Locust Lane

Locust Lane is supposed to be a thriller, but is more of an extremely slow crime fiction. There really isn't any mystery to it, at least not for me, and not sure where the thrills we're supposed to be. There was a crime. It's obvious who was involved and who was covering it up.

I did enjoy that this has multiple POVs as it's one of my favorite formats to read. I couldn't care less about any of the characters except for Christopher. He is the only one I felt anything for.

As a whole, this was disappointing as it was hard to get through as I was bored most of the time. Had it been more of a mystery with better character development I probably would have enjoyed it more. This clearly was my type of read.

I sincerely appreciate Celadon Books for the review copy. All opinions expressed are my own. Really more of a 2.5

This book was a Goodreads giveaway win for me. I don't read a lot of mystery thrillers, historical fiction is the genre I read most, but after reading this book I will have to seek out more. I loved it. I loved reading the different perspectives from each of the main characters. I like where one would pick up where another left off, or at the same timeframe. They each built off the other but with their own spin on the scene. It was a simmering story with a really good ending. I would definitely recommend reading it if given the chance.

This review is published in full here: https://literaryquicksand.com/2022/12/audiobook-review-locust-lane-by-stephen-amidon/

Audiobooks are still a relatively new thing for me, but I'm loving slotting some in between my other reads. I think mystery/thrillers are especially good picks to listen to, and so far I haven't been let down.

Locust Lane is being compared to Little Fires Everywhere, and I can definitely see that. I also thought it had a Beartown vibe to it, because nothing sinister can ever happen in a quiet town, right? It has this overall feeling like something big is looming – some town-shaking discovery that you're waiting for. Of course, the murder happens right away in Locust Lane, but it does feel like there's something coming.

This book effectively had me going back and forth between who I thought was the killer, and I was wrong up until the reveal. I'm not exactly a thriller reader aficionado, but it was fun for me. I enjoyed the rich suburb problems storyline as well, about how far some rich folks will go to keep their reputations in tact.

What I liked most about the audiobook version was the way the narrator was able to make her voice sound so “hoity toity” for the rich mom. That really helped me feel immersed in the story and added something to the narration. She's also really good at sounding like a shifty teenage boy with something to hide