An American wonderland… Rotten from the inside… Once you’re here, you’re here to stay.

Serenity Falls by C.J. Tudor is an intriguing, atmospheric thriller that explores the frightening possibility that a seemingly perfect life can conceal something deeply disturbing.

C. J. Tudor combines mystery, dark humour and creeping dread to create a town that feels increasingly claustrophobic as its secrets begin to emerge. She is especially brilliant at creating atmosphere in which ordinary things become deeply unsettling and with a wonderfully creepy premise, the underlying mysteries (there are many) can’t help but hook the reader in. It also asks where do we draw the line at a desire for perfection, particularly when it comes at a terrible price…

The novel’s greatest achievement is its central idea: that perfection itself can be suspicious. Readers who enjoy sinister small-town settings, unreliable appearances and gradually unfolding mysteries should find plenty to enjoy. Those expecting relentless horror or a fast-paced crime thriller will find this slower paced – but the slow un-folding makes this exactly perfect.

Final verdict: Shiver is a thoughtful, evocative and beautifully written book that will appeal particularly to readers who enjoy nature writing, travel memoirs and reflections on starting again after difficult experiences. Its greatest strength lies in Lowe’s ability to transform cold-water swimming into a meditation on belonging, freedom and the relationship between people and the natural world.

Recommended for fans of: psychological thrillers, Gothic mysteries, unsettling suburban settings and the darker side of human nature. Alice Feeney, Lucy Clarke, Stephen King & Sam Holland fans will particularly enjoy this.

About the Book

Welcome to Serenity Falls – the most idyllic, and safest, town in the US – a place to grow up, grow your family and grow old together. For Dan and his daughter, Sadie, it’s the perfect relocation option. A fresh start, thousands of miles from their troubled past in the UK.

But their idyll is shattered when they find a dead body in the swimming pool of their new house – a house Dan’s late mother kept secret from him all his life.

It’s just the start of a series of disturbing discoveries. Abandoned houses where people have seemingly just upped and left. The strange woman Sadie sees around town putting up ‘missing’ posters for a child who drowned almost thirty years ago. An ice cream van that drives around at night making sure residents are asleep…

As plans gear up to celebrate Serenity Falls’ fiftieth anniversary, something is stirring beneath the surface of the blissful façade. Is Serenity Falls really the perfect town or is it founded on something far darker? And is someone so desperate to keep its secrets that they’d resort to anything to preserve them?

Welcome to Serenity Falls.
Once you’re here, you’re here to stay.

About The Author

C. J. Tudor’s love of writing, especially the dark and macabre, started young. When her peers were reading Judy Blume, she was devouring Stephen King and James Herbert. Over the years she has had a variety of jobs, including trainee reporter, radio scriptwriter, dog walker, voiceover, television presenter and copywriter.

She is now the Sunday Times bestselling author of The Chalk Man, The Taking of Annie Thorne, The Other People, The Burning Girls, The Drift and The Gathering. All of her books are in development or optioned for TV. The Burning Girls is available on Netflix.

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