- Title: The Ridge
- Author: John Rector
- Genre: Mystery; Thriller
- Pages: 284
- Published: April 2017 – Thomas & Mercer
- Source: Publisher
Description: With its manicured lawns, pastel houses, and quiet, tree-lined streets, Willow Ridge seems to be the perfect place for Megan and Tyler Stokes to start a new chapter in their lives together. But soon after settling in, Megan begins to notice cracks in the neighborhood’s bright suburban facade—cracks that reveal a darker secret hidden just beneath the surface.
After an angry encounter with a neighbor takes a horrifying turn, Megan’s waking nightmare truly begins—growing ever more chilling and bizarre with each shocking twist. Suddenly forced to question everything around her, Megan finds herself trapped between the specter of madness and the shadow of something far worse. Her only hope is to expose the community’s pretty lies and discover the truth about what is really going on in Willow Ridge—a truth so devastating that her life will never be the same. (publisher)
My take: While thrillers aren’t my go-to genre I was intrigued by the blurb and thought it would be a good read for my vacation. My instincts proved correct. The Ridge was a fast-paced novel that had me remembering The Stepford Wives (was even joked about by a couple of characters).
There’s something different about the town of Willow Ridge. When Megan and her husband move there for his job she can’t wait to move back to Chicago. But she agrees to give it a year. When she begins to notice odd things about her neighbors she may not be able to keep her promise. I couldn’t blame her!
I won’t share any more except to say if you like a short mystery/thriller with light sci-fi overtones you’ll want to look for The Ridge. It was a perfect poolside read.
About the author:
John Rector is the bestselling author of the novels The Ridge, The Cold Kiss, The Grove, Already Gone, Out of the Black, and Ruthless. His short fiction has appeared in numerous magazines and has won several awards, including the International Thriller Award for his novella, Lost Things.
He lives in Omaha, Nebraska.
Interesting combo of mystery/thriller & scifi. Sounds intriguing.
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Just thrilling, mysterious and sci-fi enough for me 🙂
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Thrillers aren’t usually my go to read either. Good to hear that you did enjoy it.
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A fun vacation read, for sure.
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It sounds interesting
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A light thriller, for sure.
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I loved The Stepford Wives and want to read this book!
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I enjoyed it but wonder what hard-boiled thriller lovers would think.
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This one sounds very tempting! I love a good thriller, and I enjoyed The Stepford Wives.
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It was a fun read, Laurel. Glad I had the chance to read a book out of my comfort zone.
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This sounds good. I’m guessing that I’ll be yelling at her to move back to Chicago.
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Ha, ha, yes. I was doing just that!
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Loved your thoughts…I think that you are becoming a thriller connosier!
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LOL, I don’t think I’d go that far but I enjoy a thriller more than I used to!
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Mary, I’m glad you enjoyed this book. I read thrillers once in a while.
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Sounds good…I am interested in what the neighbors were doing to make her uncomfortable.
Thanks for sharing, Mary.
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I love thrillers but not horror, so not sure how far this steps into SF territory, but sounds creepy and intense!
By the way Mary, I’ve signed up to follow you by email a couple of times in past month and never get notifications of your posts?? I don’t have WP to follow you that way, unfortunately…
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Hi Rita, I don’t read horror and wouldn’t classify this book as such. It was more like something the old Twilight Zone would feature, if that helps 🙂 Not sure why you wouldn’t get the email alerts but I received an email saying you subscribed this morning. Let me know if you don’t get any alerts. This coming week I’m publishing on Sunday, Tuesday and Thursday. Thanks for letting me know about the issue.
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I’d probably like this book if it reminds you of The Stepford Wives .
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It did a little!
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[…] Review: The Ridge […]
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This sounds like one I would like. I think I’ll see if it is available on Audible.
Thanks for sharing your thoughts.
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Looks fun! Adding it to my list.
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