In this addictive dual-timeline debut novel, a woman confronts her past at the remote Southern summer camp where the tragic death of her fellow counselor may not have been an accident after all.

Five years ago, Greer left her family’s summer camp in the mountains of Georgia and vowed she’d never return. An idyllic season had turned into a nightmare after a mysterious Phantom began stalking the camp—and ended with Greer’s friend and fellow counselor dead. Losing Steph shattered everything, and Greer’s been fleeing from the grief ever since.

But then Greer’s mother dies, and Greer finds herself back at Dread’s Cove, surrounded by the people she was closest to that intense summer. Two ex-boyfriends—one a childhood sweetheart, the other the guy she’s never gotten over—and old friends. Including Margo, Steph’s best friend.

Greer and Margo didn’t leave things on the best of terms. But now, Margo needs her. Margo never believed that Steph’s death in that horrific fire was an accident—and she’s on the trail of an explosive secret Steph took to her grave.

Greer has to make a choice: keep the Cove’s secrets and her own, or finally face the truth about that summer.

I love a good summer camp book, especially when there’s mystery involved, and if I’m being honest, my absolute favorite version of this is a summer camp slasher. I picked this one up through Book of the Month hoping for a solid thriller and maybe a summer camp deathfest. That is not what I got, though, and I’ll admit I was a little let down. That’s partly my fault though. That’s what I get for going in with too many expectations. In my opinion, this isn’t really a thriller either. It’s more of a slow mystery about what actually happened at a remote Georgia summer camp years earlier.

Greer left the camp her family runs five years ago and swore she’d never go back, not after her friend and fellow counselor Steph died in a fire that no one could fully explain, all while someone calling themselves the Phantom was stalking the camp that summer. Greer’s spent the years since running from that grief. But when her mother dies, she’s forced to return to Dread’s Cove, and suddenly she’s face to face with everyone from that intense summer. Two ex-boyfriends are there and so is Margo, Steph’s best friend, still convinced that Steph’s death wasn’t an accident. Margo’s been quietly chasing the truth ever since, and now she needs Greer’s help to solve the mystery, whether Greer is ready to face the truth of that summer or not.

On the plus side, I liked the dual timeline structure. Jumping between the present and the summer everything fell apart gave the story a clear sense of buildup, and I appreciated getting to see exactly how things unraveled instead of just hearing about it secondhand. That part worked well.

Unfortunately, that’s kind of where my praise runs out. The characters all felt like they were pulled from a template. Greer, Margo, the exes, and everyone else all blurred together for me. Nobody felt distinct enough to really root for or against, which is a problem in a book that’s supposed to be building toward some kind of emotional payoff.

The mystery itself was fine, but I’ll admit–fine is doing a lot of work in that sentence. I saw where things were headed pretty early on, and the reveals didn’t really surprise me. I was okay with this not turning into the slasher I was hoping for, sometimes a quieter mystery is exactly what a story needs, but I did want at least a few genuine thrills or chills along the way, and I never got that. Not even a little bit. Even the central secret Steph supposedly died protecting ended up feeling pretty low stakes and by the book once it was finally revealed.

Everything unfolds exactly the way you’d expect a book like this to unfold. There’s no moment where the story surprises you or takes a swing you didn’t see coming. Pacing wise, though, the book moves steadily enough that I never felt like giving up on it, still, it never grabbed me the way I wanted it to.

This is a perfectly readable summer mystery with a solid dual timeline structure and a setting that has real potential. I just wanted more teeth and more surprises from it. It played things too safe and was borderline formulaic. If you’re looking for a atmospheric mystery to read by the pool without needing anything too intense, this could work for you. Just don’t go in expecting chills, twists, or characters who really stand out, because that’s not what’s on offer here.

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