The Sun Down Motel

The Sun Down Motel

By Simone St. James

Upstate New York, 1982. Viv Delaney wants to move to New York City, and to help pay for it she takes a job as the night clerk at the Sun Down Motel in Fell, New York. But something isnʼt right at the motel, something haunting and scary.

Upstate New York, 2017. Carly Kirk has never been able to let go of the story of her aunt Viv, who mysteriously disappeared from the Sun Down before she was born. She decides to move to Fell and visit the motel, where she quickly learns that nothing has changed since 1982. And she soon finds herself ensnared in the same mysteries that claimed her aunt.

This was one I was excited by, and I liked it a lot even though I don't generally get into ghost stories. There's ghosts in the book, but they're fairly matter of fact, mostly there to point fingers at murderers and rain righteousness down. It's a bit like The dollhouse Murders in that sense, and can you believe one of my teachers read that in class? I have to go read that again. 

Anyway, after her mother dies of cancer, Carly decides to go investigate the Sun Down Motel in Fell, New York, where her aunt disappeared thirty five years ago.  Her aunt, Viv, tells her story in alternating chapters. As it turns out, Viv's encounters at the Sun Down progress from ghosts to serial killers.

 

What I liked about this book is that both Carly and Viv are smart enough to take precautions - although Viv narrowly escapes a bad hitchhike upon her arrival in Fall, she quickly learns the ins and outs of identifying and avoiding predators.  And Carly is the 21st century, smart phone using kind of girl, who has grown up with the "stranger danger" idea.  But the author still manages to put them in real danger without making them stupid (at least, not until the finale which feels so good you don't mind how unrealistic it is). 

I also really liked the setting - small town, sure, but also the 1980s aspects of it were fun to dig into.  We get a lot of purple eyeshadow and funky haircuts, and while I would never want to live through the 80s, like Stranger Things, it's got a good nostalgic kick to it, and feels somewhat fresh.

48: A Book with Two POVs