At the Quiet Edge

by Victoria Helen Stone

A young mother has done everything possible to put the past behind her, but it might not be enough in a gripping novel of suspense by the Amazon Charts bestselling author of the Jane Doe novels.

Abandoned by her fugitive ex-husband, Lily Brown is rebuilding her life on the edge of a Kansas town that still feels the sting of his crimes. Lily lies low, managing the isolated storage facility where she lives with her twelve-year-old son, Everett, and planning a better future for them both. That requires keeping secrets. Everett has them too.

After breaking into a storage unit, Everett finds photographs and news clippings of five girls missing for decades. For Everett, it’s an adventure and a tempting mystery to solve. But digging further into a stranger’s obsession is putting Everett and his mother in the crosshairs of a killer.

Then Lily’s ex resurfaces from the shadows. Just as suddenly, an attentive new man enters Lily’s life. And a suspicious detective, responding to reports of a prowler, watches every move Lily makes. It’s getting harder for Lily to know who to trust—or whose secrets pose the most frightening threat of all.

Genres: Mystery, Thriller, Fiction, Mystery Thriller, Suspense, Ebooks, Audiobook

331 pages, Paperback

First published May 1, 2022

About the author

Wall Street Journal bestselling writer Victoria Helen Stone, author of the runaway hit Jane Doe, pens critically acclaimed novels of dark intrigue and emotional suspense. Her work includes Follow Her Down, At the Quiet Edge, Problem Child, Half Past, and the chart-toppers False Step, and Evelyn, After. Bald-Faced Liar is her tenth suspense.

Victoria writes in her home office in the Wasatch Mountains of Utah, far from her origins in the flattest plains of Minnesota, Texas, and Oklahoma. She enjoys gorgeous summer trail hikes in the mountains almost as much as she enjoys staying inside by the fire during winter. Victoria is passionate about dessert, true crime, and her terror of mosquitoes, which have targeted her in a diabolical conspiracy to hunt her down no matter the season.

Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/victoriahel...

Reviews

[Katie Scarlett · Rating 1 out of 5]

Why do authors and apparently their editors and publishers think if they check enough woke boxes it makes a book? Skip this if you want a book actually worth reading because it holds your attention. Choose this one if you like stereotypes of characters and apparently all characters in this book. This book seems like it wants to be a young adult novel with so much emphasis on the tween son and his friend but then it goes back to the annoying mom who is yearning for wine [insert eye roll]. The mother Lily is trying to raise her son and make a life for them while overcoming the damage done by her ex, her son’s criminal father. About the only interesting thing about them is that they live in an apartment off the storage facility she manages. Her son Everett, who is gay because we obviously needed to know that, is going through some adjustments with his friends interested in things like computer games and other electronics he doesn’t have so he sounds like a normal 12 year old boy. Of course he had to hate on the only other gay boy at his school because he wore a Trump hat, even though it was a joke, because of course this book needed the author’s politics to make it palatable. There’s also a rude cop because of course that was necessary. I made it a quarter of the way through this book and it’s all I can take. The ex has started to annoy Lily and Everett has found pictures of missing girls after sneaking in a storage unit but that’s it for plot. This book is completely unimpressive and the complete opposite of a worthy mystery book.

[Ayden R · Rating 2 out of 5]

Slow, not that exciting, and terrible characters

Whew where to start. This book moves so, so slowly. I was expecting an action packed mystery and instead we got pages and chapters of Lily agonizing over the same things repeatedly. Everett's chapters were at least interesting in the way kids inexpertly investigating a crime is generally adorably engaging. Otherwise there really wasn't much to recommend this book. Lackluster whiny characters whose reactions and interactions felt like simple plot devices, way too much daily minutiae, and the same fears and insecurities repeated over and over ad nauseum.

[Kaira Rouda · Rating 5 out of 5]

I raced through the pages of AT THE QUIET EDGE. This propulsive story places you inside a world of secrets, and locks you inside. And like our heroine Lily and her son Everett, it’s hard to know who to trust. This is taut, heart-pounding suspense.

[Grace · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow, some of the reviews of this book are laughably appalling. You will know exactly where people stand reading their outraged reviews about how “woke” this book is, if “woke” means acknowledging gay people exist (I assure you this author did not invent gay people), or how there are corrupt and downright awful people exploiting their positions of power (the author also did not invent this concept either). Some people are reeeeal actual snowflakes— I hope they mark themselves safe on Facebook from the natural disaster that was voluntarily reading a fictional story that mentions the G word.

I liked this plot and its characters well enough. It dragged at times and the dialogue felt redundant once or twice per chapter, but it was an exciting and emotional read that ultimately culminated in believable resolution and justice for those wronged. The love in the relationships amongst the characters was believable and moving. The author clearly understands, possibly from firsthand experience, terror, powerlessness, and exploitation. My husband and I also had a fun time brainstorming our fan cast if this were ever made into a film.

Thoughts and prayers to the 1 star reviewers who are probably still curled in the fetal position in their shower trying to forget the awful thing that happened to them (reading this made up story). I hope they heal soon. Stay safe out there, folks.

[Alex Anderson · Rating 1 out of 5]

It’s a no from me, dawg

[Kevin · Rating 5 out of 5]

A 12 year old boy and his friend discover pictures of missing women in a storage locker. Unsure if they have discovered information on a serial killer, they probe into the life of the person who rented the locker.

This one is a doozie… keeps you turning pages and guessing.

[Judy Collins · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thriller queen Victoria Helen Stone returns following The Last One Home and her popular Jane Does series with AT THE QUIET EDGE —an atmospheric heart-pounding family drama meets mystery domestic suspense thriller.

This one will keep you on the edge of your seat until the satisfying conclusion.

Lily Brown, a single mom with son Everett, has moved to the edge of a Kansas town after escaping her fugitive ex-husband, Jones.

She loves her son and is trying to protect him the best she can from their past life.

She has to watch over her shoulders and has taken a job as a manager of a remote storage facility while she is studying for her degree. She is a good mother and wants to keep her son safe. Everett was the only kid who lived in the business park way down the road.

It is creepy, with shadows lurking all the time. (all storage facilities are creepy and scary). There is also a nosy detective who keeps hanging around. They live in an onsite apartment on property.

Lily must keep secrets and cannot have friends or allow her son to have people over, which makes him feel isolated.

Everett discovers a new locker. He discovers disturbing clippings and photographs of five girls that have been missing for decades. He didn't take things, he was just curious. He wanted to be a vet one day or a cop.

It looks like a crime screen reenactment and he does not tell his mother. This is a mystery to him and he finally shares it with his one friend, Josephine. (loved their friendship).

However, as the mother and son dig into the owner's obsession, it puts them in harm's way—a serial killer. In the meantime, the authorities are watching her, thinking her ex-husband will contact her.

She must keep her criminal ex from her son. Jones was charming and he lied. Everette is almost thirteen and she promised she would buy him a phone. She wants to protect him from the evil in the world and his father.

Jones is on the run and emerges. Then a new person is missing and more secrets rise to the surface.

There is another woman from the shelter she is trying to help and risks her job caught up in a web of secrets and lies. All the while, everything surrounding this storage unit facility and her onsite apartment is scary and disturbing!

The things people keep in storage units and the secrets they keep!

A chilling and eerie setting. Compelling, mysterious, intense, and intriguing.

I enjoyed this one and my first book read that was set in a creepy storage unit. I loved Everette and his character and am a massive fan of the author—I have read all her books. Highly recommend.

Blog Review Posted @
www.JudithDCollins.com
@JudithDCollins | #JDCMustReadBooks
My Rating: 5 Stars
Pub Date: May 1, 2022
May 2022 Must-Read Books

[Darcy · Rating 3 out of 5]

There was a lot going on in this one. Three very different story lines, all converging at the end.

First there was Mama Lily, her doing a good thing causing her paranoia to kick in. Afraid for so many things, her job, her son, her very existence. It's amazing what having a husband who runs away after embezzling a large part of the community will do.

Then there is Lily's son, Everett, who being a boy finds all sorts of trouble. It's funny how the trouble that Everett found ended up being a big thing and caused more shame for this town.

Lastly there is the missing husband/father. It seemed like this was going to play a big part, but not really. It was used more to move things along. And then there are other various side characters that have their own agenda that seemed to exasperate things.

Things really came to a head at the end, all the little mysteries combined, all the people in one place where it was a fight for life and death. I'm glad that the bad guy got his, glad that Lily and Everett ended up ok, not really sure on the rest of the characters. Some deserved to have something more bad happen to them. I do wish that we could know about Lily's upcoming scavenger hunt, I really hope she finds what she is looking for and helps fry the guy.

[Anne Miles · Rating 1 out of 5]

319 pages felt like 3,000. I was waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting, waiting, and waiting some more for something, anything, remotely interesting to happen in this currently 4.05 star rated "thriller." I felt I had invested so much time already I had to see it through. 😩 I wish I didn't.

The story revolves around a mom and son that have been shunned in their small town due to the actions of dad. 90% of the book is describing each day in agonizing detail. What time they wake up, what they eat and drink for breakfast, son goes to school, son gripes about not having a phone, mom walks around the storage unit she works at. Repeat for 30 more chapters.
I'm thinking for an over 4 star rated thriller something shocking or intriguing HAD to be coming. It's a slow burn I thought. If I had the hard copy to this book I'd burn it. 😠

There was very little thrills in this thriller. Utter disappointment.😞 The story part of the story could of been told in 50 pages. Should of been a short novel, or not a novel at all, in my opinion.

[Kristen Whittaker · Rating 1 out of 5]

I read to escape all the political drama…

Reading fictional books is a way for me to reset my mind and apparently that’s not even safe to do anymore because authors feel they need to use this as a platform to put down political beliefs that don’t align with theirs. Was it really necessary to add? So disappointed.

[Picky_Book_B1tch]

I was bored and quit. There was nothing here that made me want to keep turning the pages. The characters were still too much of mystery and the mystery was slow moving. Ya gotta give a reader something early on or risk loosing their interest.

I've read other books by this author that I enjoyed so I will continue to check out her work.

[Christina McDonald · Rating 5 out of 5]

A gorgeous, gripping, and unique story full of suspense and intrigue, I raced through At the Quiet Edge and loved it. An engrossing, compelling read.

[Leah Jackson · Rating 2 out of 5]

I gave this a chance because the first few reviewers on Amazon first reads had judged it harshly. There is nothing technically bad about it and some of it is quite good. The ending was not handled well or built to properly. I think with the tweaking of a few details this could have been a great book. The biggest issue is that the author interjects some unnecessary ideas which I think were intended to make the book feel timely but instead came out cringey. It felt like she is incredibly out of touch with all of the people she is trying to be inclusive towards.
This kind of crap must be what people felt like reading Margaret Mitchell. You think you’re helping but you aren’t helping lady.

[Aleesha Phillips · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5⭐️ I was not expecting to enjoy this book so much! I was hooked from the beginning and on the edge of my seat through the last chapters.

[Lynda Kelly · Rating 5 out of 5]

My fifth book by this author and I've always given them 4 or 5*. She has luckily again taken advantage of the Kindle First programme so I got it free once more, which is handy. As soon as I saw her name was in the list I was pretty sure which one would be my choice once again !!
I liked the characters she created in this one, especially Everett and Josephine. Their friendship was a lovely thing to behold. Once more she's written an interesting, twisty tale I enjoyed a great deal. This one was up there with Jane Doe for me, another favourite of hers. In this one, too, she sort of ekes out the background information and I am "oh, that was never mentioned before" as it catches you unawares but keeps your interest.
Lily did get on my nerves a little with all her prevaricating when it came to dealing with her friend Zoey's little favours, though.
The only little mistake I spotted was when the electricity had gone out at one point but then Everett was woken by his alarm clock. I guess it could've been a battery or wind-up job but that isn't usually the case these days.
One part of the ending disappointed me a little but only because it didn't go the way I preferred so I can't really whinge about it. I like the cover and the way the font gives it a 3D effect. That is clever, though no doubt it will get altered because publishers always seem to do this. Wish they wouldn't.
So another success for this author for me and one I'll be sticking with.

[Ranjini Shankar · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was a decent thriller but it just wasn’t great. The characters all felt pretty underdeveloped and there is A LOT going on. I know that the author is trying to give us many red herrings but I’m not sure three full plot lines are needed to do this. It felt like too much.

At the Quiet Edge follows Lily who, after her husband gets accused of stealing millions of dollars from clients and goes on the lam, has found a secure job managing a public storage facility that has an apartment on site where she lives with her son. Girls are going missing around her and her ex won’t stop bothering her and her son is acting super suspicious so is she paranoid or is there really a threat out there?

The last chapter as things finally started to come together was exciting and kept my attention but it did end without all threads tied up because I think this might be the first in a new series. However the ending wasn’t quite enough to justify the book so I’m not sure I’ll be back for more.

[Ann · Rating 1 out of 5]

So, so slow. The first 90% of the book describes, in great detail, the day-to-day lives of Lily and Everett and their life living at the storage facility where Lily works. Throw in a few extra characters to try to create suspense of who done it. I didn't find this book to be mysterious or thrilling. I somehow managed to make it to the end even though I never got into it enough to care who was behind everything. And then to top it off, the ending dragged on and on and on. By that point, I was skimming paragraphs just to see how it all concluded. Thankfully, I'm done with this one and can move on to something better.

[C. Machen · Rating 5 out of 5]

Great read! I couldn’t put it down!

This one kept me on the edge of my seat! I didn’t anticipate the ending, which rarely happens. I will definitely read more of her works.

[Page Turner · Rating 5 out of 5]

Wow! What a good read! The setting is fresh - a self storage unit facility. There are twists and turns throughout with several mysteries that keep you guessing until the end! 👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼👍🏼

[Ilona * ksiazka_w_kwiatach * · Rating 3 out of 5]

„Zło czai się w Kansas” to jeden z tych thrillerów, który przyciąga uwagę czytelnika mroczną okładką i intrygującym tytułem. Czasami jednak bywa tak, że pod przykrywką niesamowicie klimatycznej okładki, kryje się powieść, która może nas rozczarować.

Lily Brown, porzucona przez zbiegłego męża próbuje na nowo odbudować swoje życie. Ciążące nad nią piętno żony oszusta skłania ją do tego, by trzymać się z dala od wszystkich. Cały swój czas poświęca na zarządzanie magazynem z kontenerami do wynajęcia oraz opiece nad nastoletnim synem.
Everett, jak większość nastolatków, jest ciekawskim dzieckiem, szczególnie interesują go rzeczy przechowywane przez klientów matki. Pewnego dnia włamuje się do jednego z kontenerów i znajduje w nim materiały dotyczące nierozwiązanych spraw zaginięć kilku dziewczyn.

Powiedzieć, że jestem zawiedziona to trochę za dużo, gdyż pomysł na fabułę autorka miała naprawdę dobry, gorzej wyszło z wykonaniem. „Zło czai się w Kansas” to historia niespieszna, wielowątkowa, co w pewnym momencie może znudzić wytrawnego czytelnika, który od thrillera oczekuje szybkiej akcji i momentów przyprawiających o szybsze bicie serca. Tutaj niestety tego nie doświadczymy. Niewątpliwie dużym plusem powieści jest kreacja bohaterów i ukazanie bezwarunkowej matczynej miłości i oddania. Relacja pomiędzy nastolatkiem i jego matką zrobiła na mnie duże wrażenie, a emocje, jakie towarzyszyły bohaterom, dało się odczuć, a własnej skórze. Jednak sama kreacja bohaterów nie wystarczy, by stwierdzić, że „Zło czai się w Kansas” to dobrze skonstruowany thriller. Zabrakło mi głównej cechy, jakiej oczekuję od tego gatunku, a mianowicie momentów, przy których moje serce zabiłoby szybciej, napięcia, które powinno towarzyszyć mi do ostatniej strony. Autorka ma lekki i przyjemny styl, i gdyby tylko akcja była odrobinę szybsza, to z pewnością dużo lepiej czytałoby mi się tę książkę.
„Zło czai się w Kansas” to lekki thriller, który być może zadowoli osoby, które dopiero rozpoczynają przygodę z tym gatunkiem. Miłośnicy szybkiej akcji nieustającego napięcia i mrocznego klimatu, mogą poczuć się rozczarowani.

[Aleksandra (aalexbook) · Rating 3 out of 5]

3,5

[Elisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars a little slow in spots but a good story

[Judith Stone · Rating 4 out of 5]

Intriguing

I got this book for April prime reads. Starts out a little slow but soon I became intrigued. A very different story and the author has an amazing imagination. I'm glad I picked this one. I think you will be too.

[Boomer · Rating 2 out of 5]

I liked the synopsis of At the Quiet Edge, with single mom Lily and her 12 year old son Everett, who live in and manage an isolated storage facility, being pulled into a decades old string of disappearances in their small Kansas town. It's something a little different, and the well written relationship between mother and son is the focal point of the novel.

That's about all the good news there is sadly. This is advertised as a suspenseful thriller, but I found it a very dull by-the-numbers mystery of who the abductor is. Chapters alternate between the POV of Lily and Everett. With Everett, it reads like something straight out of the Hardy Boys as he conducts his own 'investigation' into the crimes, which while amusing in places, adds no drama or suspense at all. It just felt completely out of place to me when the rest of the book takes its self so seriously.

Lily's dealing with a multitude of things including her con artist ex-husband, a new admirer, a snooping detective, helping her friend at a woman's shelter, and dealing with broken relationships with her family. It's just too much, and again, nothing really exciting. I predicted who the villain would end up being in the first few chapters which made the ending very disappointing.

Nothing here clicked for me. I'd class it as a family drama more then a thriller, and even then there's not much excitement to be had. Not worth the time.

[Kira FlowerChild · Rating 3 out of 5]

I chose this Amazon Prime First Read book because I had read the author's Jane Doe books and enjoyed them. This book has a good story, in fact it has two good stories, but it is in desperate need of a severe pruning. The reader does not need to know what every piece of furniture and wall and floor covering looks like when a character steps into a room. The reader also does not necessarily want to be in on the endless ruminations of the various characters as they try to figure out their next move.

The problem is that neither of the main characters has someone to confide in. The son, Everett, does make a friend (Josephine), but she wisely steps out of the picture when things start getting dangerous. The mother, Lily, has friends, but again, confiding in them is problematic because of Lily's husband's embezzlement and subsequent escape from the police. So Lily cannot talk to her friends about her fears without involving them in a potentially dangerous situation.

However...if you are willing to plow through the extraneous verbiage, the story itself is engaging. Not as good as the Jane Doe books, but not bad.

[Sharise Singh · Rating 1 out of 5]

Hopelessly boring

The story waffled on in no direction whatsoever. The characters were dimwitted and irritating. The kid was so whiny I hoped the author would kill him off. Honestly I skipped several chapters to get to the climax and even that dragged on for 4 chapters to end in the most disappointing conclusion ever. Would not recommend.

[David · Rating 1 out of 5]

Nothing happens for the majority of the book until the end and what happens in the end is not good enough to justify having to read all that nothing to get there. This book should have just been a short story and nothing more. The characters have no development, the plot is barely there, and the set up and pay off needs work.

[Michell Jacob · Rating 1 out of 5]

I was disappointed with this read. After reading all the reviews, I was surprised with all the hype. It took reading over 200 pages to finally start to get into any “suspense.” I had to force myself to keep reading to see if anything was going to start to happen.

[Jeanne McQueen · Rating 1 out of 5]

Not worth reading

Not a bad story line, but at every turn, the author makes it very obvious her disdain for law enforcement as well as white men. It would be nice if your political views were not part of a fictional story.

[☕Brenda Loves Books☕ · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was honestly just an ok book.
The last 50 pages were exciting, but overall the book could've been just as good with less drawn out details. ⭐⭐⭐