Stillhouse Lake by Rachel Caine

If you’re a parent, you are going to relate to Gina SO HARD! 

Gina Royal is a married mother of two living happily ever after in suburbia. Then one day as she drives home in her mini-van with the kids, her street is barricaded and police are surrounding her house. Very quickly Gina realizes she didn’t know her husband well at all. He is secretly a serial killer.

After chapter one we progress in time to the point where Gina has changed her name, and the names of her kids, several times. They have moved around the country several times. Without a “family members of convicted serial killers” protection program, she is left to her own skills to protect her family. This story portrays internet trolls in a very realistic light. “Gwen” receives death threats from people who don’t believe her innocence. She is sent horrifying images and stories involving violence toward her kids. All the steps Gwen takes following her husband’s conviction are realistic to the kinds of steps that I, as a mother, would take. This is what made her so relatable.


After 8 moves, they buy a home at Stillhouse Lake. It is a quiet and picturesque town which seems ideal for her kids to live out a somewhat normal childhood. Naturally these moves and changing identities are hard on the kids. An average teen would act out and dish attitude to their mother, but throw in a life of secrets, emergency escape plans, and restriction from social media and you’ll meet another realistic personality in “Lanny,” Gwen’s daughter. I enjoyed following Gwen’s internal monologue. She self-doubted and self-blamed at every turn which is something all parents do too often.

This book was a thriller and I was anxious through every chapter. Gwen’s husband seems to have a reach to her life from within prison even though he shouldn’t know anything about her and the kids. When a girl is found floating in Stillhouse Lake, Gina is quickly made a suspect when her true identity is revealed. She must choose between her instinct to run, and her belief that she can stick out the investigation and protect her children.

There are secrets thrown left and right in this story. There is a conclusion that can provide readers with closure but it also sets us up for a continuation to at least one more book.




 

To Look a Nazi in the Eye by Kathy Kacer, Jordana Lebowitz

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC

To Look at Nazi in the Eye - Could you imagine doing just that?

Jordana Lebowitz was nineteen when she traveled to Germany and witnessed the trial of Oskar Groening, known as the bookkeeper of Auschwitz. At the time of his trial, Oskar was 94. Proving his guilt when he didn't directly cause death with his own two hands would not be an easy feat. This trial would set a precedent - you can be found guilty of murder if you contributed to the "death machine" without actually killing anyone.

Kathy is an established author of books that bring the history of The Holocaust to readers of all ages.  Jordana Lebowitz was a teenager who found her mission in life at a young age during a visit to The Holocaust memorial. On said visit, she connected with living survivors, made lasting friendships with them, and thus began her journey to become a voice of history to future generations. Kathy Kacer, includes actual blogs written by Jordana during the time of the trial in 2015. Throughout this story we can click on any number of footnotes to see the true articles and facts.

"As I prepare to leave I am left to wonder: How can we help patch the world back together stitch by stitch into a patchwork of peace, and truly ensure Never Again?"

The witness testimonies are not word for word accurate to the trial, but they are written from true accounts of the survivors. Each of them was a child living an ordinary life. Each of them slowly saw their lives impacted by increased regulations and control over Jewish people. Their stories were heart wrenching and yet they're only three of the millions of stories of this time period. Their courage to continuously retell their stories is admirable. Even the word admirable is an understatement. They take it as their duty to keep reliving their pain as a tribute to all of the others who are not here to do the same.

This story was near perfect for me. I don't want to admit my reason for dropping it to a 4.5 star rating but I will. I didn't connect with the main character, Jordana. It's terrible to say because she is a real person, she has a relationship with the author and worked closely with her to develop this book. How could I not connect with her? She just didn't seem real. I didn't feel like the character's actions were realistic. Her interactions with the judge and with Oskar during the trial didn't feel real. I found myself thinking, "that would never really happen". From what I read in the acknowledgements, it very likely did happen as it was told. Kathy Kacer and Jordana Lebowitz talked for years, Kacer interviewed the survivors who testified, so it must be very close to accurate. So, I feel terrible that I doubted her personality throughout the story. Maybe I'm a little bit blinded by the young people I know personally?

Kudos to Jordana!

A young person who is so passionate about the survival of history, and is so altruistic, it just doesn't seem like she could be real. The beautiful truth is that she is a real woman who is truly on a mission to better the world. History should not be allowed to repeat itself. We should not become so disconnected from the harsh reality of history that we can pretend it never happened. Millions of people died of all ages and I am certain they never would have believed that their coming fate would be possible. Today, I can't fathom being separated from my children and forced to work under torturous conditions. That is the reality that far too many people endured. I applaud Jordana Lebowitz for enduring such emotional turmoil and stress so that she can shoulder the story of her ancestors. She is a person of action who wants to ensure that this never happens again.