The Cold Creek Highway stretches close to five hundred miles through British Columbia’s rugged wilderness to the west coast. Isolated and vast, it has become a prime hunting ground for predators. For decades, young women traveling the road have gone missing. Motorists and hitchhikers, those passing through or living in one of the small towns scattered along the region, have fallen prey time and again. And no killer or abductor who has stalked the highway has ever been brought to justice.
Hailey McBride calls Cold Creek home. Her father taught her to respect nature, how to live and survive off the land, and to never travel the highway alone. Now he’s gone, leaving her a teenage orphan in the care of her aunt whose police officer husband uses his badge as a means to bully and control Hailey. Overwhelmed by grief and forbidden to work, socialize, or date, Hailey vanishes into the mountainous terrain, hoping everyone will believe she’s left town. Rumors spread that she was taken by the highway killer—who’s claimed another victim over the summer.
One year later, Beth Chevalier arrives in Cold Creek, where her sister Amber lived—and where she was murdered. Estranged from her parents and seeking closure, Beth takes a waitressing job at the local diner, just as Amber did, desperate to understand what happened to her and why. But Beth’s search for answers puts a target on her back—and threatens to reveal the truth behind Hailey’s disappearance…
Bestselling author Chevy Steven returns with a compelling suspense that unravels across a dark stretch of highway where for decades, young women have gone missing.
17-year-old Hailey McBride knows the stories firsthand, she’s lived in Cold Creek her entire life and her father taught her to never travel the highway alone, taught her how to survive in nature. But when her father tragically dies, she has no alternative than to live with her aunt and police officer uncle, Erick Vaughn—a man whose controlling ways and wandering eyes unnerve her to the core. When Hailey discovers Vaughn’s dark secrets, however, they send her running into the rugged wilderness of British Columbia—desperate to bide her time until she turns eighteen and is free of Vaughn for good.
Meanwhile, Hailey’s friend Amber remains at the diner where they both worked… until Amber’s dead body is discovered.
With Amber’s killer at large, and Hailey presumed dead by the same perpetrator, Amber’s sister Beth arrives at Cold Creek desperate to unearth the truth, not knowing that she’s now a target herself.
Stevens masterfully builds a dark and chilling atmosphere in small-town Cold Creek. The story drew me in from the beginning, with questions swirling around those who vanished, and guesses to who could be behind it all. The story lost some momentum midway, but tension ratcheted once more towards a nail-biting ending I didn’t see coming.
DARK ROADS is equal parts suspense and coming-of-age, brought to life by two strong, resilient female heroines. And while my favorite Chevy Stevens book remains NEVER LET YOU GO, Stevens’ writing prowess and taut storytelling are nevertheless evident.
A solid installment—looking forward to the next.
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