I enjoyed this book immensely! This was a fast-paced thriller with a great premise and structure. The reader follows two sisters, Rose and Sylvie, who live in the Tower Motel in Northern Vermont in the 1950's. Sylvie is the charismatic one, having aspirations of living in Hollywood and being an actress in Alfred Hitchcock films. Flash forward to 1989, and we follow Amy (Rose's daughter) and her two friends (also sisters) Margot and Piper. The hotel has long since closed, and they spend their days wandering around the property- roller skating in the empty swimming pool and goofing off in the old rooms. The last time period is modern day, where Margot and Piper find out a horrible crime has been committed on the property. This forces them to re-evaluate their childhood spent at the hotel, and investigate to figure out the sinister connections between unexplained events.
I read this in a few hours one afternoon and a couple hours the next day. The transition between the time periods was seamless, and never left me with that all-too-often feel of "I don't want to switch to this section, I want more time in this perspective". I loved that McMahon acknowledged Psycho and wasn't trying to deny the connection between both creepy motels. There was enough substance to keep me guessing, and the perfect balance of reality and magical realism to make the story eerily believable. I liked how it explored the relationship between siblings and friends, particularly how those bonds can be fractured and the extent of loyalty. The Winter People was a fantastic late season ghost story last year, and McMahon has grown even further with this book. I recommend for anyone looking to get out of a reading slump, and particularly for a spooky Halloween/Fall read. Also, I got to hear her speak and she's just super cool and an awesome person. So that's nice too:-)
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