Dark Roads

Dark Roads is indeed a dark read. 

This sinister, slow burn and atmospheric story pulls readers into a tragic tale inspired by the all too real and disturbing issue of missing and murdered Indigenous women in British Columbia.

Canadian author Chevy Stevens excels at keeping her readers on their toes with a deep sense of unease as she weaves a tale about missing girls set in a small fictional town in northern BC. The story is told from the POVs of two strong women - Hailey, an orphaned teenager living with her aunt and her strict police officer uncle; and Beth, the sister of one of the murdered women who vows to find her sister's killer. I found Hailey's POV a bit more compelling, mainly due to her relationship with her malicious and domineering uncle who makes everyone's life a living hell, but Beth holds her own as she balances finding a killer and handling her own demons. 

There is a solid group of secondary characters, some you will abhor and others like Wolf, who you will adore. Stevens provides several possible culprits and while I guessed their identity mid-way through, I still found it to be quite a compelling and edge-of-my-seat story. There is a strong survivalist element which was interesting but also took me out of the building tension and required me to suspend disbelief just a bit. That said, this was a wonderfully tense and intriguing, slow building mystery focusing on survival, friendship and the long-lasting effects and varied ways people handle grief. 

This book will captivate and terrorize readers in equal measure, so I recommend that you go into this book blind to get the full effect. I also strongly encourage readers not to miss the author's note at the end of the book where she discusses her inspiration for this story. Lastly, I appreciate and applaud Chevy Stevens for using this latest book to put a spotlight on the grievous lack of attention and respect given to the Indigenous women and girls, those who have gone missing and been murdered on northern BC's Highway of Tears, as well as those who continue to live with the constant threat and a government who will not listen to them.

Disclaimer: My sincere thanks to St Martin's Press for my advanced digital arc and the print arc I won in a giveaway on Instagram. These copies were given in exchange for my honest review.

My Rating: 4.5 stars

Author: Chevy Stevens

Genre: Suspense, Canadian

Type and Source: Trade Paperback & digital arcs from publisher

Publisher: St Martin's Press

First Published: August 3, 2021

Opening Lines: No one ever wakes up thinking, I'm going 

to die on a dark road tonight, but that's the point, isn't it? 

You're young and free, with your entire life ahead of you.

Book Description from GoodReads: The acclaimed and beloved author of Still Missing is back with her most breathtaking thriller yet.

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 ...