Challenge Corner discussion

In an intense, twisty, Hitchcockian standalone spin on Rear Window from #1 New York Times bestselling author Lisa Jackson, a woman returns to the Oregon town where a nightmare unfolded 20 years ago—and is waiting to engulf her again. For fans of J.T. Ellison, Paula Hawkins, Karin Slaughter, and Riley Sager.

The huge Victorian house on Lake Twilight belongs to Harper Reed Prescott, as does the private island on which it sits. Harper wants little to do with either. Twenty years ago, Harper’s grandmother died suspiciously while in her care, on the same night that Harper’s boyfriend disappeared. His body was never found, and no charges were filed. But the rumors haven’t faded. There have been other deaths, other accidents. All revolving around Harper and her family.

Now Harper’s marriage is over, her college-age daughter is estranged, and Harper just wants to sell the property and make a fresh start. Except returning to the lake has stirred everything up again. Whispers. Memories. And the persistent feeling that, as she gazes out at the houses across the water, she’s being watched in turn.

The whole town has always thought Harper has something to hide, and they’re right. But she might have even more to fear . . .

Going to probably be a day behind on this one, but definitely looking forward to it. I think this one will be quick!

10 chapters

wow, the house feels cursed!
(view spoiler)[
so we have kind of 2 mysteries, maybe 3?

Grandma - no idea what happened there. Why didn't the nurse show up on time the next morning? Was it the pills? Did something happen after she left? Who would want to hurt her grandma? Did she see something out the window? On the lake?

Chase - okay, so this appears to be the main mystery.
So we know Harper lied about something. And we know she was pregnant - and maybe going to tell him that night?
we know Levi was home AND he had a cut on his face
and - do we know Rand was home? for some reason, I thought she saw him.

Mom - I mean, her mom died, right? but her mom wasn't supposed to be there. and she walked off or fell into the lake. I don't know if I could have ever looked out those windows again after seeing my mom and then knowing she'd died. oof.

Man, I can't imagine going back to that house after losing a boyfriend and grandma in one night.
and wow, who was Marcia? is that her step mom? sister? jeez. . . (hide spoiler)]

20 chapters

ugh, it's my turn! I am not liking this one - at all. I'm finding it really really hard to read.
The POV are all over the place, the chapters don't specify the Year so I keep forgetting which time we're in. and I don't think a single timeline takes place after 1988 - Why? Ugh.

(view spoiler)[ so yeah, it feels gross the one detective plans to pin all these deaths on her - even when she was 9 years old
I mean, she can prove she wasn't in town when the old lady got out of her old folks home - she was driving and wasn't even there.

and Rand having secrets and not telling people just feels gross. he's a cop - why is he keeping secrets about a missing person case?

and why would they assume she would take out her whole family for money? Her dad is still alive, she didn't kill him - so why would she kill everyone else - and who thinks a 9 year old is breaking down how they will get money and then kill their mom.
if they thought she was a psychopath and wanted the money, wouldn't she start with Grandma so that her parents would have more money and then they would spend it on her?

but maybe I'm missing something. I'm definitely not hooked to the page on this one. (hide spoiler)]

ugh, I hope you enjoy this one more but I've been not loving it since page one so I think this one might be a struggle the whole time for me. I'm so sorry - I'm probably going to be a terrible grumpy buddy! lol

30 chapters

(view spoiler)[ I'm not sure what it is but the mystery doesn't seem top most in the story above the drama and how much everyone had crushes on each other

maybe it's just the amount of supposed murders -
mother, brother, grandma, Chase, finally Chase's mom.

they happen huge chunks apart and, even though there are a lot of similar players and any of them could have killed one of them - they want to tie it all to just one person that was at all of them (even though, again, it seems like Levi and Rand were in a lot of these places - even the neighbor was!)

even Beth and the reporter suck. (hide spoiler)]

50 chapters / 444 pages

(view spoiler)[ wow, I didn't anticipate Rand's dad confessing like that. I really thought Chase had left with that house of drug dealing hippies (lol) - and I thought he'd left. I knew his dad was violent but all the more reason for him to leave. I didn't think his dad had killed him

and now we know someone did kill her mom
Could this be the neighbors? the ones she keeps watching? oh, and speaking of that - gross, right? she just keeps peeping, it feels less "rear window" and more voyeuristic - especially knowing her gross grandpa Ewww.

so that's 1 manslaughter and definitely 1 murder. also, didn't he elude to the fact that Evan possibly didn't kill himself (did he see something the night of Chase's death?)

and is the same person who killed some of these people - is that who is messing with Harper? or is it Beth and her husband, trying to get the house? (hide spoiler)]

and done

wow, that was. . .a lot
(view spoiler)[ wow,
so chase wasn't the dad but Levi

and Marcia had talked the vargas guy into trying to kill everyone
and who waits that long? they had been waiting for everyone to die for absolute years. . .

that was all just. . .a jumbled pile of mess lol (hide spoiler)]

Is this really like over 500-pages!? OOOOOOO and you gave it a 2? I was gonna start it today, but I think I will go with Smile for the Cameras next instead, since it's so close to the end of the month.

Yes, it's reeeeeeeally long!!

Just checking to see if I can still comment on this. Guess so... 😂😂 starting now!

To Ch 7: So far, so good. I'm intrigued. Still a little uncertain about the length, but we'll see!

To Ch 18: Wow, Chase (view spoiler)[was a real piece of work. And I'm not sure what to think of Harper yet. Is she just a victim or circumstance, or is something deeper going on with her. (hide spoiler)] So far, I'm still intrigued by this. I feel like it's going fairly quickly. As I'm at 25% and feel like I just started it.

Trisha wrote: "10 chapters

wow, the house feels cursed!
..."

Yeah, there is a lot of pieces moving around right at the beginning. Everything seems mysterious, so it's hard to tell what the main focus is going to end up being -- and everything is surrounding (view spoiler)[Harper -- is there something to that, or is she just an unlucky victim in all of this? (hide spoiler)]

To Ch 30: I must be in a really good mood, because I am still intrigued by this. The MC, Harper, reminds me of the MC, Casey, in Riley Sager's The House Across the Lake. Harper is a bit older, but the set-up of (view spoiler)[her in this family home, and watching people on the lake, and the drinking. I think Harper may be more of an unreliable narrator than the author is currently letting on. I'm intrigued by the past perspective. There's a lot of focus on the people around Harper, but not really her in the past. So maybe she is just a victim of circumstance. I am wondering if Chase's brother did something to him? Or maybe their Dad? IDK... (hide spoiler)]

Trisha wrote: "20 chapters

ugh, it's my turn! I am not liking this one - at all. I'm finding it really really hard to read.
The POV are all over the place, the chapters don't specify the Year so I keep forgetti..."

OOOOO, it is so interesting you say that about the chapters not specifying the year, because my copy, a lot of them do specify the year, and it calls the present as 1988. So the most of the past chapters are in 1968, I believe, so 20s years before. That's so interesting. I wonder if our ARCs are different versions maybe?

Trisha wrote: "30 chapters..."

Yeah, Beth and the reporter def suck. (view spoiler)[Also, agree about Levi and Rand being everywhere. Getting Levi's perspective, he seems innocent in it all, but I'm not so sure. He did have a big crush on Harper. Perhaps that motivated him to do something to Chase. Even if it was accidental. I want to know more about Harper's Dad in all of this... (hide spoiler)]

To Ch 31: Yeah, Rhonda, the reporter, is a (view spoiler)[foul human. Also, what is up with the note Levi's Mom left him? She thought their Dad was involved in Chase's disappearance? The note was so crytic, hard to tell who she was referring to? (hide spoiler)]

To Ch 33: OMG, that's what (view spoiler)[happened to Evan!? That is so tragic and that Harper was the one to find him while all alone!? (hide spoiler)]

megs_bookrack ((struggling to catch up))

OOOOO, it is so interesting you say that about the chapters not specifying the year, because my copy, a lot of them do specify the year, and it calls the present as 1988. So the most of the past chapters are in 1968, I believe, so 20s years before. That's so interesting. I wonder if our ARCs are different versions maybe?.."

oh my gosh, that would have helped so much! is yours an E-Arc? Audio?
mine was a physical copy.

Trisha wrote: "50 chapters / 444 pages..."
I have so many theories. I feel like the (view spoiler)[Grandfather who got in the car accident was actually killed by the Grandmother. At one point they mentioned the Grandfather had had an allergic reaction, then Harper found the hornet carcasses that her Grandmother had saved. So did she put hornets in his Corvette, the one he crashed the day he died, because she knew he was allergic, then she collected the bodies after? The mention of the hornets just seems to suspicious otherwise. Then I do think Evan was murdered too. The tram car door was ajar and Harper didn't watch it all the way down top to bottom because she was hiding. I feel like someone else was there. Also, yeah, the Mom was drugged and killed, but who did that?! One person we don't know a lot about is Harper's Dad. Just that he had his new, much younger wife, Marcia, within a year of his wife drowning. I don't know, my head is spinning, but luckily, in a good way! (hide spoiler)] I'm really sorry you didn't enjoy this one!

I’m on chapter 12 and I’m not too sure if I like it. Like I just feel like it’s going back and forth does it get better? I feel like harper probably killed all of them already.

Gracie wrote: "I’m on chapter 12 and I’m not too sure if I like it. Like I just feel like it’s going back and forth does it get better? I feel like harper probably killed all of them already."
I have enjoyed it from the start, so it sounds like you're having the same experience as Trisha, in which case, it doesn't get better 😆😝

Trisha wrote: "megs_bookrack ((struggling to catch up))

OOOOO, it is so interesting you say that about the chapters not specifying the year, because my copy, a lot of them do specify the year, and it calls the ..."

I have an e-ARC?

Im going to give it until chapter 30 maybe because some books I’ve struggled to get in to ended up being my favourite. Just got to the bit where chase turned out to be cheating so I’m a little bit more in to it.

I have just got chapter 38. It is growing on me and I feel like I’ll read it all.

Found out what happened to chase and just got to Anna. Omg!

Gracie wrote: "Found out what happened to chase and just got to Anna. Omg!"

Oh yeahhhh, now you're vibing with it! So much drama!

Done! I had so much fun with this. I was glued to the pages and here for all the drama. It didn't even feel too long for me, which I was really concerned about seeing the page count going on. I just how big of a web it was and trying to figure everything out. I think it was just the right book for me at the right time, fortunately!

Just finished the book and I am actually glad I finished it!

I'm so glad both of you liked it so much more than me!! YAY!!

Trisha wrote: "I'm so glad both of you liked it so much more than me!! YAY!!"

Our roles definitely reversed on this one, in comparison to The Devils. LOL

Gracie wrote: "Just finished the book and I am actually glad I finished it!"

Glad you stuck it out, Gracie!!

megs_bookrack ((struggling to catch up)) wrote: "Just checking to see if I can still comment on this. Guess so... 😂😂 starting now!"

Technically this thread was inactive after July 18th lol. Due to Trisha's last comment being on July 4th and nothing again until August. But since you and Gracie were clearly reading it, I'll update this thread to August 2nd.

Alaina wrote: "megs_bookrack ((struggling to catch up)) wrote: "Just checking to see if I can still comment on this. Guess so... 😂😂 starting now!"

Technically this thread was inactive after July 18th lol. Due to..."

Ughhh, sorry!!! I wasn't sure exactly how that works. Thank you, Alaina. I appreciate your help!