The Girl from Widow Hills

It’ a creepy, compelling story of a life forever warped and twisted by unwanted fame. It poses a well-known, and often repeated theme, in this era of internet celebrities and their fall from grace that often follows. A shivery kind of fun creeps upon the reader as we wonder along with Olivia whether those close to her should be trusted or feared., I often wanted to urge her on as she races to unravel the past without unraveling her fragile sanity. I found it to be an above-average psychological thriller/mystery that keeps the suspense ratcheted up through most of the book. It’s wasn’t an easy solve since each passing chapter seemed to create more questions than it gave answers. Still very 4.5 star worthy.

"What did we know about the things that could push another person to extremes?"

This was another great mystery. I'm really enjoying the stories from this author. This one is from a child star - not because she was an actor or singer but because she was a survivor. Six years old and a sleep walker, one night she was swept away and rushed into underground water pipes. She was missing for 3 days until one of the searchers found her at a water drain and the town cheered as she was lifted out and saved.

But it's been almost 20 years and she's not that girl anymore. She's changed her name and her life and she doesn't want to be her anymore. The media, the stories, the interviews and being picked apart. So imagine her surprise when she's caught show more sleepwalking again one night, something she hasn't done since she was six. It's only a few nights later she stumbles over a dead man in her front yard.

The story is so twisty. I had a lot of guesses and I definitely got things wrong. I liked that I didn't trust anyone - I was completely wrapped up in Olivia's paranoia of her friends, family, neighbors and co-workers. Who could she trust? No one. I liked how this all played out and that it kept me guessing. So glad I gave it a try. show less

When Arden/Olivia was six years old, she got out of the house one night while sleepwalking, got lost during a rainstorm and was missing for three days, the subject of a nationwide search, later found clinging to a storm drain. Like many people who are the subject of national media attention, it upended her life. Twenty years later, she’s changed her name, moved to a different state, and tells no one about her past as that girl. And of course, like in any good mystery/thriller, things are not always as they seem.

I REALLY liked this book. Admittedly, it was one of those where information is meted out quite slowly at first in dribs and drabs, so for a while, I was a bit confused as to what exactly was going on and how the plot was going show more to come together. But I’ve read many books by Megan Miranda, and she always tells an excellent story, and this was no exception. All those little pieces eventually fell into place and made for a wonderful story with some amazing twists. The atmosphere is super spooky and you turn each page unsure who if anyone you can trust. An excellent read!

Please excuse typos/name misspellings. Entered on screen reader. show less

Imaging you're running through a maze at dusk and there's a thunderstorm approaching. Every time lightning flashes, you flinch and go faster, but each time you think you've found a way out, an evil clown pops from a hidden doorway, yelling 'Gotcha!" That's how this felt the deeper into it I got. There are so many twists and surprises, I felt dizzy when I finished. It's tricky, treacherous and one fine read.

Reading this book immediately brought to mind Baby Jessica’s rescue back in the late 80s. That was a major news event with everyone’s eyes glued to the TV, hoping for the best. Once something like that is over, do you ever wonder what impact the attention has on those involved as the years pass?

In THE GIRL FROM WIDOW HILLS, six year-old Arden Maynor’s life is changed forever when she’s swept away in a storm drain after sleepwalking. After a huge search and media circus, she’s miraculously rescued a few days later, and unfortunately the fame she didn’t ask for never goes away.

Now approaching the 20-year anniversary of the incident, Arden has left her hometown and changed her name to Olivia. The anniversary is putting her show more under stress, and she finds herself sleepwalking once again. This time, she trips over a dead body in her backyard. What could it mean?

I have mixed feelings about this book. It’s a slower paced novel with a couple of good twists, particularly when the identity of the body Arden/Olivia finds is revealed. For such an intriguing premise, there wasn’t a lot of excitement or suspense in the plot, and I wish the secondary characters would have been fleshed out more. The ending was kind of crazy, not at all what I was expecting! Overall, this was a good mystery that just needed a little more thrill.

Disclosure: I received a copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. show less

Arden Maynor was only young when she was swept away while sleepwalking. She was missing for days and was eventually found alive, clinging to a storm drain. She was a living miracle, but fame took its toll and when she was old enough she changed her name and disappeared from the public eye. She's now known as Olivia and is living hundreds of miles away from the place she grew up. But the twentieth anniversary of her rescue is coming up and the media will no doubt have something planned. She feels like she's being watched, she begins sleepwalking again - something that hasn't happened in a long time. One night she wakes up outside her home and finds a corpse at her feet.

I'll admit I had trouble getting into this one at first. The writing show more seemed abrupt and disjointed. But I kept plugging away and eventually I couldn't turn the pages fast enough. I'll also admit that I did not read the part about the corpse on the blurb so I was really excited when I read about that and that's where it took off for me. What happened?! Not only what happened now, but what happened all those years ago. Interesting concept. Interesting characters. The ending was a little out there for me, but overall this was a very strong, solid read.

Thank you to Netgalley and Simon & Schuster Canada for an ARC. show less

The Girl from Widow Hills by Megan Miranda is a very highly recommended, outstanding novel of psychological suspense. This one is a winner!

Everyone knows the story of "the girl from Widow Hills." Arden Maynor was six years old when she became that girl, the girl from Widow Hills, Kentucky, the one who made national news during the search for her and her rescue. Arden was swept away into the storm drains when she was sleepwalking during a storm. The search lasted three days. Against all odds, she was found, alive, clinging to a storm drain. Fame and media attention followed. Everyone was focused on her, including fans and stalkers. Her mother wrote a book about the incident. Every year, when the anniversary date came up, the fervor began show more again. Her mother benefited financially from the interest and took advantage of it. As soon as she could, Arden legally changed her name to Olivia (Liv) Meyer so she could escape the public attention and live a private life.

Now she lives in Central Valley, N.C. and has a good job as a hospital administrator, but the twentieth anniversary of her rescue is approaching, which means the media will renew their interest in Arden. Her estranged mother passed away six months earlier, so they won't be able to contact her for an interview. Even though she feels like she has hidden her past, Olivia begins to feel like she's being watched and when a stranger approaches her outside the store, she starts to become alarmed. Then one night she is jolted away by a ringing phone. She discovers she is outside, and stumbles over a dead body. She doesn't remember killing the man and has no idea who he was - until his name is revealed to her by the police. The man was involved with her rescue when she was six. Who killed him? How did he find her?

Olivia is a well-developed character. You will want to support her and hope for the best. She is an unreliable narrator, as she admits to the reader to not remembering what happened the night the body was found and she had been sleepwalking a night before. The thing is, you will be on her side. You'll be rooting for her, hoping for the best, wanting to assist her in finding out what really happened. You might even tell her aloud to be more suspicious of that person, or to be cautious there, Olivia.

The plot of The Girl from Widow Hills immediately grabbed my attention. This is a well-written, excellent, well-paced whodunit. I was totally engrossed in this first-rate novel of psychological suspense from beginning to end. The tension keeps mounting incrementally as Olivia is investigated, and begins to investigate on her own. Olivia narrates the novel, but Miranda cleverly uses media transcripts, newspaper reports, book excerpts, and voicemails from the past up to the present to add a depth to the narrative. I smugly thought I had everything figured out several times, but then was blown out of the water by the twisty, shocking ending. Well done, Megan Miranda! Miranda is fast becoming one of my favorite go-to novelists for a guaranteed winner.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Simon & Schuster.
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