The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James

The Sun Down Motel

by Simone St. James
Published: Berkley, 2020
Pages: 336
Genre: Thriller, Mystery
Amazon, Goodreads

“Some of us like the dark. It’s what we know.”

About the book

Upstate NY, 1982. Every small town like Fell, New York, has a place like the Sun Down Motel. Some customers are from out of town, passing through on their way to someplace better. Some are locals, trying to hide their secrets. Viv Delaney works as the night clerk to pay for her move to New York City. But something isn't right at the Sun Down, and before long she's determined to uncover all of the secrets hidden…

Review

The Sun Down Motel by Simone St. James is a captivating paranormal thriller that you won’t want to put down.

Reeling from the death of her mother, true crime fan Carly leaves college to investigate the disappearance of her Aunt Viv from Fell, New York thirty-five years ago at the Sun Down Motel. Carly arrives to find to the motel unchanged, and Viv’s job as night clerk open; she takes the job in order to get closer to finding out what really happened the night her aunt went missing. Carly soon learns that there’s more than just dust and empty motel rooms at the Sun Down as doors start slamming open, lights flicker on and off and a mysterious smell of smoke appears… and it turns out there’s more to Viv’s disappearance. 

Alternating between the perspectives of Viv and Carly, the story is creepy and so so interesting. The plot is my favorite part of the book; a sinister, run down motel in a small town where a young woman disappeared over thirty years ago. St. James’s writing is engaging and addictive. I devoured half this book in one day. There are twists and turns that left me dazed! 

There’s another aspect I loved about the book: the thought that we can have a dark part of ourselves that’s attracted to the wicked, whether it be horror movies or ghastly true crime stories. I feel like I have this as well. I’ve always loved grotesque horror and the sinister unknown.

I’ve also read The Broken Girls by St. James, and I like the Sun Down Motel better because I enjoyed the storyline more. 

The Sun Down Motel is definitely worth the read if you’re in the mood for a good ghostly thriller!

RATING (out of five puppies)