"Locust Lane" is riveting. It offers a poignant portrayal of family dynamics and how communities respond to tragedy. The characters are well developed and occasionally shocking. Amidon's writing is usually evocative; he captures the idyllic Boston suburbs. Overall, "Locust Lane" is a must-read for anyone who enjoys contemporary fiction that explores complex relationships and the human experience.
Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

This was a very tense engaging psychological thriller with multiple POVs. I enjoyed it. Thank you Celadon Books for providing me with an advance reader's copy!

A powerful and poignant novel that explores the complexities of family relationships, community expectations, and the true meaning of forgiveness.
Many thanks to Celadon and to NetGalley for providing me with a galley in exchange for my honest opinion.

The minute I read the synopsis to Locust Lane I needed
this book. I feel like it's been awhile since I read a really
good thriller. And this one was a really good thriller.
I read it in maybe 2 days and couldn't put it down. There
was a lot of drama and crazy that happened, which may
have been over the top, but it's exactly what I needed
in my life. I had just read Verity before and was not a
fan. I felt like Stephen did what CoHo wanted to do.

The kind of book you can’t put down. It is so well written, and the mystery and twists and turns had me intrigued and glued to the pages from start to finish. This is an addictive thriller with an ending that you will not see coming.

This book was fast paced and had your attention from the beginning! I loved how the story was told from the adult characters points of view and had me guessing between all of them what was actually going on. If you like a good thriller and a classic who dun it I recommend you read this one. Definitely a great read.

A great whodunnit. Three friends, Jack, Hannah, and Christopher, each come home upset and later a girl is found dead. Doesn’t take too long to figure out that they were with her the night she died. Emerson is an affluent community. Jacks family is on the top of society’s pyramid. Hannah is Jack’s girlfriend. Christopher is the son of an immigrant, albeit the owner of a successful restaurant, but an immigrant nonetheless. Christopher is arrested for the murder. What follows details the intricacies of a small community and highlights wealth and privilege of the small few.

SPOILER ALERT
I’m talking about the ending.

You’ve been warned.


It just…stopped. It didn’t feel like an ending at all. I have questions!! The ONLY reason it’s not getting 5 stars!

Fans of crime fiction will enjoy the small town murder mystery within this gripping read. I loved the multiple POV which added to the suspense of the overall mystery. A excellent written story the really hooked me from the beginning and held my interest the whole way through. I am looking forward to reading more from Stephen Amidon.

this one didn’t click with me as much as i hoped based on the premise - a lot more of a slow burn than i expected. I did really like Amidon’s writing, so i will keep an eye on future releases from him. The story definitely had some good reveals and moments, but i needed a bit more drama to keep me engaged.

The cover and title of this book immediately drew me in, but it was the evocative writing and story that kept me reading. This is an excellent book for fans of domestic thrillers that are page turners but also written with a keen eye for humanity and what makes people tick. The characters here aren’t flat, they’re rich and textured, and that’s what makes it so engrossing

I was a bit disappointed by this book! It had all the makings for a great domestic thriller — secrets, multiple POVs, deep webs of lies. The writing fell flat for me, which was in part due to so many characters. If a few had been written out, there would’ve been much more room in the story to flesh out details and not get bogged down by keeping track of all the names. The book was fast paced and I read it very quickly, but I wish there’d been a bit more depth with the characters as there was a lot of potential.

Thanks to Netgalley and Celadon Books for an advanced copy of this book.

This was in the blurb about Locust Lane: For fans of Mystic River by Dennis Lehane and Little Fires Everywhere by Celeste Ng , Stephen Amidon’s Locust Lane is a taut and utterly propulsive story about the search for justice and the fault lines of power and influence in a seemingly idyllic town. Can anyone be trusted?

That immediately attracted me as I loved Mystic River and Little Fires Everywhere, House of Sand and Fog...none are "happy stories with happy endings" . While described by some as a whodunit I found it to be more about family drama. There are numerous POV's and complex characters, which kept my interest going. I found it to be quite thought provoking and left me thinking about it days after I finished reading it.

I really couldn’t stand this book. The writing felt so pretentious right off the bat, and then when one of the female characters had multiple orgasms back-to-back after stating something to the effect of ‘her partner didn’t even have to focus on her needs, only his”… um, 1) gag me, and 2) I don’t think this book was for me.

A rich suburb, a young woman killed, 3 teenagers who know more than they are letting on equals a compulsively readable neighborhood thriller.

TW: parental grief, alcoholism, social inequities, racial prejudice, misogyny, adultery.

There are a lot of characters in this novel but the author takes great care in distinguishing them so there is no room for confusion.

20 year old Eden is found dead in a posh home in the suburbs of Boston. Jack, Hannah & Christopher were there but each of them swear she was still alive when they left.

Patrick, an alcoholic, who finds himself outside the house where Eden was killed at 3am, having just hit a dog with his car. He gets out to help the dog and sees someone standing in the trees.

The parents, Celia, Alice, Michael and Danielle find themselves entangled in the case and their points of view give different perspectives of the situation.

As the story progresses and the perfect lives unfold into a complete mess you really don’t know which character you can trust.

I really enjoyed this read, my first Stephen Amidon book. The ending was perfectly crafted, all tied up in a nice little bow and I didn’t see it coming. I was totally duped.

I love reading about neighborhood drama and seeing behind the scenes of a variety of different families and their dynamics. I was definitely drawn into the mystery and deception surrounding Eden's death. I had a lot of theories and was left guessing up until the end. I questioned (and maybe judged) the parenting of many characters involved - and contemplated what I would do as parents in each of the different roles explored. This would make for an interesting book club discussion for sure - particularly among mothers with children who are friends and/or a group of neighbors.

Locust Lane by Stephen Amidon is a thriller that you can’t put down. It is a page turner. It is about family drama and a suspenseful murder investigation. This book is about wealthy people behaving badly and how willing parents will do anything to protect their children.

Thank you to NetGalley and Celadon books for the eARC.

This one wasn't for me. The themes really are ones I am sick of reading. Cough Cough, rich white people doing terrible things. The pace was decent but I really struggled with the content.

Maybe I read this book at the wrong time or it just isn't for me. It was very slow and I got kind of bored. I will probably give it another try later.

This was a really great domestic thriller that had me guessing to the very end. However, did we really need another book about rich white people who get away with murder and cause people of color to pay for their crimes? I'm over it.

I was so bored with this book, I couldn’t even get 25% of the way done with it. I didn’t like any characters and I thought they talked way too much and were too self absorbed. Maybe the book got better (I HATE DNF-into books) but I couldn’t get past the first part of this book…