Heather Day Gilbert

Author

Lazy Days of Summer Book Review–My Review of SIX SOLITUDE ROAD by Bethany Macmanus

Bethany Macmanus and I have been writerly friends from waaay back. Okay, maybe just back to last year, when we first started chatting and I interviewed her for my blog: Interview with Bethany Macmanus.

I love Bethany’s honesty and enthusiasm, which shines through everything she does. She also interviewed me for her uber-cool blog, A Noise in the Night. You can catch that vlogpost here: What’s Up Wednesdays: Heather Day Gilbert.

When Bethany let me know she was going to self-publish, I was thrilled for her. I was blown away by the professional-looking cover of her suspense novel, Six Solitude Road. Here’s a peek–and the link to it on Amazon:

Amazon link: SIX SOLITUDE ROAD

Isn’t that a gorgeously eerie cover? And so is the book. Here’s my review:

SIX SOLITUDE ROAD by Bethany Macmanus

Book Review by Heather Day Gilbert

From the moment I met Kate Marset, the determined main character in Six Solitude Road, I felt a connection with her. Rarely do I find married heroines in Christian fiction, much less a married main character with a child, but Kate is both, and I liked the extra dimension that gave her. Granted, there were times when I wanted to tell Kate to pay more attention to her daughter…but she was busy getting to the bottom of what was going on to protect them both.


With an ex-husband who says he’s finally clean from his drug addiction, and a recently-married second husband who’s suddenly turned unpredictable, Kate’s relationship angst lends urgency to the plotline. Add to that a church group shunning, a bodyguard she doesn’t know if she can trust, vandalism of the old house she lives in, and you have the recipe for sheer terror.

One of the things I loved about this book was the setting—Louisiana. It’s obvious Bethany knows the area well. In a convincing flood scene, she set a dramatic backdrop for the evil that literally sloshed into Kate’s life at the same time. 

The revelations about the house at Six Solitude Road definitely caught me by surprise and overshadowed the storyline in a good way. I love it when the locale plays a role in the plot.

The topic matter isn’t for the faint of heart—a kidnapping of one of Kate’s young students. I’m not a fan of books where children are hurt/kidnapped or killed, but Bethany somehow handles a gruesome topic in a less-than-gruesome manner.

I was also drawn to a plucky side character, Allie, and her sad backstory. I have a feeling we’ll see her again in Bethany’s future novels.

I couldn’t put this book down–it reminds me of a Nancy Drew story, only dangerous and grown-up. Excellent debut novel by Bethany, and I’m looking forward to her next!

Here’s a link to the YouTube trailer for the novel: 

Six Solitude Road Trailer 

****Hope you enjoyed this review and get to check out Six Solitude Road! More from Bethany today on Married…with Fiction, so bop on over there and read her blogpost on self-publishing: Married…with Fiction.****
















Comments

  2. Larry W. Timm says

    Heather, thank you for this review. I felt the same way about the main character, and also found Bethany's writing style to be very engaging. I hope many people will take time to read this book. Bethany did a great job in her debut novel!