My rating: 3 of 5 stars
A missing child. A desperate mother. And a house full of secrets.
Two years ago, Julia lost her family in a tragic accident. Her husband drowned trying to save their daughter, Lily, in the river near their rural home. But the little girl’s body was never found—and Julia believes Lily is somehow still alive.
Alone and broke, Julia opens her house as a writers’ retreat. One of the first guests is Lucas, a horror novelist, who becomes obsessed with finding out what happened to Lily. But within days of his arrival, the peace of the retreat is shattered by a series of eerie events.
When Lucas’s investigation leads him and Julia into the woods, they discover a dark secret—a secret that someone will do anything to protect…
What really happened that day by the river? Why was Lily never found? And who, or what, is haunting the retreat?
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The Retreat is one of those books that have all the ingredients I like when it comes to thrillers, a mystery, a group of people that don't know each other and a place with a history of troublesome events. Unfortunately, the story never got more than OK for me which trust me bothered me quite a lot since it has everything I usually like. However, I found myself not really engrossed in the story. Yes, I wanted to know the truth and the characters were not bad. I just never felt that heart-pounding intensity that the previous two books had, especially The Devil's Work. It never got creepy or even truly surprising. It's just OK. I liked the book, but I did not love it. If you are easily scared is this book perhaps more of a hit.
However, the writing is good as usual. The story has a flow to it, and the present story with a connection to past events was interesting and the very last part is good and I will even say that the epilogue is great. The epilogue felt so deviously good that I did feel like the book at least ended on a high note!
