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River Road
From the award-winning author of The Lake of Dead Languages comes a chilling new psychological thriller about a professor accused of killing her favorite student in a hit-and-run accident.
Nan Lewis—a creative writing professor at a state university in upstate New York—is driving home from a faculty holiday party after finding out she’s been denied tenure. On her way, she hits a deer, but when she gets out of her car to look for it, the deer is nowhere to be found. Eager to get home and out of the oncoming snowstorm, Nan is forced to leave her car at the bottom of her snowy driveway to wait out the longest night of the year—and the lowest point of her life…
The next morning, Nan is woken up by a police officer at her door with terrible news—one of her students, Leia Dawson, was killed in a hit-and-run on River Road the night before. And because of the damage to her car, Nan is a suspect. In the days following the accident, Nan finds herself shunned by the same community that rallied around her when her own daughter was killed in an eerily similar accident six years prior. When Nan begins finding disturbing tokens that recall the death of Nan’s own daughter, Nan suspects that the two accidents are connected.
As she begins to dig further, she discovers that everyone around her, including Leia, is hiding secrets. But can she uncover them, clear her name, and figure out who really killed Leia before her reputation is destroyed for good?
Nan Lewis—a creative writing professor at a state university in upstate New York—is driving home from a faculty holiday party after finding out she’s been denied tenure. On her way, she hits a deer, but when she gets out of her car to look for it, the deer is nowhere to be found. Eager to get home and out of the oncoming snowstorm, Nan is forced to leave her car at the bottom of her snowy driveway to wait out the longest night of the year—and the lowest point of her life…
The next morning, Nan is woken up by a police officer at her door with terrible news—one of her students, Leia Dawson, was killed in a hit-and-run on River Road the night before. And because of the damage to her car, Nan is a suspect. In the days following the accident, Nan finds herself shunned by the same community that rallied around her when her own daughter was killed in an eerily similar accident six years prior. When Nan begins finding disturbing tokens that recall the death of Nan’s own daughter, Nan suspects that the two accidents are connected.
As she begins to dig further, she discovers that everyone around her, including Leia, is hiding secrets. But can she uncover them, clear her name, and figure out who really killed Leia before her reputation is destroyed for good?
288 pages, Hardcover
First published January 19, 2016
111 people are currently reading
3572 people want to read
About the author
Carol Goodman
35 books2,915 followersCarol Goodman is the author of The Lake of Dead Languages, The Seduction of Water, which won the Hammett Prize, The Widow's House, which won the Mary Higgins Clark Award and The Night Visitors, which won the Mary Higgins Clark Award. She is also the co-author, with her husband Lee Slonimsky, of the Watchtower fantasy trilogy. Her work has appeared in such journals as The Greensboro Review, Literal Latte, The Midwest Quarterly, and Other Voices. After graduation from Vassar College, where she majored in Latin, she taught Latin for several years in Austin, Texas. She then received an M.F.A. in fiction from the New School University. Goodman currently teaches literature and writing at The New School and SUNY New Paltz and lives with her family in the Hudson Valley.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 466 reviews
January 23, 2016
2.5 I loved Goodman's previous books, The Lake of Dead Languages, the first book I read that put this author on my radar. She hasn't written an adult novel for several years so when I saw this one I was thrilled.
This one once again takes place at a school. Nan, whose four year old daughter had been killed by a drunk driver, is a writing teacher at the school. She also has a drinking problem. When one of her favorite students is killed by a driver who leaves her body in a ditch suspicion falls on many in the school, firstly Nan herself. This promising young writer has hidden many secrets but who wanted her dead? So a solid and somewhat interesting plot, but it falls apart for me soon after. Nan investigating on her own., runs hither and non getting into trouble after trouble along the way. But does this stop her? No it doesn't. Fast paced because things keep happening even though to me many of actions make no sense. Very disorganized and though usually I am terrible at guessing who done it, even I guessed rather early.
I may be harder on this book than I should have been but I know this author can write so much better than this. So yes maybe not fair but I am judging this one based on her previous books. So there you have it a rather disappointed reader.
ARC from publisher.
This one once again takes place at a school. Nan, whose four year old daughter had been killed by a drunk driver, is a writing teacher at the school. She also has a drinking problem. When one of her favorite students is killed by a driver who leaves her body in a ditch suspicion falls on many in the school, firstly Nan herself. This promising young writer has hidden many secrets but who wanted her dead? So a solid and somewhat interesting plot, but it falls apart for me soon after. Nan investigating on her own., runs hither and non getting into trouble after trouble along the way. But does this stop her? No it doesn't. Fast paced because things keep happening even though to me many of actions make no sense. Very disorganized and though usually I am terrible at guessing who done it, even I guessed rather early.
I may be harder on this book than I should have been but I know this author can write so much better than this. So yes maybe not fair but I am judging this one based on her previous books. So there you have it a rather disappointed reader.
ARC from publisher.
October 24, 2022
Truthfully, I strongly considered DNFing this one… 2-2.5 stars.
The setup (although generally overdone/overused in mystery-thrillers) sounded great: a professor at university is driving home from a party and hits a deer, or at least what she thinks is a deer, because after a night of drinking, she can’t quite remember all the details. And when the police knock on her door to inform her of the death of a beloved student, she quickly realizes she is the #1 suspect. Atmosphere, suspense, murder mystery, unreliable narration… sign me up.
My biggest hurtle was that I struggled to stay engaged due to the slow pacing of the plot and the unlikeable characters/poor character development. In terms of plot, it felt like little happened over the course of the story… besides dialogue. Lots and lots of dialogue. Which can be engaging, but typically not if the characters are ill-developed. And in this case, most of the townsfolk and university professors were poorly developed and archetypal in nature; the beloved teacher’s pet, the slacker student, the exploitative/manipulative department chair, the gossipy female professors… all pretty stereotypical. Additionally, the writing felt very redundant. Maybe this was a direct consequence of the conversational nature of the plot development, but for instance, readers hear how beloved the deceased was about a dozen times in the opening chapters. Like, okay, we get it. Plus, the nature of the unreliable narration trope is such that the plot relies on convenience, which can be off-putting.
So… while I enjoyed the atmosphere and the wintery setting, I disliked the execution all-around. I'm still excited to try more of the author's backlist, but I hope this isn't the best that Carol Goodman can do...
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August 21, 2022: A more comprehensive review to come, but for now... 2-2.5 stars. I enjoyed the atmosphere and the wintery setting, but I struggled to stay engaged due to the slow pacing and I thought the writing was too redundant (maybe a nature of the way in which the plot development was conducted... through conversations, which can sound redundant to the reader when information has already been divulged in previous conversations...?). Anyway, I'm still excited to try more of the author's backlist, but I hope this isn't the best that Carol Goodman can do...
The setup (although generally overdone/overused in mystery-thrillers) sounded great: a professor at university is driving home from a party and hits a deer, or at least what she thinks is a deer, because after a night of drinking, she can’t quite remember all the details. And when the police knock on her door to inform her of the death of a beloved student, she quickly realizes she is the #1 suspect. Atmosphere, suspense, murder mystery, unreliable narration… sign me up.
My biggest hurtle was that I struggled to stay engaged due to the slow pacing of the plot and the unlikeable characters/poor character development. In terms of plot, it felt like little happened over the course of the story… besides dialogue. Lots and lots of dialogue. Which can be engaging, but typically not if the characters are ill-developed. And in this case, most of the townsfolk and university professors were poorly developed and archetypal in nature; the beloved teacher’s pet, the slacker student, the exploitative/manipulative department chair, the gossipy female professors… all pretty stereotypical. Additionally, the writing felt very redundant. Maybe this was a direct consequence of the conversational nature of the plot development, but for instance, readers hear how beloved the deceased was about a dozen times in the opening chapters. Like, okay, we get it. Plus, the nature of the unreliable narration trope is such that the plot relies on convenience, which can be off-putting.
So… while I enjoyed the atmosphere and the wintery setting, I disliked the execution all-around. I'm still excited to try more of the author's backlist, but I hope this isn't the best that Carol Goodman can do...
-----------------------
August 21, 2022: A more comprehensive review to come, but for now... 2-2.5 stars. I enjoyed the atmosphere and the wintery setting, but I struggled to stay engaged due to the slow pacing and I thought the writing was too redundant (maybe a nature of the way in which the plot development was conducted... through conversations, which can sound redundant to the reader when information has already been divulged in previous conversations...?). Anyway, I'm still excited to try more of the author's backlist, but I hope this isn't the best that Carol Goodman can do...
February 2, 2016
Carol Goodman has a special place in my life as a reader, perhaps even in my spiritual life, as the author who brought me back to reading crime fiction with The Lake of Dead Languages. I’d read a lot of mysteries in my teens & 20s but while I was a professional literature teacher & scholar I read little imaginative literature for recreation. But as a school story about a Latin teacher, her 1st novel, Lake of Dead Languages, appealed to me. Since then I have read several of Carol Goodman’s books. The Night Villa was the one I liked best both for its setting on the Bay of Naples & because it is based on the classical scholarship of a BF (who so far as I know hasn’t murdered anybody). I chose River Road expecting a one-time fast-read traveling audio hoping for a four-star but I fear I was disappointed. Perhaps it’s just that I’ve had a surfeit of academic intrigue in real life--tenure committees, faculty love affairs, professors with a “drinking problem” (i.e. no trouble drinking), and plagiarism are what I lived with for forty years. As Nan the main character is a fiction writer (substituting ETOH for her deficiency in creative juices), there’s not as much classical scholarship as I’d have liked, tho’ I enjoyed Scully the drug dealer as the Scylla & naming the institution SUNY/Acheron was lol funny. How I’d love a degree, honoris causa, from that place!
Lately in thriller-mysteries there’s more villainy than one baddie can handle, so as in this book more are required (sort of like the famous 3rd murderer in Macbeth, one reckons) which means an extra hare’s-breath ‘scape for the MC too. First the reader meets an ostensible villain who’s known well-before the end of the book, but after that character is rendered hors de combat, the main character & the reader (because there are a couple of chapters still to go) find a hidden malefactor who is the real lead villain. This is usually some seemingly innocuous minor character (in a British police procedural I read it was a FLO--a nice touch!), often someone who pretends to be a friend. In River Road I didn’t quite suss the hidden villain but it was someone high on my list of likely suspects & I’d nailed the motive, something endemic in academia. We also are given another favorite fictional-villain cliché. After the villain gets the drop on you or otherwise renders you helpless, rather than dispatching you immediately & skedaddling, the villain has to expend several pages informing the intended victim of the details & motives of the crime, giving the cavalry enough time to arrive. It is also characteristic of this sort of fiction that characters who so far as we are aware have no experience with firearms are able to get hold of an unfamiliar pistol & kill with a single shot.
Not a bad book, but I regret the time wasted not listening to something better. Tho’ I am grateful to Carol Goodman for reviving my love to this genre, I find now her wares, both the characters & the setting, seem to have become awfully shopworn.
Lately in thriller-mysteries there’s more villainy than one baddie can handle, so as in this book more are required (sort of like the famous 3rd murderer in Macbeth, one reckons) which means an extra hare’s-breath ‘scape for the MC too. First the reader meets an ostensible villain who’s known well-before the end of the book, but after that character is rendered hors de combat, the main character & the reader (because there are a couple of chapters still to go) find a hidden malefactor who is the real lead villain. This is usually some seemingly innocuous minor character (in a British police procedural I read it was a FLO--a nice touch!), often someone who pretends to be a friend. In River Road I didn’t quite suss the hidden villain but it was someone high on my list of likely suspects & I’d nailed the motive, something endemic in academia. We also are given another favorite fictional-villain cliché. After the villain gets the drop on you or otherwise renders you helpless, rather than dispatching you immediately & skedaddling, the villain has to expend several pages informing the intended victim of the details & motives of the crime, giving the cavalry enough time to arrive. It is also characteristic of this sort of fiction that characters who so far as we are aware have no experience with firearms are able to get hold of an unfamiliar pistol & kill with a single shot.
Not a bad book, but I regret the time wasted not listening to something better. Tho’ I am grateful to Carol Goodman for reviving my love to this genre, I find now her wares, both the characters & the setting, seem to have become awfully shopworn.
January 23, 2016
Carol Goodman is one of my favorite mystery writers, but this one just did NOT do it for me. I admitted to my best friend midway through the book that part of the problem is probably me - I've never enjoyed books where the main character is an addict. I find it hard to root for them and spend most of my time loathing them instead of finding anything about them compelling. I was thinking this was a 3-star rating up until the end when a completely unforeshadowed, "Surprise, I'm actually a total psychopath and no one ever knew," solution to the mystery was presented. It was entirely too clumsy for someone as experienced and skilled as Goodman. There are also endless descriptions of driving on snowy roads and walking through snowy woods that got old fast.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 2, 2016
I enjoyed this, albeit rather mildly, but I liked it better than some of her recent novels. It contains many elements readers of hers will be familiar with: winter setting, remote college, teacher-student relationships (not THAT kind), writers. However, I didn't feel it was as rich a story as she is capable of weaving.
January 12, 2023
Nan Lewis has had more than a few too many to be driving, and hitting a deer on her way home cemented that fact. But when the body of a student is also discovered along the roads she travelled on, Nan must face the possibility that it wasn't all she hit. Either she is guilty or another roamed the roads alongside her that night, leaving her to face the consequences alone.
I love how Goodman tackles hard-hitting topics inside her mysteries and this novel was no exception. I was as invested in the tragedy that occurred as I was in the details of Nan's personal life, especially as the two became increasingly intertwined. I also loved the academic focus, including all scenes set inside the institution Nan taught at, and how this too became increasingly interwoven into the unfolding mystery.
I love how Goodman tackles hard-hitting topics inside her mysteries and this novel was no exception. I was as invested in the tragedy that occurred as I was in the details of Nan's personal life, especially as the two became increasingly intertwined. I also loved the academic focus, including all scenes set inside the institution Nan taught at, and how this too became increasingly interwoven into the unfolding mystery.
January 3, 2018
Loved this. Such an atmospheric mystery, full of heart and emotion as well as drama and tension.
May 10, 2019
This was predictable, boring, unnecessarily convoluted and managed to end in a nice neat bow.
March 1, 2018
This is, without exaggerating, the worst book I have ever read.
You see, I attended Bard College (the college located just outside of Red Hook on River Road- the college SUNY Acheron is clearly based off of- the ghost stories, the prison initiative, Overheard, etc). I lived in the exact area the book described for several years. Not only that, but I was also a creative writing student. You can see why I was very curious to pick up this book- curious, and hesitant. Two years before this book was published, there was a devastating drunk driving accident that tragically killed two students in my class. After reading the jacket, I was concerned this book would be exploitative; it was not. That is the smallest scrap of praise I can offer it.
So here's the deal:
1. All the students' writing featuring in this book is absolutely disastrous. Leia Dawson's work, in particular, is sappy and riddled with cliches in a way that might not even have gotten her accepted into the class. Let it be known that MASSIVE plot points- including the culmination of the entire book- rely on the strength of Leia's writing ability. She genuinely writes like a fifteen year old. I have only once or twice in my life seen work as awful as hers even make it to the workshop. Besides the plot hinging on her bad writing being phenomenal, there are just too many points in the plot where people are awestruck by her talent. ADULTS are desperately jealous of her talent, and that's just inaccurate. I could see saying that she's talented for her age- I would agree, if she were halfway through high school. But a successful adult writer would not be envious. What is it that's so moving? Could it be the similes about her being like a quilt, stitched together poorly? About how each patch represented a further loss of her innocence? I didn't know writing the equivalent of a tenth-grade personal essay could get you involved in a murder...
2. The setting is poorly-realised, which is depressing because the author of this book lives not even a full hour away from where she set the story!!! The only descriptors involve maybe ONE detailed depiction of the mountains, lots of descriptions of snow, and constant mentions of the Kingston-Rhinecliff Bridge and the suicide prevention sign at the entrance of it. Keep in mind, I spent four years of my life in exactly the spots she described. The lack of description, and the superficiality of what little description there is, makes it read as though she took a cab to Red Hook... maybe once. Maybe twice. The Hudson Valley is one of the most stunning places in the world, which the author knows! She LIVES there. I honestly cannot grasp how she failed to capture even a piece of the essence of this place. River Road is a real road, guys. All these places are real. She didn't even have to imagine them.
3. The fucked up logic of this book is shocking. Don't even get me started. Keep in mind, I'm not just talking about the main character, Nan. It makes a degree of sense that Nan is irrational based on everything that she goes through both before and after the events of the book. It does not make sense for other characters to behave this way, EVEN grieving ones. In both my high school and college I experienced massive events of grief like this, and so I'm not just guessing about it. One such instance is as follows (not a spoiler): Nan tells her students that to be a writer, you have to go out and experience the world. Leia follows her advice in dangerous ways. Okay. Fine. But is the whole town going to shout at Nan DURING LEIA'S MEMORIAL and accuse her of killing Leia indirectly by giving harmless advice? Absolutely not. The town's scrutiny of her makes sense at the beginning, when she is still a suspect. The hatred levelled at her in the second half just reads as an angst factory to generate sympathy for Nan. Actually, any sympathy I had for Nan was long gone by that point.
4. The villain. There's a speech about how stepmommy's trust fund won't last forever to make SURE you know this person is, like, evil. Calling this person a stock character wouldn't do justice to stock characters. And for reasons I mentioned earlier, this person's motivations make NO sense. There were better examples of stock characters throughout the book- like Shawna or Dottie- uninspiring but harmless.
5. The romance. Forced, pointless, unappealing. But maybe by the time that plot point came up, I was already long-gone. Good thing I got it at a library so I didn't have to pay for it.
You see, I attended Bard College (the college located just outside of Red Hook on River Road- the college SUNY Acheron is clearly based off of- the ghost stories, the prison initiative, Overheard, etc). I lived in the exact area the book described for several years. Not only that, but I was also a creative writing student. You can see why I was very curious to pick up this book- curious, and hesitant. Two years before this book was published, there was a devastating drunk driving accident that tragically killed two students in my class. After reading the jacket, I was concerned this book would be exploitative; it was not. That is the smallest scrap of praise I can offer it.
So here's the deal:
1. All the students' writing featuring in this book is absolutely disastrous. Leia Dawson's work, in particular, is sappy and riddled with cliches in a way that might not even have gotten her accepted into the class. Let it be known that MASSIVE plot points- including the culmination of the entire book- rely on the strength of Leia's writing ability. She genuinely writes like a fifteen year old. I have only once or twice in my life seen work as awful as hers even make it to the workshop. Besides the plot hinging on her bad writing being phenomenal, there are just too many points in the plot where people are awestruck by her talent. ADULTS are desperately jealous of her talent, and that's just inaccurate. I could see saying that she's talented for her age- I would agree, if she were halfway through high school. But a successful adult writer would not be envious. What is it that's so moving? Could it be the similes about her being like a quilt, stitched together poorly? About how each patch represented a further loss of her innocence? I didn't know writing the equivalent of a tenth-grade personal essay could get you involved in a murder...
2. The setting is poorly-realised, which is depressing because the author of this book lives not even a full hour away from where she set the story!!! The only descriptors involve maybe ONE detailed depiction of the mountains, lots of descriptions of snow, and constant mentions of the Kingston-Rhinecliff Bridge and the suicide prevention sign at the entrance of it. Keep in mind, I spent four years of my life in exactly the spots she described. The lack of description, and the superficiality of what little description there is, makes it read as though she took a cab to Red Hook... maybe once. Maybe twice. The Hudson Valley is one of the most stunning places in the world, which the author knows! She LIVES there. I honestly cannot grasp how she failed to capture even a piece of the essence of this place. River Road is a real road, guys. All these places are real. She didn't even have to imagine them.
3. The fucked up logic of this book is shocking. Don't even get me started. Keep in mind, I'm not just talking about the main character, Nan. It makes a degree of sense that Nan is irrational based on everything that she goes through both before and after the events of the book. It does not make sense for other characters to behave this way, EVEN grieving ones. In both my high school and college I experienced massive events of grief like this, and so I'm not just guessing about it. One such instance is as follows (not a spoiler): Nan tells her students that to be a writer, you have to go out and experience the world. Leia follows her advice in dangerous ways. Okay. Fine. But is the whole town going to shout at Nan DURING LEIA'S MEMORIAL and accuse her of killing Leia indirectly by giving harmless advice? Absolutely not. The town's scrutiny of her makes sense at the beginning, when she is still a suspect. The hatred levelled at her in the second half just reads as an angst factory to generate sympathy for Nan. Actually, any sympathy I had for Nan was long gone by that point.
4. The villain. There's a speech about how stepmommy's trust fund won't last forever to make SURE you know this person is, like, evil. Calling this person a stock character wouldn't do justice to stock characters. And for reasons I mentioned earlier, this person's motivations make NO sense. There were better examples of stock characters throughout the book- like Shawna or Dottie- uninspiring but harmless.
5. The romance. Forced, pointless, unappealing. But maybe by the time that plot point came up, I was already long-gone. Good thing I got it at a library so I didn't have to pay for it.
September 26, 2017
I thoroughly enjoyed River Road. It was pacy, with questionable characters and a very good story.
We meet Nan Lewis, a teacher, who on her way home from a party hits a deer with her car. When she wakes in the morning to the news that one of her students was killed in a hit and run on the same road she instantly becomes the main suspect in the investigation.
What follows is a taut thriller, full of interesting and well written characters that pulls you in and keeps you reading. I was hooked fairly early on, and I was eager to know what was happening.
I felt sorry for Nan as she is essentially ostracised by her small community, and the hit and run of her own daughter many years ago comes back to haunt her in other ways. Struggling to keep her head above water, she vows to find out what happened and how she is involved.
River Road was an unexpectedly gripping read, full of twists and turns, with plenty of red herrings thrown in for good measure too! In the interest of full disclosure I figured out some of these early on, but it in no way hindered my enjoyment of this book. I just wanted the characters to catch up! 😂
Carol Goodman is a new author for me, so I will definitely be checking her previous books.
We meet Nan Lewis, a teacher, who on her way home from a party hits a deer with her car. When she wakes in the morning to the news that one of her students was killed in a hit and run on the same road she instantly becomes the main suspect in the investigation.
What follows is a taut thriller, full of interesting and well written characters that pulls you in and keeps you reading. I was hooked fairly early on, and I was eager to know what was happening.
I felt sorry for Nan as she is essentially ostracised by her small community, and the hit and run of her own daughter many years ago comes back to haunt her in other ways. Struggling to keep her head above water, she vows to find out what happened and how she is involved.
River Road was an unexpectedly gripping read, full of twists and turns, with plenty of red herrings thrown in for good measure too! In the interest of full disclosure I figured out some of these early on, but it in no way hindered my enjoyment of this book. I just wanted the characters to catch up! 😂
Carol Goodman is a new author for me, so I will definitely be checking her previous books.
October 5, 2015
Nan Lewis was still grieving the death of her young daughter 6 years earlier, a death which she still blamed herself for. She had gone inside to write down an idea for her new novel and she didn’t see when Emmy ran into the road and was hit by a car. Nan no longer wrote but she was dedicated to the students in her creative writing classes at Acheron College. Her job was her whole life. So she was horrified when one of her favorite students was killed by a hit and run driver and even more horrified when she realized she was a prime suspect. She was determined to find out what really happened that night – a night when she was very upset because of being denied tenure, had a little too much to drink, had hit a deer on her way home and had passed out sitting on a bench in the woods near where the hit and run occurred. All of a sudden friends, students and colleagues were all suspect and Nan began to question her own actions before the horrible accident. River Road is a beautifully written, atmospheric psychological thriller where everyone is harboring a secret but only one person is guilty.
August 14, 2020
This is an atmospheric Northern Gothic tale immersed in unresolved grief and guilt. The varying degrees of tragedy woven through this story in addition to the visuals of the frigid landscape make this a powerful story.
Some heavy handed issues such as the death of a child, addiction, drug trafficking and inappropriate student/professor relationships are explored. The allusions to Dante's Inferno and Homer's The Odyssey gives the story poignant insight.
Some heavy handed issues such as the death of a child, addiction, drug trafficking and inappropriate student/professor relationships are explored. The allusions to Dante's Inferno and Homer's The Odyssey gives the story poignant insight.
May 23, 2016
1 & 1/2 stars would be my true rating. Based on the outline on the back cover, I really thought this book would be right up my alley .... BUT .... I found the writing a little clumsy & repetitive. The main character was "unreliable " . All in all a bit of a mess. Sounds harsh but I so wanted to enjoy this book but was left lacking.
June 6, 2016
I'm a huge fan of Goodman, but this book didn't sit well with me. It struck me as both completely predictable and ridiculously far-fetched at the same time, plus I knew who the killer was within 50 pages. Damn.
February 11, 2016
I so wanted to like this book. The premise sounded so good, but the storytelling and the mystery ended up being so clumsy. And the main character was so naïve.
February 12, 2016
A no spoilers review of a really good thriller here http://lindasbookbag.com/2016/01/19/r...
When Professor Nan Lewis hits what she thinks is a deer on the road on her way back from a faculty party in New York state, little does she expect a police officer at her door the following morning to tell her that one of her favourite students, Leia Dawson, has been killed in a hit and run accident and that Nan is the chief suspect. Worse still, Nan’s own daughter was previously killed in a road accident in the same place…
‘River Road’ is a cracking thriller. It kept me guessing all the way through so that I suspected every character at some point as being Leia’s murderer. There’s an intensity of writing that really enthralls. The descriptions, particularly of the landscapes are dramatic and visual, allowing the reader to picture the scene perfectly.
I also loved the literary references that pepper the text. They are never intrusive, but they lend an authenticity to Nan’s role and character. I’m sure the author’s own teaching background has assisted with this extra layer of credibility.
The first person delivery gives pace and immediacy so that it is impossible not to want to read on and the plot races along, twisting and turning so that I felt my pulse increasing with the events. There’s certainly never a dull moment in Nan’s life.
I found the cast of characters completely believable and I really enjoyed the romantic aspect that emerged as a counterpoint to the murderous and thriller genre elements. ‘River Road’ also impresses because Carol Goodman isn’t afraid to tackle themes that can blight many lives, from alcoholism and drug addiction to complete and utter grief so that as well as being a thoroughly entertaining story, this is a novel of depth and substance too.
‘River Road’ is well written, exciting and entertaining – everything a good book should be. Thriller readers will love it.
When Professor Nan Lewis hits what she thinks is a deer on the road on her way back from a faculty party in New York state, little does she expect a police officer at her door the following morning to tell her that one of her favourite students, Leia Dawson, has been killed in a hit and run accident and that Nan is the chief suspect. Worse still, Nan’s own daughter was previously killed in a road accident in the same place…
‘River Road’ is a cracking thriller. It kept me guessing all the way through so that I suspected every character at some point as being Leia’s murderer. There’s an intensity of writing that really enthralls. The descriptions, particularly of the landscapes are dramatic and visual, allowing the reader to picture the scene perfectly.
I also loved the literary references that pepper the text. They are never intrusive, but they lend an authenticity to Nan’s role and character. I’m sure the author’s own teaching background has assisted with this extra layer of credibility.
The first person delivery gives pace and immediacy so that it is impossible not to want to read on and the plot races along, twisting and turning so that I felt my pulse increasing with the events. There’s certainly never a dull moment in Nan’s life.
I found the cast of characters completely believable and I really enjoyed the romantic aspect that emerged as a counterpoint to the murderous and thriller genre elements. ‘River Road’ also impresses because Carol Goodman isn’t afraid to tackle themes that can blight many lives, from alcoholism and drug addiction to complete and utter grief so that as well as being a thoroughly entertaining story, this is a novel of depth and substance too.
‘River Road’ is well written, exciting and entertaining – everything a good book should be. Thriller readers will love it.
March 28, 2017
River Road by Carol Goodman
3 Stars
From The Book:
Nan Lewis—a creative writing professor at a university in upstate New York—is driving home from a faculty holiday party when she hits a deer. Yet when she gets out of her car to look for it, the deer is gone. Eager to get home before the oncoming snowstorm, Nan is forced to leave her car at the bottom of her snowy driveway to wait out the longest night of the year…
The next morning, Nan is woken up by a police officer at her door with terrible news—one of her students, Leia Dawson, was killed in a hit-and-run on River Road the night before, and because of the damage to her car, Nan is a suspect. In the days following the accident, Nan finds herself shunned by the same community that rallied around her when her own daughter was killed in an eerily similar accident six years prior. When Nan begins finding disturbing tokens that recall the her daughter’s death, Nan suspects that the two accidents are connected.
As she digs further, she discovers that everyone around her, including Leia, has been hiding secrets. But can she uncover them, clear her name, and figure out who really killed Leia before her life is destroyed for ever?
My Views:
It was a well told story but if like me, you like to be fed information so that you can work out who the killer is, you will be disappointed here. This author has always had a way of making the "bad guy" one you would least expect but not this time. You will know exactly... without a doubt by page 50. It seemed that Nan was the only person that didn't know. So...3 stars for a good story line but not much suspense.
3 Stars
From The Book:
Nan Lewis—a creative writing professor at a university in upstate New York—is driving home from a faculty holiday party when she hits a deer. Yet when she gets out of her car to look for it, the deer is gone. Eager to get home before the oncoming snowstorm, Nan is forced to leave her car at the bottom of her snowy driveway to wait out the longest night of the year…
The next morning, Nan is woken up by a police officer at her door with terrible news—one of her students, Leia Dawson, was killed in a hit-and-run on River Road the night before, and because of the damage to her car, Nan is a suspect. In the days following the accident, Nan finds herself shunned by the same community that rallied around her when her own daughter was killed in an eerily similar accident six years prior. When Nan begins finding disturbing tokens that recall the her daughter’s death, Nan suspects that the two accidents are connected.
As she digs further, she discovers that everyone around her, including Leia, has been hiding secrets. But can she uncover them, clear her name, and figure out who really killed Leia before her life is destroyed for ever?
My Views:
It was a well told story but if like me, you like to be fed information so that you can work out who the killer is, you will be disappointed here. This author has always had a way of making the "bad guy" one you would least expect but not this time. You will know exactly... without a doubt by page 50. It seemed that Nan was the only person that didn't know. So...3 stars for a good story line but not much suspense.
November 20, 2015
“River Road” by Carol Goodman, published by Touchstone Books.
Category – Mystery/Thriller Publication Date – January 19, 2016.
Nan Lewis is a college professor at a New York College. She is attending a faculty party and discovers that she has been denied tenure. Upset Nan leaves the party and drives home. On the way she hits a deer and follows it into the woods to determine its injuries. She cannot locate the deer and returns home.
In the morning she is awakened by the police who are impounding her car. It seems that one of her students was killed in an automobile accident at the same place she hit the deer.
The plot thickens as Nan tries to determine how much she had to drink at the party and if she is indeed an alcoholic. The scene of the accident is also the same place where her young daughter was killed in an automobile accident years ago, an incident that destroyed her marriage.
Nan tries to relive the night of the accident and finds that many things happened that night that complicate her student’s death. There is Nan’s love affair with a colleague coupled with her student wanting to explore real life and got involved with another student and the drug trade.
A very good mystery that will keep the reader guessing to the very end of the book.
Category – Mystery/Thriller Publication Date – January 19, 2016.
Nan Lewis is a college professor at a New York College. She is attending a faculty party and discovers that she has been denied tenure. Upset Nan leaves the party and drives home. On the way she hits a deer and follows it into the woods to determine its injuries. She cannot locate the deer and returns home.
In the morning she is awakened by the police who are impounding her car. It seems that one of her students was killed in an automobile accident at the same place she hit the deer.
The plot thickens as Nan tries to determine how much she had to drink at the party and if she is indeed an alcoholic. The scene of the accident is also the same place where her young daughter was killed in an automobile accident years ago, an incident that destroyed her marriage.
Nan tries to relive the night of the accident and finds that many things happened that night that complicate her student’s death. There is Nan’s love affair with a colleague coupled with her student wanting to explore real life and got involved with another student and the drug trade.
A very good mystery that will keep the reader guessing to the very end of the book.
September 17, 2016
This was a great page-turning suspense novel. It kept me engaged and wanting to keep reading. The only negative was that about half way through a minor character says something that is meant to be cryptic but for me it made the identity of the murderer crystal clear. I was not surprised one bit to discover that I was right. I was however surprised by the reason for the killing. Being able to guess the killer so easily took away some of the suspense but I still enjoyed the story.
September 5, 2017
4.5 stars rounded up.
I normally would not give such a high rating to this type of book, but this is a real page turner, right up to 1:30 AM when I finished it. I could not stop reading it.
As usual, Carol Goodmen writes beautifully, and skillfully crafts a complex mystery. There are some interesting red herrings and some plot twists that you may or may not see coming. I have to admit, I had my eye on the actual perpetrator for quite a while. This person did not ring true to me, my "antennae" went off whenever this person appeared.
In terms of character development, the author does this very well. All the players are fully realized, even some of the minor ones, like Nan's mother. Nan goes through so much in this book, both in the present time and a few years earlier when she lost her daughter. You feel everything with her, and suffer along with her.
The sense of place is well developed in terms of the college environment, the village itself and the isolation of Nan's house.
My one quibble, minor as it may be, was on page 87 of my book. Nan's step-sister picks her up in a Ford Escalade. Now I am married to a car guy, a total gearhead, and even I know that it is a Cadillac Escalade, not a Ford. Stupid mistakes like this drive me crazy (short trip, I know!) but a good proofreader or editor should have caught this. A quick Google search would have verified the car make and model. An author loses credibility with their readers when they let little things like this slip by. And if they lose their credibility, then why should we believe their story? Plus a dumb mistake like this breaks the spell of the story.
Aside me being nit picky, this is a fantastic read and an absolute recommend!
I normally would not give such a high rating to this type of book, but this is a real page turner, right up to 1:30 AM when I finished it. I could not stop reading it.
As usual, Carol Goodmen writes beautifully, and skillfully crafts a complex mystery. There are some interesting red herrings and some plot twists that you may or may not see coming. I have to admit, I had my eye on the actual perpetrator for quite a while. This person did not ring true to me, my "antennae" went off whenever this person appeared.
In terms of character development, the author does this very well. All the players are fully realized, even some of the minor ones, like Nan's mother. Nan goes through so much in this book, both in the present time and a few years earlier when she lost her daughter. You feel everything with her, and suffer along with her.
The sense of place is well developed in terms of the college environment, the village itself and the isolation of Nan's house.
My one quibble, minor as it may be, was on page 87 of my book. Nan's step-sister picks her up in a Ford Escalade. Now I am married to a car guy, a total gearhead, and even I know that it is a Cadillac Escalade, not a Ford. Stupid mistakes like this drive me crazy (short trip, I know!) but a good proofreader or editor should have caught this. A quick Google search would have verified the car make and model. An author loses credibility with their readers when they let little things like this slip by. And if they lose their credibility, then why should we believe their story? Plus a dumb mistake like this breaks the spell of the story.
Aside me being nit picky, this is a fantastic read and an absolute recommend!
January 28, 2017
In a snowy college town in upstate NY, on the night Nan finds out she's been denied tenure and has a bit too much to drink, she hits a deer on the drive home. The problem is, on that same night, on that same stretch of road, a college student is also ht by a car-and the police don't buy this crazy deer story.
I see that one of my Goodreads friends has read this book, and her review begins, "Although the language and descriptions were beautiful as usual, this book was not one of the author's best. The storyline was trite...." My feelings exactly. I love Goodman's writing and am a big fan of several other of her books, but this one didn't quite make the cut. It had all the hallmarks of the books of hers I have liked--set in remote northeastern towns, kind of a gothic feel, the past echoing into the present--but I could figure out parts of the central mystery from the start.
That being said, I was thrilled to learn one tidbit. For years--YEARS I TELL YOU--I have been unable to figure out why that one Christmas song has lyrics "There'll be scary ghost stories / and tales of the glories / of Christmases long, long ago." I have wondered, 'WHY are there ghost stories at Christmas??' I learned from this book that, in Victorian times, the winter solstice was thought to be a day when the dead walked the earth, and so ghost stories were often told on the solstice. So happy to learn that!
I see that one of my Goodreads friends has read this book, and her review begins, "Although the language and descriptions were beautiful as usual, this book was not one of the author's best. The storyline was trite...." My feelings exactly. I love Goodman's writing and am a big fan of several other of her books, but this one didn't quite make the cut. It had all the hallmarks of the books of hers I have liked--set in remote northeastern towns, kind of a gothic feel, the past echoing into the present--but I could figure out parts of the central mystery from the start.
That being said, I was thrilled to learn one tidbit. For years--YEARS I TELL YOU--I have been unable to figure out why that one Christmas song has lyrics "There'll be scary ghost stories / and tales of the glories / of Christmases long, long ago." I have wondered, 'WHY are there ghost stories at Christmas??' I learned from this book that, in Victorian times, the winter solstice was thought to be a day when the dead walked the earth, and so ghost stories were often told on the solstice. So happy to learn that!
December 31, 2024
“River Road” is an academic thriller set in upstate New York and is focused on Nancy “Nan” Lewis, a creative writing professor at a college who finds herself the prime suspect in the hit-and-run death of her favorite student.
The novel consists of twenty-eight chapters.
The novel begins by introducing Nan Lewis as she is driving home from a faculty holiday party slightly drunk and hurt after not receiving tenure at her university teaching job. While driving home, Nan hits what she believes to be a deer and being slightly buzzed from drinking at the party, she returns home. The next day, police officer Sergeant Joe McAffrey arrives at Nan’s home and it is revealed that Leia Davis, her favorite student, has been discovered dead in the same location as where she hit the deer.
Initially, Nan refuses to believe that Leia was killed since she remembered English department secretary Dottie driving her home but Joe responds that the college’s English department had positively identified the dead body as Leia. Joe informs Nan that he came to her since Dottie said that it was possible that Nan had given Leia a ride home.
Nan calls her lawyer and college roommate Anat Greenberg and is then taken to the police station after blood and white wool fibers were found in her car tire. Although many believe that Nan was drunk, accidentally killed Leia, and ran, Anat believe Nan when she says she hit a deer and tells her not to answer questions from the police before she arrives.
When Anat arrives, she is annoyed that Nan went against her and answered police questions then it is revealed that the police say that a faculty member witnessed that Nan was drunk, belligerent, yelled at the department chair and threatened to drive off a nearby bridge if she couldn’t teach anymore. Anat has Nan recreate the accident and Nan is suspicious when a bouquet of daffodils was left near the accident scene similar to the flowers Emmy was holding when she was killed.
When Nan once again goes against Anat’s suggestion to stay home from work, she is initially treated with sympathy by her college colleagues over Leia’s death which turns into disgust when she is publicly outed as Leia’s possible killer during a candlelight vigil attended by Leia’s parents.
Details are later revealed that Nan has worked at the Acheron college for seven years, was once married to a man named Evan and that their daughter Emmy was killed by drunk driver Hannah Mulder car on River Road six years ago. After Emmy’s death, Nan coped with the death by pushing Evan away, withdrawing into herself, and heavily drinking alcohol.
As the novel progresses, Nan goes home with plans to distract herself by grading papers, she comes face to face with Hannah Mulder, the woman who killed Emmy six years ago. As Nan grabs Hannah with plans to turn her in to the police for Leia’s murder, tragedy occurs once again this time at the hands of Ross. Having returned to the police station, Nan gives a witness statement which leads the police to possibly view Ross as a suspect. After Nan is escorted home by a police officer, she is shown how improbable it was that Hannah hit Leia as well as a warning of Nan’s future if she keeps heavily drinking alcohol although she feels her evening wine habit isn’t the same thing as Hannah’s drinking habit.
As Nan reads an essay that Leia had wanted her to read, Nan is curious at Leia’s mention of having done something that she needed to be forgiven.
As more accusations are spread regarding Nan killing Leia, Nan is reminded that Christmas is a few days away and although she attempts to over spending the holiday with her, stepfather, stepsisters Amy and Charlotte, and their families, her mother demands she spend the holidays with them after learning of Nan’s situation via a yoga classmate whose son attends the college when Nan works.
At her mother’s house, Nan has an icy interaction with her stepsister Charlotte and leaves after overhearing a conversation in which her stepfamily comments on how much she drinks and share concerns that she will drag the family down.
Nan secretly follows Troy, a former student of hers and a classmate of Leia’s to a secret location where students go get high and discovers that Cressida has told the police she thought that Ross and Leia were having an affair, leading police to finding one of his cuff links and Leia’s clothing in his car.
Anat calls Nan and gives her the good news that the police found deer hair on her car and now have a new suspect and while she feels her reputation has been restored, she feels bad once she learns the identity of the new prime suspect in Leia’s death.
As Leia’s case is investigated further, Nan attempts to locate Troy and ends up in the projects at the apartment of another of Aleesha, one of her former students. Nan eventually finds Troy, he tells Nan how Leia decided to experiment with drugs to enhance her writing and that he and Leia were with Aleesha’s cousin she overdosed on drugs. Shortly after Troy confesses what happened with Leia, they are interrupted by a drug dealer wielding a gun.
The novel ends with Nan making a shocking connection between Leia and her friend/co-worker Cressida, her reputation is restored and she is praised as a hero, she becomes romantically involved with Joe, and has a reunion with Evan.
As I finished the novel, I was annoyed by Nan’s naivety when questioned about Leia’s murder as well as repeatedly ignoring Anat’s suggestion advice as her lawyer and friend. I also felt that the novel was too long and that although the author seemed extremely focuses on character development, to me the amount of depth given to some characters seemed forced at times and unnecessary.
The novel consists of twenty-eight chapters.
The novel begins by introducing Nan Lewis as she is driving home from a faculty holiday party slightly drunk and hurt after not receiving tenure at her university teaching job. While driving home, Nan hits what she believes to be a deer and being slightly buzzed from drinking at the party, she returns home. The next day, police officer Sergeant Joe McAffrey arrives at Nan’s home and it is revealed that Leia Davis, her favorite student, has been discovered dead in the same location as where she hit the deer.
Initially, Nan refuses to believe that Leia was killed since she remembered English department secretary Dottie driving her home but Joe responds that the college’s English department had positively identified the dead body as Leia. Joe informs Nan that he came to her since Dottie said that it was possible that Nan had given Leia a ride home.
Nan calls her lawyer and college roommate Anat Greenberg and is then taken to the police station after blood and white wool fibers were found in her car tire. Although many believe that Nan was drunk, accidentally killed Leia, and ran, Anat believe Nan when she says she hit a deer and tells her not to answer questions from the police before she arrives.
When Anat arrives, she is annoyed that Nan went against her and answered police questions then it is revealed that the police say that a faculty member witnessed that Nan was drunk, belligerent, yelled at the department chair and threatened to drive off a nearby bridge if she couldn’t teach anymore. Anat has Nan recreate the accident and Nan is suspicious when a bouquet of daffodils was left near the accident scene similar to the flowers Emmy was holding when she was killed.
When Nan once again goes against Anat’s suggestion to stay home from work, she is initially treated with sympathy by her college colleagues over Leia’s death which turns into disgust when she is publicly outed as Leia’s possible killer during a candlelight vigil attended by Leia’s parents.
Details are later revealed that Nan has worked at the Acheron college for seven years, was once married to a man named Evan and that their daughter Emmy was killed by drunk driver Hannah Mulder car on River Road six years ago. After Emmy’s death, Nan coped with the death by pushing Evan away, withdrawing into herself, and heavily drinking alcohol.
As the novel progresses, Nan goes home with plans to distract herself by grading papers, she comes face to face with Hannah Mulder, the woman who killed Emmy six years ago. As Nan grabs Hannah with plans to turn her in to the police for Leia’s murder, tragedy occurs once again this time at the hands of Ross. Having returned to the police station, Nan gives a witness statement which leads the police to possibly view Ross as a suspect. After Nan is escorted home by a police officer, she is shown how improbable it was that Hannah hit Leia as well as a warning of Nan’s future if she keeps heavily drinking alcohol although she feels her evening wine habit isn’t the same thing as Hannah’s drinking habit.
As Nan reads an essay that Leia had wanted her to read, Nan is curious at Leia’s mention of having done something that she needed to be forgiven.
As more accusations are spread regarding Nan killing Leia, Nan is reminded that Christmas is a few days away and although she attempts to over spending the holiday with her, stepfather, stepsisters Amy and Charlotte, and their families, her mother demands she spend the holidays with them after learning of Nan’s situation via a yoga classmate whose son attends the college when Nan works.
At her mother’s house, Nan has an icy interaction with her stepsister Charlotte and leaves after overhearing a conversation in which her stepfamily comments on how much she drinks and share concerns that she will drag the family down.
Nan secretly follows Troy, a former student of hers and a classmate of Leia’s to a secret location where students go get high and discovers that Cressida has told the police she thought that Ross and Leia were having an affair, leading police to finding one of his cuff links and Leia’s clothing in his car.
Anat calls Nan and gives her the good news that the police found deer hair on her car and now have a new suspect and while she feels her reputation has been restored, she feels bad once she learns the identity of the new prime suspect in Leia’s death.
As Leia’s case is investigated further, Nan attempts to locate Troy and ends up in the projects at the apartment of another of Aleesha, one of her former students. Nan eventually finds Troy, he tells Nan how Leia decided to experiment with drugs to enhance her writing and that he and Leia were with Aleesha’s cousin she overdosed on drugs. Shortly after Troy confesses what happened with Leia, they are interrupted by a drug dealer wielding a gun.
The novel ends with Nan making a shocking connection between Leia and her friend/co-worker Cressida, her reputation is restored and she is praised as a hero, she becomes romantically involved with Joe, and has a reunion with Evan.
As I finished the novel, I was annoyed by Nan’s naivety when questioned about Leia’s murder as well as repeatedly ignoring Anat’s suggestion advice as her lawyer and friend. I also felt that the novel was too long and that although the author seemed extremely focuses on character development, to me the amount of depth given to some characters seemed forced at times and unnecessary.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 12, 2020
2.5 stars. Nan is a college professor who hits a deer on a snowy road whilst driving home. However the next day she learns that one of her students, Leia, was killed in a hit and run at the very same spot. Nan thought she has hit a deer but now starts to doubt herself. As the story unfurls it becomes clear that there is more to Leia’s death than meets the eye.
A good idea, a wonderfully evocative snowy and wintry setting, but far too slow for me. The plot dragged and I guessed the ending far far too early, too many clues given.
A good idea, a wonderfully evocative snowy and wintry setting, but far too slow for me. The plot dragged and I guessed the ending far far too early, too many clues given.
March 27, 2018
This was not the Gothic suspense I expected from the author, which was pretty disappointing. It felt like a bit of a Girl on the Train “woman with a drinking problem in peril” ripoff and I didn’t like any of the characters. I also guessed whodunit, it felt so glaringly obvious that I sped-read to be done because I knew what was coming. I love so many of her other books, I really hope the next one I read or more in her usual style!
May 11, 2023
An alcoholic English teacher still grieving over the death of her only child, believes she accidentally knocked down a deer during a snow storm… then one of her students is found dead.
Written in 1st person narrative so we are unsure whether she is a reliable source.
Decent, bit daft towards the end as the body count rises, but not bad.
Written in 1st person narrative so we are unsure whether she is a reliable source.
Decent, bit daft towards the end as the body count rises, but not bad.
March 10, 2018
Goodman never disappoints
Strong female protagonists, a shroud of mystery and a setting that practically comes to life are all reasons why I love Carol Goodman’s books. While this one isn’t my favorite of hers, it kept me turning pages and I got through it pretty quickly.
Strong female protagonists, a shroud of mystery and a setting that practically comes to life are all reasons why I love Carol Goodman’s books. While this one isn’t my favorite of hers, it kept me turning pages and I got through it pretty quickly.
September 15, 2024
A page-turner. From the very beginning. Cunning, clever, a twisty thriller, leaving you guessing 'who dunnit" up to the last 30ish pages. This one even brought up some real emotion. Masterfully written.
January 20, 2023
i always end up being able to figure out who did it wayyy too early in her novels and i’m always right.
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May 19, 2025Carol Goodman's books are my dark academia guilty pleasure. Why guilty? Because I regret wasting my time with them and yet I keep coming back for more.
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