TITLE: The Night Visitors
AUTHOR: Carol Goodman
PUBLISHER: William Morrow
PUB. YEAR: 2019
SETTING: Upstate New York
FORMAT: - print/library ( 320 pp)
FORMAT: - print/library ( 320 pp)
RATING - 4/5
The Night Visitors starts out like a story many of us have read before. Alice is a young woman who seems to be fleeing an abusive relationship. She and 10 year/old Oren board a bus from an affluent New Jersey community and are headed for upstate New York. Alice has contacted an agency for victims of abuse and has arranged to have someone meet her and Oren when they get off the bus and take them to a safe house.
Mattie is the 50-something social worker who meets the pair but she immediately sees something in Oren that reminds her of Caleb, her little brother who died over 30 years earlier when he was about 10. Instead of transporting them to the shelter run by nuns, she takes them to her old, run-down Victorian home since a storm is looming. It is here that it becomes clear each women has been hiding secrets which are slowly revealed.
The old Victorian home and looming storm make this not only a very dark story but also a very atmospheric one with even a few elements of the supernatural. Told through the POVS of both Alice and Mattie, this was a page turner and, despite a few unrealistic twists and the mention of using pay phones today (haven't they been removed everywhere?) this one was still a fun read.
I think I might like that one.
ReplyDeleteHeld my interest Brian.
DeleteI like the sound of this one, even if it does have pay phones. I can't remember the last pay phone I saw but now I'll be on the lookout for one.
ReplyDeleteI haven't seen any in several years.
DeleteWe still have them but I think hardly used!
ReplyDeleteI like the sound of this one.
I guess there still are some in the us, just not in my areas.
DeleteI had checked this one out from the library, but ran out of time before it was due. Sounds good - I'll need to grab it again.
ReplyDeleteHope you like it Diana.
DeleteThat's funny that the pay phone issue bothered you; that sort of thing throws me off as well.
ReplyDeleteI think I look for weird stuff like that when I read - and in movies as well LOL
DeleteOoh, this sounds good! Now I want to search Google and find out if any pay phones still exist.
ReplyDeleteI saw a 2017 post that stated there were still 100,000 pay phone throughout the US.
DeleteThis one sounds good. Yes we still have pay phones down here in the deep south. You see them every once in a while in small towns especially.
ReplyDeleteThat makes sense Susan.
DeleteThis sounds really good! I have only read books by the author under her pseudonym. I need to give this one a try.
ReplyDeleteWendy, now I need to know her pseudonym? to Google I go LOL
DeleteHi Diane,
ReplyDeleteI have enjoyed Carol Goodman's books in the past. I've read The Lake of Dead Languages, and two others, the titles of which I forget. I have The Seduction of Water sitting within my Nook--it looks good. I'd definitely like to read this new title. I especially enjoy the upstate New York settings.
I like the upstate NY settings as well and have read several of her books as well.
DeleteYes, payphones still exist in the U.S.
ReplyDeleteNo trace of them in many New England states though.
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ReplyDeleteOoo… I'm definitely intrigued by this one - I'll have to keep an eye out for it. Thanks for sharing!
ReplyDeleteI like Goodman a lot. She always delivers good, atmospheric thrillers that keep me guessing. Glad you enjoyed this one as much as I did.
ReplyDeleteOccasionally, I'll see a pay phone here in Arizona, but not very often. I was shocked to see a bank of them at the New York Public Library when I was there last week!
Pay phones? Really?
ReplyDeleteSounds promising. I still see pay phones around here and there. Always at liquor stores and at camp last week there were so many... because they can't get a signal up there.
ReplyDelete