The Girl from Widow Hills by Megan Miranda #bookreview #thriller

Title: The Girl from Widow Hills

Author: Megan Miranda

Publisher: Simon & Schuster

Publication Date: June 23, 2020

Page Count: 336

My rating:  4 stars

About the book:

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Last House Guest—a Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick—comes a riveting new novel of psychological suspense about a young woman plagued by night terrors after a childhood trauma who wakes one evening to find a corpse at her feet.

Everyone knows the story of “the girl from Widow Hills.”

Arden Maynor was just a child when she was swept away while sleepwalking during a terrifying rainstorm and went missing for days. Strangers and friends, neighbors and rescue workers, set up search parties and held vigils, praying for her safe return. Against all odds, she was found, alive, clinging to a storm drain. The girl from Widow Hills was a living miracle. Arden’s mother wrote a book. Fame followed. Fans and fan letters, creeps, and stalkers. And every year, the anniversary. It all became too much. As soon as she was old enough, Arden changed her name and disappeared from the public eye.

Now a young woman living hundreds of miles away, Arden goes by Olivia. She’s managed to stay off the radar for the last few years. But with the twentieth anniversary of her rescue approaching, the media will inevitably renew its interest in Arden. Where is she now? Soon Olivia feels like she’s being watched and begins sleepwalking again, like she did long ago, even waking outside her home. Until late one night she jolts awake in her yard. At her feet is the corpse of a man she knows—from her previous life, as Arden Maynor.

And now, the girl from Widow Hills is about to become the center of the story, once again, in this propulsive page-turner from suspense master Megan Miranda.

The Girl from Widow Hills is another psychological thriller by author Megan Miranda with whom I’ve had some up and down reactions to before in the past. Having really enjoyed a few of hers though I just knew I had to check out this latest.

Arden Maynor is that girl from Widow Hills, the girl that as a child of only six years old she turned up missing from her home one night leading to a huge search. Arden had a habit of sleepwalking and one night she walked right out into a huge storm and couldn’t be found for several days but thankfully she survived.

As amazing as it was for Arden to live through such an ordeal the attention it brought to her family was too much for a child to grow up with. Arden changed her name to Olivia and was happily enjoying her anonymity until one night she begins to sleep walk again and stumbles right into a corpse.

I have to admit The Girl from Widow Hills was somewhat of a slow starter for me and I wasn’t too sure about it in the beginning. Thankfully though those twists and turns I love began to pull me more into story and get interested in Arden/Olivia’s predicament becoming curious as to who could be at fault. Once fully engaged the story seemed to fly by to a conclusion I didn’t see coming.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

Find this book online: 

Goodreads  / Amazon

About the author:

Megan Miranda is the New York Times bestselling author of ALL THE MISSING GIRLS, THE PERFECT STRANGER, and THE LAST HOUSE GUEST, a Reese Witherspoon Book Club pick. She has also written several books for young adults, including COME FIND ME, FRAGMENTS OF THE LOST, and THE SAFEST LIES. She grew up in New Jersey, graduated from MIT, and lives in North Carolina with her husband and two children.

Her next adult suspense, THE GIRL FROM WIDOW HILLS, will be published on June 23rd, 2020.

Follow @MeganLMiranda on Twitter and Instagram, or @AuthorMeganMiranda on Facebook.