Halloween Town or Murder Town? Sometimes it's the same thing... (Review of No Rest for the Wicked)

Small towns. Unless you’ve lived in been a regular visitor to one, they’re kinda hard to wrap your head around.

Like realizing your neighbors know so much about you... stuff which everyone else

in town eventually winds up knowing, too. (Small towns, they do love to talk.)

 

But gossip is rarely truth—at least, not the full truth—which means all sorts of misunderstandings can happen.

 

And, when the veracity of such isn’t questioned (or refuted)? Hurt feelings, disappointments, and resentments can linger for years... as in Rachel Louise Adams’s debut thriller, No Rest for the Wicked.

 

 

Dolores Hawthorne fled Little Horton, Wisconsin (aka “Halloween Town”, thanks to its lavish celebration of the seasonally-macabre) nearly two decades ago... and didn’t plan on returning.

 

Ever.

 

But, when someone from the FBI calls her in L.A., saying her father, ex-mayor of Little Horton and former U.S. Senator, has gone missing—and suggesting that Dolores should really be there—it seems there’s no way of avoiding it.

 

Going back “home”.

 

Almost as soon as she steps off the plane, though, she’s immediately reminded of all the things she tried so hard to leave behind.

 

The town’s insane obsession with October 31, sure, but also its violent history of actual deaths occurring around that day. 

 

Her stepmother... and the half-brother and half-sister, now grown up. 

 

And the ex-boyfriend she abruptly broke up with... never to speak to, again. 

 

Little Horton, of course, has always had plenty of thoughts about Dolores’ hasty departure... but no one actually knows the truth of what happened.

 

But now? Dolores fears that truth may finally be rearing its ugly head, because a letter—one which her father was apparently in the midst of writing, when he vanished—is addressed to her... warning her to trust no one.

 

And the fact that all of this is going down, during Halloween week? Has Dolores feeling way too much like one of the hapless teens in all those horror films... “Whatever you do, do NOT go running into the woods alone!! Well, damn, you just ran into the woods...”.

 

 

Atmospheric and suspenseful, with surprises and “OooOoh!” moments slowly revealing themselves around unexpected corners, No Rest for the Wicked is a treat during the long nights of autumn. (Obviously, the Halloween theme doesn’t hurt.)

 

There’s even cats—yes, actual CATS—featuring as supporting characters, here! (The cover doesn’t lie, I’m happy to say.)

 

Newcomer Rachel Louise Adams writes confidently, depicting life in a small Midwestern town—and how it feels once you’ve left it all behind—with ease.

 

If you’re short on plans over Halloween weekend—or during any lazy fall or wintry week, for that matter—No Rest for the Wicked would be a great way to spend some cozy reading time.

 

Just make sure you’ve got those doors and windows locked, first...

 

~GlamKitty

 

 

 

[Thanks to St. Martin's Press and Minotaur Books for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are, as always, entirely my own.]