Member Reviews
HOLY MOLY WHAT DID I JUST READ?! Literally finished this in about 6 hours. This was so completely addicting, I felt like my eyes were popping out of my head and the anxiety was REAL. There were quite a few twists and while I had an idea about one of them it didn’t go the way I expected it to at all. Do me a favor and ADD THIS to your TBR immediately.
THANK YOU to the author and @thrillerbookloversthepulse for letting me get my hands on this one!! OBSESSED.
Laurel and her husband Rob move into a new home with their three year old Jasper and newborn Poppy. Little does she know the house has a past.Laurel is dealing with the recent prison release of her mother's killer. She has made some mistakes and her overbearing and gaslighting husband wants her to be more like his mother to socialize and make friends. Their neighbor Marian is an older grandmotherly woman who tells Laurel how to raise her children. Laurel is suspicious of her but her husband and son love her. On the other side is Addie, single, young and fun. Just what she needs in a friend.
Corey moves into her mother's retirement community condo. Divorced and trying to recover from her daughter's death, she is the only one that believes it wasn't an accident. She has her suspicions and is determined to find the truth.
This domestic thriller moves at a steady pace, alternating between the voices of Laurel and Corey. I didn't like Rob or his family. The character development was great and the way the two story lines intertwined was so good. It is a story of motherhood and what you would do to protect your family. The ending was so intense I was holding my breath until the last sentence.
Thank you @lizalterman @netgalley
And the publisher for the ebook.
😡 T H R E A T E N I N G T H U R S D A Y 😡 featuring “The House on Cold Creek Lane” by Liz Alterman!
BOOK REVIEW: 🖤🖤🖤🖤/5
This haunting story is told from the perspectives of two women, Corey and Laurel. They have never met before, but they are bound together by a house in New Jersey that hides many dark secrets.
Corey is suffering from a loss that has turned her world upside down. She is down on her luck from it and living back at home as an adult with her suffocating mother. She is formulating a plan and putting it together piece by piece, no matter who or what turns into collateral.
Laurel has just had a second baby and her husband Rob finds them their “dream” family home. Laurel never got a chance to visit the house before purchase and just took Rob’s word for it. But since moving in, Laurel feels something OFF about the house, the neighbourhood and her new neighbours.
Both main characters are struggling with a past traumatic loss that follows them around like a shadow. Both women have questions … and nobody wants to give them answers.
HOT DAMN, do I ever love a creepy domestic thriller that is brimming to the rim with haunting secrets, juicy scandal and sketchy unreliable characters! I stayed up super late on a few nights because I just couldn’t get enough! At times my anxiety was through the roof with all the twists and shocking turn of events! Bravo! 🙌
Thank you kindly to @lizalterman @severnhouseimprint @netgalley for my advanced digital copy in exchange for my honest review! This book releases on August 6, 2024!
House on Cold Creek Lane by Liz Alterman
⭐️⭐️⭐️/5
"An unflinching examination of motherhood and the dark side of domesticity set against a suburban backdrop that's anything but blissful. This twisty tale invites readers to a slow-motion unraveling that culminates in a devastating finale."
This book unfolded at a leisurely pace. In all honesty, I was hoping for something a little more indulgent. Despite my admiration for Liz and my genuine enjoyment of the book, the slow pacing was noticeable. Nevertheless, the storyline remained engaging and enjoyable! And I would recommend this to domestic thriller readers.
I really enjoyed this book!
This was my first book from this author and it won’t be my last! She did a great job with the unreliable characters, it was very well written with a satisfying ending.
It shows the struggle and the grief, not to mention the loss, the new motherhood insights, and how far would you go to protect your family.
I was hooked since the first chapter, after half way through it, things got even better.
I really enjoyed this domestic thriller and I definitely recommend.
Thank you very much to NetGalley Severn House and Liz Alterman for the opportunity to read this ARC.
Publication Day 08/06/2024.
I loved Liz Alterman's previous novel The Perfect Neighborhood, and I feel like I have been waiting forever for a new release from her. So, I wasn't wasting any time starting The House on Cold Creek Lane, and I'm glad I didn't! I was hooked from the very first page and I wish I would have had more time to read it because it would have been an easy one-sitting read. The story alternates between Laurel and Corey and each one brings something different to the table. I HATED Laurel's husband Rob and was upset I had to wait the entire book for her to get a backbone, but things worked out in a very pleasing way for me, so I was finally happy.
I think I liked Corey's viewpoint the most, and even though I really wanted her to work through her grief differently (support group or therapy), she was well-fleshed out and felt so real and relatable. I especially enjoyed her no-nonsense personality and her bluntness. I loved the way Alterman ended up tying the two storylines together, and even though I had an inkling of what was going on, I still got a couple of fantastic twists. There are certain parts I wish would have ended a bit differently (one real one), but it was quite the climax and left me feeling satisfied. The House on Cold Creek Lane had lots of foreshadowing which I loved and was tense the entire way through. My new favorite from Alterman!
You know it’s a good one when you don’t want to stop reading! I’m not one who’s typically here for different POV’s as it can get confusing and lead you with more questions than it’s worth. But this one did not disappoint!
I was quickly pulled into The House on Cold Creek Lane. This domestic thriller has a lot of elements that make for a captivating story and I was anxiously awaiting each reveal. I will admit to wanting to throw the book across the room at times due to Laurel's husband Rob. This story also focuses on loss and grief in the context of motherhood which was also difficult to read at times. The author brought the characters to life and their struggles felt genuine. I am glad that the story was so fast-paced and enjoyed the dual POV. I believe that you never know what goes on behind closed doors and this neighborhood played into the fact.
Thank you NetGalley and Severn House for the advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review.
This was a rollercoaster of a read and I was hooked from the very beginning! Intense domestic thriller and wonderfully written!
Thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for my ARC
This was one wild ride. I was hooked from the beginning. I love all the neighborhood drama and sketchy neighbors. This one also explores the darkness of motherhood with an unreliable narrator. The ending was so unexpected and I thought maybe I read it wrong, so I had to read it again. Holy Moly!
This is one thriller not to miss!
Thanks to NetGalley and Severn House for a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.
Thank you NetGalley and Severn House Imprint for the early release of The House on Cold Creek Lane. This was a popcorn thriller that had major lifetime movie vibes. I found it entertaining but a bit predictable. The last quarter of the book was very quick and I had a feeling how it would all be wrapped up and I was correct. If you are a new thriller reader I think you will definitely enjoy this book. It has a fast paced story line , unreliable narrators, and questionable characters. For seasoned thriller readers like myself I feel that it would be a very predictable read.
This book is about motherhood, family, and grief. It demonstrates the extremes a mother will go to to protect their children. Something sinister is happening on Cold Creek lane. Do you really know who you’re living next to? No one knows what goes on during four walls of a home. Who is to blame for these occurrences of children dying and freak accidents happening? You’ll find out soon enough!
For new thriller readers read this you’ll enjoy it but for seasoned thriller readers I recommend you skip this one.
You ever wanted to reach into a book and just smack some of the characters silly? Well, that's how I felt throughout most of this one.
Laurel has just had their second child, recovering from a c section, dealing with sleepless nights, and on top of it all is moving into a new home. Her husband Rob somehow manages to undermine her and belittle her every chance he gets. When Laurel tells Rob she's worried about the nosy next door neighbour, he calls her paranoid and refuses to acknowledge her feelings. He continuously makes Laurel feel like she is going crazy. The way I wanted to take a swing at that man is not healthy. Honestly, men in thrillers are the worst.
Meanwhile, the previous tenant of their new home, Corey, is dealing with a loss that has taken over her life. She swears someone else was to blame and is determined to put it right.
I really enjoyed this one, despite the fact that aside from a handful of characters, the rest were all incredibly unlikeable. I'd correctly predicted some of the twists, but it didn't take away from the story, as I sat with my heart in my throat, waiting for the worst to happen.
Another new to me author that I can't wait to read more from.
This book was intense! But a good intense. We all ate this book up over at @thrillerbookloversthepulse! This multiple POV thriller takes place on Cold Creek Lane, a place I don't want to live 🤭, and follows a family who has just moved in and their neighbors. I don't want to give too much away, so I'll just say that the amount of times my jaw dropped was uncountable. There are two female main characters who by the end of the book, will have their lives intertwined in the best, or worst, ways. This is one of those books where you're pretty certain you have it all figured out, only to have whiplash when it's revealed that not all is as it seems. I highly recommend this book, you're not going to want to miss out!
Thank you to @netgalley, Severn House and Liz Alterman for an ARC!
Laurel and Rob West and their small children are moving into their new home in New Jersey, but it isn’t the idyllic suburban dream Laurel thought it would be. One elderly neighbor seems like a sweet grandmotherly type, but her comments to Laurel are always double-edged. Single mom Zoey seems a little too flirty with Rob for Laurel’s taste. At least Laurel’s got one friend in her next-door neighbor Addie to share snark and cocktails with.
We also get the POV of another woman named Corey. Corey is living with her mother in a retirement community in Florida, recently divorced and mired in grief. What happened to her is a bit of a mystery… does she have a connection to Cold Creek Lane?
Liz Alterman came onto my radar with Perfect Neighborhood and it’s clear she’s one to watch when it comes to neighborhood noir! The House on Cold Creek Lane is not only suspenseful but filled with razor-sharp insight about new motherhood, which is a favorite domestic suspense theme of mine. This book was such a great read – full of mystery, misdirection, and gaslighting. There’s a palpable undercurrent of darkness running just below the surface of the plot that fed my anxiety and kept me hooked throughout. The big reveal was a surprise and the conclusion was so satisfying! No wonder all of us at Thriller Book Lovers: The Pulse are raving about this one!
When Laurel and Rob move into their new home on Cold Creek Lane with their two young children, they have high hopes of creating beautiful memories there. However, Rob found the house without Laurel’s input and they had no idea about the tragic loss that the previous owners experienced while living in the home. Shortly after moving in and meeting the neighbors, Laurel experiences some strange things and Rob continuously dismisses her concerns as paranoia.
Meanwhile, Corey, the previous resident of the home, is grieving the loss of her young daughter, Frankie. She is struggling to cope and is determined to prove that her daughter’s death was no accident. When she realizes that there are new owners living in her old house, she struggles with what to do about it. Should she warn them?
I really enjoyed this book! I loved how it was told through dual points of view with Laurel and Corey’s stories ultimately colliding and making for one crazy and unexpected ending! I figured out the main twist but it didn’t matter because the way everything played out was definitely a surprise and the final few twists had my jaw on the floor. I know it’s a good book when I find myself mentally yelling at the characters because it’s just one bad decision after the next!
This book has made me a fan of Liz Alterman and I can’t wait to see what she comes out with next!
4.5 Stars Rounded Up
his book is twisty, tragic, and shocking. You follow Laurel and Corey, two women who are bound to cross paths (and the suspense is brutal! I loved it!) I just could not figure out how these two were going to connect in the end. I found Laurel to be entitled and insufferable. My reading buddy, Amber, disliked Rob.
The ending is something that will stick with you. It's one of those "Did that really happen?!" Endings, and I EAT THOSE UP.
Please check the triggers on this one. I know a lot of people struggle when children are involved, so please be mindful of that going in. It can get a little intense at times, but the author truly did a fantastic job writing the difficult parts so they didn't feel so heavy. There is a scene that is so well written, that as a mother, I was crying like a fool. I highly recommend this fantastic book when it's released in August!
Wow! What a roller coaster from Liz Alterman! I loved A Perfect Neighborhood, so I was eager to read her latest, due out this August. Thanks to NetGalley for the advance copy.
Laurel and Rob West and their toddler and newborn move to a new home in New Jersey — a home they were able to snap up even in a tough real estate market. Rob is eager for Laurel to make friends and create a suburban social life for them — but Laurel is an introvert by nature and is exhausted caring for two young children. And as she gets to know her neighbors, there are definitely some that make her uncomfortable. Meanwhile, in Florida, Corey Sutton is living with her widowed mother in a senior complex, working a dead end job and drinking herself to sleep in the wake of a terrible tragedy. Although Laurel and Corey have never met, they have something in common…
I love domestic suspense and the concept of all the secrets behind closed doors in superficially quiet suburban neighborhoods, and Alterman is a master at the genre. I couldn’t stop turning pages, and while some of my suspicions were correct, I loved the way the story spun out. It was perfectly paced, and definitely held some big surprises. Highly recommend!
This was such a fast paced read, with multiple POVs that made this read even more enjoyable. I couldn’t put this one down at all and so many times I really wanted to strangle Rob!!! This was my first book of Liz Alterman and it was really good! Most definitely, must add this one to your TBR!!!
Thank you NetGalley and Severn House for the advanced reader copy!
It’s my first book by Liz Alterman, and I am not disappointed. Great book, kept me intrigued throughout! Plenty of suspense and dry humor… I would recommend for any psychological fiction fan, and I will be reading more from this author.
Such a great book! Could not out this one down! Even when I wasn't reading it I was thinking about it!