Horror / Suspense / Thriller
Date Published: July 14, 2022
Leigh Ramos is a woman on the run from her own life. After barely escaping from a toxic relationship with a drug dealer, emotionally codependent Leigh decides to start her life over somewhere far from the hills of Kentucky. She feels inexplicably drawn to Hawaii, where she manages to land a job in an exclusive resort. At first, it almost seems too good to be true, and of course, it is.
Supernatural horrors start manifesting all around Leigh and her new co-workers, and soon she starts having disturbing nightmares of impossible creatures calling out to her. To make matters worse, Leigh’s violent ex-boyfriend is close on her tail, leaving a trail of bodies in his wake. Now trapped in the midst of all these dangers, Leigh can't help but fall back on old habits. She finds comfort in the arms of her new boss, an upbeat hospitality manager who seems almost too perfect.
In order to survive paradise, Leigh will need to learn from her past mistakes or she will be doomed to repeat them.
My Review
The Island Mother is one of those books where you don't know what you're getting yourself into, but you're curious to see how it might all play out, so you ease yourself into it, and by the time you finish, you're just sitting there, not really sure what just happened but somehow riding the high of an adrenaline rush because... No? Just me? Okay then...
Anyway...
The story follows Leigh, a woman who is tired of living such a crappy life. She's been living with drug dealer Jesse for over a year now, stuck in the middle of nowhere Kentucky, and she's just done. After Jesse sends her on a drug run that almost ends with Leigh being raped and/or murdered, she takes the little bit of money she received and goes on the run. She ends up in Hawaii, and it's there she decides to start over. But idyllic island life isn't all it's cracked up to be.
On Leigh's first day of her new job at the Mahalo Club, there's an incident on the tennis courts. Later that night, there's a gruesome discovery on the beach. At first, it just seems like two weird events that aren't really connected. But more strange things start happening. Plus, Jesse is now on the hunt for Leigh (who now goes by Lani) because he discovered she ran off with the money and the meth in the van she took from him. There's a lot going on, and it's a bit of a tense cat and mouse game at times.
I won't spoil anything, but that ending... Oh, boy... Good thing there's an epilogue too.
Also, I pride myself on having a strong stomach. Very little fazes me when it comes to the horror genre, but the tennis court scene with Tina made me put my Kindle down and walk away for a few minutes. It's pretty gnarly.
If you're looking for an intriguing thriller with horror elements mixed in, with characters who are easy to like and are well-written, and a plot that will suck you right in, definitely give The Island Mother a go.
4.5 stars!
About the Author
Jon Cohn has been giving himself nightmares reading horror books ever since he was a small child, and he revels in the opportunity to do the same to others. When he is not busy writing spooky stories, Jon is a professional board game designer and publisher. He specializes in games that-- you guessed it-- focus on horror, and hopefully a few laughs. He lives in San Diego, CA with his wife and two little monsters, Luna and Gizmo.
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