The Sun Down Motel

This story had such fantastic pacing, a great plo,t well developed voices and motivations. It was just an incredible read! Well done!

I liked this book a lot! It was a bit on the predictable side, but it still held my interest!

Great read. An Engaging story, and an authentic ghost thriller, couldn't put it down. Read it, You won't be disappointed.

This is my second Simone book, I was so excited cause the first one I read had twist I didn’t expect at all. But this one was very predictable. Nothing surprised me, I guessed every ‘twist’ that came up and was so disappointed by it.It did give me a little bit of chills and overall was a good story line. Just wish it would have been a little more suspenseful

“The person who could be truly alone, in the company of no one but oneself and one’s own thoughts—that person was stronger than anyone else. More ready. More prepared.”In 1982, Vivian Delaney worked as a night clerk at the Sun Down Motel in the town of Fell, NY. Strange things were happening at the hotel. There were also some strange things happening in the town. Mysteriously, three girls were murdered. Viv was determined to figure out what was going on. Then suddenly, she disappeared. Thirty-Five years later, Viv’s nice, Carly, finds herself in Fell, NY trying to figure out what happened to her aunt. She becomes the night clerk at The Sun Down Motel. Strange things are still happening at the motel, but can Carly figure out what happened to her Aunt?After reading two books that I didn’t care for, this was absolutely refreshing. It was a fast read, that kept you guessing the entire time. I was very impressed with the writing and the character development, especially that of Carly. She came across so smart and someone that I would connect with and be friends with. I really enjoyed her sense of intuition.I know what to expect when reading a Simone St. James books, and normally I don’t do well with ghostly things added to stories, but she just does an absolutely fantastic job of it. I try not to read at night because it creeps me out!!!I know I’m late to the game reading this book, but I’m so glad I finally had a chance to read it.

Was this spooky? Yes! Did I get scared? Yes! Did it keep me from wanting to put it down? Yes! I couldn’t stop! The twists and turns the friendships the way everything fell into place was amazing! This book will stay with me forever!

I’ve read a few of this author’s books, but I think this might be my favorite. Between the dual timeline and the backwoods town of Fell, NY, that seems stuck in a time warp—the collection of odd characters and a murder mystery that spans decades, I devoured it in two days.Carly’s aunt, Vivian, disappeared in 1982 while working the night shift at the Sun Down Motel, a roadside motel visited by drunks, drug-dealers, and hookers. Determined to find out what happened to her, Carly ends up in the same town, thirty-five years later, working the same night shift at the same derelict motel.But the Sun Down has secrets of its own, including a number of ghosts who never leave, each with mysteries behind their eerie and regular visitations. The town of Fell itself is a blot on the map with several killings of young women. Vivian gets caught up, trying to solve those mysteries in 1982, with Carly picking up the thread in 2017.As always, the author creates memorable characters, intriguing mysteries (there are multiple) and spooky happenings. If I have one quibble, it’s the need of the author to describe what very character is wearing the moment they come on the scene. After a while that became VERY noticeable.That small whine aside, I found this an engrossing novel that I read in under twenty-four hours. I loved the creepiness of the motel, the hauntings of the ghosts, and the mysteries tied to the victims that had me on the edge of my seat. Both Carly and Vivian are super characters, supported by a collection of secondary characters, equally engaging. This one is a five-star winner!

The Sundown Motel was a solid read for the Halloween season. The story, while a bit slow for the first few chapters, turns into a downhill sprint to the finish. As is somewhat common with supernatural thrillers, there is almost no character evolvement and none of the characters are memorable or spectacular in any way. BUT, stay with me...this is not a negative in this case, but rather a strategy or storytelling device of sorts. The flat characters are a foil for the plot...simply a means of weaving and highlighting the story and it’s done very well. The premise is creepy and the pace will keep you on the edge of your seat, but it’s not horrifically gruesome...thus palatable for the faint of heart. The writing is not legendary but the story is solid and I recommend this book to anyone who enjoys a good thriller/mystery.Audible note: I listened to about a third of this book. It was fine, not great. The reader does voices for different characters and one of the voices is a dead ringer for Luna Lovegood (kudos if you know who that is)...it was a bit. distracting!Description:Upstate New York, 1982. Viv Delaney wants to move to New York City, and to help pay for it she takes a job as the night clerk at the Sun Down Motel in Fell, New York. But something isnʼt right at the motel, something haunting and scary......Upstate New York, 2017. Carly Kirk has never been able to let go of the story of her aunt Viv, who mysteriously disappeared from the Sun Down before she was born. She decides to move to Fell and visit the motel, where she quickly learns that nothing has changed since 1982. And she soon finds herself ensnared in the same mysteries that claimed her aunt.

Loved the twists!!

Muy buen libro, la historia te atrapa y no podía dejar de leer. Sólo quería saber que pasaba a continuación y definitivamente sí dio miedo

I couldn’t put this book down. Discovered the author after picking up Murder Road, which was brilliant!This book keeps you interested the whole way through. It was great. Off to get the rest of her books now. Love this author.

Im Jahr 1982 will Viv weg von daheim, nach New York City. Sie landet in Fell upstate New York. Sie findet eine Stelle als Nachtrezeptionistin im Sun Down Motel. Ein eigenartiges Motel, eine eigenartige Stadt, in der Menschen umkommen. Im November 1982 ist auch Viv verschwunden. Jahre später will die 20jährige Carly etwas über das Verschwinden ihrer Tante Viv Delany herausfinden. In der Familie wurde nie über Viv gesprochen. Doch nach dem Tod ihrer Mutter will Carly endlich herausfinden, was mit Viv geschah. Und auch im Jahr 2017 ist die Stelle als Nachtrezeptionistin im Sun Down frei.Was für eine unheimliche Location, was für eine hinterwäldlerische Stadt. Besonders im Jahr 2017 kommt es einem sehr zurückgeblieben vor, wenn Festnetztelefone benutzt werden und es kam Internet gibt. Und was ist mit den toten jungen Frauen? Viv hat einen Verdacht, jedoch niemand will ihr glauben. Deshalb stellt sie selbst Nachforschungen an. Carlys hat Vivs Verschwinden immer totgeschwiegen und nun will Carly endlich wissen, was geschehen ist. So leicht offenbart das Sun Down Motel seine Geheimnisse aber nicht. Die Geister schweigen nicht still, sie reden in Rätseln. Wir Carly den Schlüssel finden?Eine Gespenstergeschichte ist doch mal eine willkommene Abwechslung, insbesondere wenn sie gut gemacht ist. Sowohl aus Vivs Sicht als auch aus der Carlys erlebt man die Ereignisse im Motel. Man spürt die lauernde Gefahr, in der die Frauen schweben. Und es scheint immer schlimmer zu werden. Was ist nur mit Viv passiert? Und wird Carly ein ähnliches Schicksal erleiden? Wie ein spanender Krimi fängt es an und im weiteren Verlauf wird man immer mehr gepackt. Die Mission der Geister, Vivs Weg und Carlys Enthüllungen führen erst in ein Dickicht und dann auch aus dem Dickicht. Irgendwann kann man nicht mehr aufhören zu lesen und erlebt nicht, das was man erwartet hätte. Auf Deutsch ist der Roman unter dem Titel „Zimmer 103“ im Goldmann Verlag erschienen. Es kann gerne empfohlen werden.

St. James is an excellent writer, but the final third of this book reads like it was written by someone else, or she was squeezed for time, needed a finish, didn't have one, so just slapped one together.The final chapters are jam packed with characters making bizarre choices, following moral compasses only see in lifetime movies of the week and fairytales, and rushed writing.This is a shame, since the book started so well.When, in a novel laced with elements of the supernatural, you have characters making choices that are not credible, you have failed your reader.The second protagonist, Carly, is not in any way a real person. Her choices are imbecilic. Never, in 30+ years of reading, have i ever rooted against the lead in a story... Until this gen z dullard was born onto the page.Skip this book. St. James has several amazing novels. Choose one of those instead.