📖 Just finished "Shore Lodge" by Susan Specht Oram and it kept me on the edge of my seat from start to finish! 💥 This pulse-pounding psychological thriller follows Jacklyn Stone, a grieving widow whose peaceful retreat turns into a nightmare when she realizes she's trapped in a psychiatric facility by her own children. 😱 Oram expertly weaves a tale of betrayal, resilience, and revenge as Jacklyn fights to reclaim her freedom and her life. While the story started a bit slow, it quickly picked up pace and I couldn't put it down. 🔍 If you love suspenseful thrillers with strong heroines and shocking twists, this one's for you! 🌟 #ShoreLodge #SusanSpechtOram #PsychologicalThriller #BookReview

A really enjoyable read that was fast paced and kept me on the edge of my seat the whole way through

Jacklyn is struggling after the death of her husband. Life as she knows it, has been turned upside down. Aside from her grief over the death of her life partner, she has also recently discovered that her husband has been giving their life savings away to their son without her knowledge. The usually competent senior starts forgetting a lot of things and has recently figured in an accident. Her son, Dusty, uses this as a reason to admit her into a facility known as Shore Lodge. Her son and daughter lure her there in the pretense that she could a few days to get away from her responsibilities and recharge, but she is horrified to find out that once she checks in, she can never check out alive.

I immensely enjoyed this book, and I'm happy to find out that this is a series. Can't wait to read more about Jacklyn's adventures. Told from different POVs, this gives you a good understanding of each of the characters and I hate Dusty's gut so much.

Sadly, this one was not for me. No matter how hard I tried, I just couldn’t get into the story and I hated the characters and didn’t care what happened to any of them. The writing was monotonous, and it didn’t feel like a psychological thriller, so I just lost interest. Hopefully, this will find the right readers. Thank you to Netgalley, the author and publisher, for a chance to read and review this book.

Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher and this author for allowing me to read this title.
Full of twists and suspense, I loved this book. Looking forward to more by the author as this was my first but definitely won't be my last!
A heart-racing thriller with some great twists and turns! always kept me on the edge.
Thanks
3/5 stars

Jacklyn's husband passed away around eight months ago. She has been struggling to run her day-t0-day life without him. Jackyln's daughter and son propose a restful vacation. To Jackyln's surprise, it is actually a psychiatric facility. And she cannot get out. Jackyln is determined to get out of Shore Lodge at whatever cost it takes.

This is a super fast-paced novel, it did not take me long to finish at all. An easy and enjoyable read! The main character, Jackyln, is very likeable. I was rooting for her the entire novel! There were parts that were difficult to read at times, but that's only because they were tackling tough issues. The author did an excellent job exploring these issues. This is not your traditional thriller in the sense where you are wondering who did what or why this is happening to the main character. Regarding, it is still thrilling in many other ways!

Thank you NetGalley, Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op,and SOS Communications for the copy in exchange for an honest review.

Jacklyn Stone, a recent widow, is struggling since her husband's untimely death. She is trying to keep her life "normal" while running her store but it's been difficult. When her children suggest she take a short vacation to heal and unwind, she takes them up on the offer. They have found a wonderful place that promotes healing. However, what she doesn't know, is that it is this remote retreat is actually a psychiatric facility and she will not be able to leave.

This was a good story but I struggled with it a bit. I didn't find it quite as fast paced with the good, quick turns that I usually enjoy. Most of the book was a little slow for me. I did enjoy the last quarter of the book the best and am glad I stuck with it. The characters were good - I was really rooting for Jacklyn, especially as the story unfolded and finding out the true motives behind her going to this facility.

I'd like to try another book by this author, though.

Full of twists and suspense, I loved this book. Looking forward to more by the author as this was my first but definitely won't be my last!

A heart-racing thriller with some great twists and turns! always kept me on the edge. Looking forward to more books by the writer!

This book started off incredibly slow, it took me a few weeks to get through because I honestly lost real interest in it. Overall I ended up giving it a 2/5 rating.
The story is told from alternating perspectives- I actually didn't like this because we get to see why things are happening from the point of view of the people, so any questions that could have kept us hooked and wondering, were straight up told to us almost immediately.
The entire plot was guessable, and it turned out exactly as I figured it would.
I did get more into the book near the ending because I wanted to KNOW Jacqueline was going to get what she deserved in the end. That last bit was the best part of the book. But after the suspense was over, there was no real need for the book to continue... yet it did with awkward and unrealistic sounding conversations between mother and children and repetitive remarks about the future and the past.
I didn't love this book and I would never really recommend it, because it's just boring and expected- but it wasn't the worst either. The writing was decent and the idea was good, I just think it needed a good twist and some more in depth details about everything (the others at Shore Lodge- they didn't all seem to NEED to be there either? What happens to them??) Anyway, it was okay. Just okay.

Thanks NetGalley for allowing me to read/review this book.

I am no longer interested in reading this book. I am sorry it has been in my library only for me to not read it. This was never my intention. My interests change and unfortunately that means I won’t be reading this book.

I almost DNF'd this book. It was very slow starting and had you bouncing between Jacklyn's, Rose's, her daughters and Dusty's, her sons, point of views. Jacklyn's son and daughter colluding to put her in Shore Lodge was apparent from the beginning but not the reasoning behind it. Once it started to reveal her son's deception and her tenacity and will to escape, I couldn't put it down for the last few chapters. It also highlighted for me the prevalence of elder abuse and how difficult legal decisions can be to overturn. I found the last few chapters very fast and almost had a hard time keeping up with Jacklyn's movements. I would recommend this to someone who likes to tease out the clues to a mystery and have a grand reveal at the end.

I've never been so mad before reading a book. but this was terrible. if you are looking for a book that will show you why mental health is stigmatized in society. here you go. i do not recommend this at all. please do not read it. this was just a giant waste of time that i'll never get back.

Shore Lodge by Susan Specht Oram is a highly recommended novel of psychological suspense.

Jacklyn Stone's husband Albert passed away and left her grieving and overwhelmed. She realizes that she isn't handling her daily life well and letting things slide at her business, but the grief is still so raw and she is struggling to find her way through this new reality. She also discovers after Albert's death that he gave away almost all of their savings to their son, Dusty, to help him in his construction firm. Dusty is the one nearby, where her daughter Rose is living in the city. She gives Dusty the power of attorney over her affairs due to his proximity.

Dusty talks to Rose and informs her that Jacklyn needs to take a break, a week or two away at a lodge that offers counseling and grief care. He sets everything up and talks Rose into it, for their mother's well being. Jacklyn agrees to two days away, believing that the rest and relaxation will be good for her. However, shore Lodge is not exactly what Dusty claimed it was. It is a psychiatric facility and Jacklyn soon discovers the truth. She can't leave or contact the outside world, her son has used his power of attorney to basically imprison her against her will. Soon she finds her focus and determination coming back as she tries to find a way out.

Jacklyn is a character worth caring about. Anyone who has ever lost someone they are close to will understand the brain fog she was going through. It will also be clear to most people that talking about it and grief therapy could help, but so does a familiar setting and routine. Dusty is a despicable character from the start. A self-centered narcissist whose only focus was himself and he shows his true character almost immediately. Rose is a more complicated character who soon realizes that Dusty does not have their mother's best interests in mind.

Shore Lodge is an intense, compelling thriller and will hold your attention from start to finish. The pace is fast and the pages will fly by as you discover along with Jacklyn what has happened to her and follow her plans to try and get out. At the same time you will see the extent of Dusty's plans and what Rose is doing. The final denouement provides a satisfying conclusion to the narrative. This is a four star for me because, even though she was grieving, I find it hard to believe Jacklyn would sign any documents giving Dusty the power of attorney over her life. She knew his character. She should have had him sign papers to pay back the money Albert gave him.
Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op.
The review will be published on Google Books, and Amazon.

WARNING: it's time to jump aboard the unpopular opinion train yet again!!

There was something about Shore Lodge that really intrigued me... I do enjoy a thriller with a psychiatric facility angle/setting, and the promise of the main character being trapped in one by her children sounded like a fascinating premise. This book has been receiving high ratings all around so far as well, so I fully expected to have an excellent time with it. Unfortunately the exact opposite happened, and it seems like Shore Lodge and me simply weren't ment to be. I'll try to explain briefly why this story didn't work for me personally below.

I honestly felt like I was reading a completely different book than everyone else, and I even stopped reading twice to check the reviews to see if anyone else was having similar issues. The fact is... Shore Lodge and me REALLY didn't get along. I was struggling from the first page, and this probably had a lot to do with the way this story is written. There is something about the writing style and tone that is just off for me, and the often short and stunted sentences don't help either. This structure really interrupted the flow of the story, and it only started to irritate me more and more as I kept reading. To make things worse, the emotions came over as bad acting and none of it felt genuine or credible.

I felt that the plot itself kind of jumped all over the place, and this again interrupted the flow and pace of the story... I usually don't mind multiple POV structures, but the switching back and forth between the different characters just felt a bit disjointed here. I wasn't a fan of any of the characters, and Dusty is particularly despicable (although I know he is ment to be this way). The fact that I didn't like them was only part of the problem though, as they mostly felt like cardboard cut-outs and rather flat. Apart from that, I just didn't think it was believable what Rose and Dusty were doing nor how Jacklyn reacted to everything. Especially since Dusty comes over as particularly flaky and shady right form the start... How could Jacklyn ever trust him, and especially after she discovered about the money? And I just couldn't see how Rose wouldn't question anything her brother was doing.

Between the characters, writing style and lack of credibility, I confess that I felt like it was too much torture to make me pretend to care about what was going to happen next, and I had to make the difficult decision to throw in the towel and DNF Shore Lodge instead. I know that I'm in the minority, because most people love this book... I'm not sure if I was reading this in an alternate universe or if my reading mood was been particularly fickle, but the fact is that Shore Lodge and me REALLY didn't get along.

I already posted to Goodreads. I also posted to Amazon, but it can take a few days to upload! Seriously this book was amazing.



Definitely give this a go if you want a fast paced, heart pounding, emotional thriller to read!

Jacklyn Stone, a widow who watched her husband die and felt responsible for not saving him due to him having a DNR is a freaking boss lady. She has two kids an adult son and daughter. Her daughter is a full time mom and has a job as well and regretfully isn’t around much.

Her wretched son uses the Power of Attorney that he convinced her in drawing up, locks her away in a secure psychiatric facility and tries to ruin her life. He and the psychiatrist convinced his sister that Jacklyn needed to be admitted to this secure facility named Shore Lodge. This heroic woman withstands his efforts and fights til the very end. Does she win in the end? Read this book like I did to find out!!

I loved Jacklyn! She’s spunky and never gives up. What her son Dusty does to her is unconscionable. Shore Lodge is a terrible place. This book shines a light on elder abuse. I was glued to the pages. The writing was fantastic.

I found the fact that our protagonist is older than every other book absolutely brilliant.

This was a terrifying and claustrophobic novel which was all the more fantastic by having an older lady.

Reading a book about an older woman losing her freedom was honestly refreshing. I feel like we forget the elderly and we forget to think about how terrifying these "homes" can be, and I know in some cases it is the only option.
But I am telling you, as a former hospice worker, that old age and death go a lot more smoothly when the families take their people in and care for them. I mean when they can make it happen.
The whole scene where they cut our protagonist's hair was hard for me. Hair is so personal! I wonder often how people can work in jobs where they violate people. I have known "good people" who do these things. We now in the 1940s "good people" did horrible unthinkable things.
I liked this book. It was terrifying but we also got to see the different perspectives. It was also incredibly wholesome. Especially the ending.

Heart pounding thriller that left me on the edge of my seat. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this one. Definitely one of the best books this year.