Final Destination meets The Cabin at the End of the World in this supernatural horror from New York Times bestselling author Kelley Armstrong, in which a series of car accidents traps a group of strangers at a dive bar.

A forested road at night, slick from the pounding rain and eerily illuminated by flashes of lightning. Just before midnight, a car swerves to avoid something―or someone―mysteriously standing in the road, only to slam into a fallen tree instead. In the pitch black, four more cars follow in a pileup no one can seem to avoid.

Stumbling out of the wreckage, soaked from the rain and nursing various injuries, five strangers find themselves in a backwoods dive bar, waiting for daybreak and hoping for cell service. But as tensions rise and the storm rages on outside, the occupants of the dive bar start to notice that not everything is as it seems. Time is moving differently, and they quickly learn that going outside―whether to assist another accident victim or to hike for help―is a very bad idea.

There’s something in the woods, something that isn’t natural. Could the figure in the road have been a warning? Or something more sinister? None of this is normal, and they’ll need to work together to figure out what’s happening if they have any hope of surviving the night.

I received a gifted copy of this book courtesy of the publisher. All thoughts are my own.

This one was nice and creepy, and it’s short enough that you can easily get through it in a single sitting. Honestly, I think that’s the only way to do it, because the tension never really gives you a chance to put it down.

It all takes place during a stormy night on a forest road. It starts with a driver swerving to miss something standing in the road She smashes into a fallen tree and is rescued by a very large man. More cars come along behind and pile in, because nobody can stop in time. The survivors all stagger into a run-down bar tucked back in the woods for shelter and to call for help. But they can’t get a phone signal. They decide to wait out the storm and then go for help. But things seem really off here, and anyone who steps outside to brave the storm and seek help find it impossible to do so. Something is in the woods is hunting them, and the people inside have to figure out how to work together if they want to see morning.

The tension in this one starts in the first few pages and doesn’t let up. From the get-go you know something is off, and it isn’t just the bar. It’s the entire situation, including the people involved. As more folks join the group and the storm gets more intense, things grow darker, and the dread keeps stacking up. The characters were compelling, and even though there are several of hem, I never had a difficult time remembering who was who. There was a good mix of personalities to keep it interesting and enough people who seemed questionable to keep you guessing.

I’m a sucker for atmosphere, and this book has it in spades. Because you know right away that things are wrong, the question stops being whether something bad will happen and becomes when the next bad thing will happen, how bad it will be and who will still be standing when it’s all over. While I was reading, I kept thinking of the horror movie Identity, the early 2000s one with John Cusack and Amanda Peet. It’s only a little bit of a resemblance, not a copy, but the feeling is similar: a group of people stuck together while the weather closes in and nothing adds up the way it should. If you liked that movie, this book would be a good fit for you.

This book has plenty of tension, compelling characters, strong writing, and a constant feeling of dread that had me locked in. I’d definitely recommend this one for the creepy season ahead, especially if you want something quick that gets under your skin.