without some big answers.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for an egalley in exchange for an honest review

I absolutely adore Chevy Stevens books. So it was a no brainer to hit the request button on her latest. I appreciated that her novel sheds a light on a real Canadian situation that has existed in our country since the 1970s. I am speaking of the Highway of Tears in which a large number of First Nations women have gone missing. I do appreciate in Stevens acknowledgments that she decided to make a fictional town and fictional highway out of respect for the families of the victims.

Although I kept on turning the pages and enjoyed the dual narrative of Hailey and Beth, I was disappointed with this one. Dark Roads started with great momentum but I think it was sidelined by fixating on one character for the majority of the storyline that when the great revelation finally hit, I was oh-hum about it all.





Publication Date 03/08/21

Goodreads review published /11/21

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I loved this book. As with all of her books, the characters and story continue to take up residence in your mind long after you finish it. Her writing is beautiful, deeply complex and transportive.
_________________________________

This story is surrounding Cold Creek Highway, which stretches for 500 miles through the wilderness. It is notorious in the region because women have gone missing while driving or hitchhiking on this highway for decades. All of the cases remain unsolved….

HAILEY is broken and grief stricken. Her circumstances force her to disappear….

BETH’S sister, Amber was murdered in Cold Creek last year…

These two paths collide…..

This was a first from this author for me, and it didn't disappoint. What is scarier than a situation that can actually happen? The reality and suspense of this story holds you in it's grasp until the end. At several points I thought I knew the answers, but the twists had me shaking my head. You will continually root for Hailey and Beth and be shocked at the end.

[An aside: In the Afterword of this book, the author tells us that the story is very loosely based on a series of unsolved murders of women and girls along a strip of highway in British Columbia, Canada, a fact that made the story all the more chilling. She also tells us that the victims of those real-life crimes are predominantly First Nation women, a group that we know is exponentially more likely to become victims of crime that any other group in North America. If you've never done any reading on the subject of mortality and missing rates of this group of women, you should consider looking into it. A vastly under-addressed problem.]

This is the third novel by this author I've read and like Tana French, and Jane Harper, she manages to make 'place' as vivid a character as any of the people in her work. In this one, the wilds of the westernmost province in Canada features prominently, along with the rough, rugged and sometimes isolated lifestyle of the people who live in its small towns. It is against this backdrop that a young woman, Hailey, who has just lost her father and only parent has to contend with the unwelcome and uncomfortable attention of her aunt's husband. After becoming convinced that he may be the Cold Creek Highway killer, responsible for the murders of more than two dozen young women along a lonely stretch of road that runs through her town of Cold Creek, Hailey stages her disappearance, with the help of her best friend Jonny. While she is gone, yet another young woman is killed and this time it's someone Hailey had a close personal connection with.

This book was immersive and vivid, especially when the author was writing about the unforgiving terrain and the people who must live on it. I also appreciate the way she writes women. They are almost always troubled and "difficult" but also strong, independent and driven. And while they may be victimized, they are never victims. That pattern holds true in this book perhaps more so than in any of the others I've read. The romance at the center of the novel was also very unique as it was between Hailey and Jonny, best friends who have always been platonic, but whose love and loyalty give the reader as much or more satisfaction as any traditional romance trope could.

If I had one quibble with this book it would be that some of the, I guess one might call them "action scenes" were a little too detailed for my taste (which almost never happens to me, because I love detail) and sometimes read like choreographic detail for a movie rather than necessary texture for a novel. But in the final analysis, the story moved at a satisfying pace, the characters were well fleshed out, and there were a decent share of surprises, even when you might have thought you had the whole thing figured out. And the ending was surprisingly poignant, in a strange way paying meaningful tribute to women who have lost their lives through violence and to those they have left behind.

I recommend this read if you like thrillers that provide unflinching portrayals of the evil that people are capable of.

Audiobook note: I got the audiobook from Netgalley. It was pretty close to perfectly done. Never a false note. I almost felt like I was reading it myself, rather than listening to someone else do so. Excellent narrators.

This was ok!

A huge thank you to St Martins Press for my advanced copy of Dark Roads!

I don't really have too much to say about this one.
Dark Roads is my first Chevy Stevens book.
Three Stars may not be the best rating to some people but it is a good rating for me.
I listened to the audio and I would recommend it if you enjoy listening to books.
I thought Dark Roads was unique and I was invested enough to see how it would end.

Why This Book Lost Stars- I wasn't invested in the characters. For the most part its always Characters over Plot when reading a story. I have to care.

Overall- Dark Roads didn't blow me away but I will definitely give this author another try.

The Cold Creek Highway in British Columbia has been been the site of many vanishing young women over the years. Desolate and remote, it is the perfect spot for a predator to hunt his prey.

Hailey McBride has grown up in the region, and knows the area well. Her father taught her how to understand and respect the wilderness. However, after her father passed away, Hailey goes to live with her aunt, uncle, and cousin. Her uncle, a police officer, is a controlling man who is determined to keep an eye on Hailey at all times. It all starts to become too much for Hailey, and one day she decides to disappear into the mountainous terrain, certain that everyone will assume she is just another victim of foul play.

In the meantime, another young woman, Beth, arrives in town. Beth's sister, Amber, was a close friend of Hailey's, until she disappeared one day. Beth and her parents are desperate to find out what happened to Amber. While Amber was always independent, it is not like her to disappear without any word to her family. Beth takes a job at the diner where Amber used to work, and spends her free time investigating her sister's death.

With Hailey on the run and Beth searching for her sister, will either of them be able to solve the murder of the Cold Creek KIller?

Honestly, this book didn't do it for me. It was about 100 pages too long, and really lacked any sort of excitement or suspense. I struggled to make it through to the end, and found myself not really caring what happened to the characters. My advice....if you are new to Chevy Stevens, check out "Still Missing." You can't go wrong with that novel....amazing!

Thank you Netgalley and publisher for the opportunity to read and review this ARC with my honest feedback.

This is the second book by this author that I've read. I enjoyed the story, kept me engrossed from beginning to end with very little slow points. The characters were mostly well created and believable, it not a tad too atrocious (but hey there's really people that are like this). The setting was well done and I could picture most of it in my head while reading, especially the forest area. Overall I enjoyed the story and would recommend for a quick read, though the content is not light at all.

So, my take on the book having skimmed and skipped parts of the first half of the book. The storyline minus the relationship was well written and was very suspenseful with a crazy twist. I was very surprised at the twist. I probably give her another chance and will check out another book by the author.

I absolutely love Chevy Stevens! This book did not disappoint, The story was suspenseful and twisted with wonderful relatable characters.

A hard one to put down yet sometime I had to just to catch my breath. In Dark Roads, we meet Hailey who lives with her aunt and uncle after her father passes away. Cold Creek Highway is the scene of many disappearances of young women over the years. When Hailey runs away from the uncle who is a major creep and bully, she hides in the woods, hoping to find out who exactly is snatching these young women and leaving them for dead. I thought I had it all figured out....until I didn't. Excellent book.

Hailey, who had been living with her dad in Cold Creek, is traumatized. Her dad died in a car accident and she is living with her aunt Lana, her young cousin and brother-in-law Sgt. Vaughn. Hailey doesn’t like Vaughn, he is a police officer who comes off more as a bully. He is constantly checking on Hailey and telling her to stay off of the Cold Creek Highway. He stands too close to her and makes her feel vulnerable. There are billboards with photos of all of the young women who have gone missing and notices warning young women not to hitchhike or travel the highway alone. The Cold Creek Highway is a long stretch, 500 miles long, through the thick wilderness of British Columbia. Amber is a young woman, estranged from her family working at a local restaurant It’s pretty much the only restaurant in this small town. Amber and Hailey become quite close. When Amber disappears it’s the last straw for Hailey and she decides she has to get out of her aunt’s house! SHE HAS TO BECOME INVISIBLE! The plot started out a bit slowly for me but quickly picked up pace nearing the halfway point. The writer does a great job of getting the reader into the story and holding your breath during some of the scenes where there is a chase or things happening. One year later, a memorial is being held for all of the missing girls and Beth, Amber’s sister, has come to town. Beth decides to stay, gets a job in the same restaurant where her sister worked and is trying to figure out who was responsible for what happened to her Amber. This part of the plot felt a bit weak, it was hard to believe that she would want to REPEAT her sister’s last weeks. There are quite a few memorable characters, most notably Jonny, a young, good looking guy who works with his dad repairing dirt bikes. Vaughn seems to have a vendetta against Jonny. There are some exciting action scenes in the second half which had me holding my breath, hoping for a good outcome. Lots of scenes in the beautiful outdoors, hiking, swimming, etc. The area was well described and I felt immersed in the story.

This is my first book by this author and I am hooked. Chevy Stevens is a fantastic storyteller and in my opinion, this was a terrific read. Well-paced and intense with many engaging characters. One of my favorite characters, a wonderful dog named Wolf. The author's descriptions made it easy to picture this super-smart dog with his different colored eyes. A well-written story filled with plenty of action and suspense, I was gripped from start to finish. I received a copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for a review. My thanks to St. Martin's Press and to Chevy Stevens for the opportunity.

I was completely enthralled with this Thriller!

Great characters – a couple that I absolutely loved and a couple that I absolutely hated. That’s what great writing allows, the ability to love and hate the represented characters.

The story line was interesting with a couple of twists and some unexpected events. I could see this as a movie in my mind. One where I would just turn off all the lights and get lost in the story for 2 hours straight. So good!

I highly recommend this one and the narrators for the audiobook did a wonderful job. 4.5 stars!

Thank you to #StMartinsPress and #NetGalley for making this book available for review. All opinions expressed are my own.

I LOOOVED THIS BOOK. AAAAHHH. God, where do I begin? First of all, I actually listened to the audiobook, and the narrator is *perfect*. The story itself pulled me in so many different directions and it was hard to predict where it would go, which I loved. At times, I would think X, but then it turns out to be something else. The pacing builds up from slow to lightning fast, and it kept me hooked from beginning to end. It's also really atmospheric, to the point where I could almost feel the cold, refreshing mountain air around me. Would definitely recommend this.