Published by SpellBound Books on October 22, 2021
Format: eARC
Source: Publisher
Amazon UK
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Also by this author: Camp Death
There’s nowhere to run
But plenty of places to hide...Tall Trees
An Idyllic Campsite, situated on a picturesque lake, and surrounded by woodland.Three Groups Of Strangers:
All meet for the first time, each one of them with something to hide.
But someone knows all of their dark secrets and now they want to play a game...
PLAYTIME JUST GOT DEADLY
So a book with such an 80s slasher feel but brought to the 21st century, a big hit for me. Three groups converge to Tall Trees, all with different secrets but are they linked?
We are sucked into a village and a campsite that has seen some horrors. A prologue that draws you in with a clanger of an ending which completely sets the tone for the rest of the book. Tales of tragedy flit throughout the book, half said secrets are revealed, all little bread crumbs to keep you reading.
There are a lot of characters to keep track of, and it took me a couple of chapters to keep track of who everyone was, but everyone played a part no matter how small. Legends are told to the campers to unsettle them, which it does, everyone looks over their shoulders. I have to say, I am glad this is Book 1 in a series because I will admit I have a few questions so I hope they get answered in the next book and then things will click a bit more for me. Plus it means we can go back to the campsite for more fun and frivolity.
I love the 80s vibe that this story had, a campsite, boys meet girls vibe, all in the 21st century with mobiles and Switches. However, they are only mentioned briefly, so we can easily be transported in a time before the electronics. As I said everyone has secrets, which we learn slowly, we just don’t realise how much they impact other characters until it is too late in some cases. The story builds slowly as we get to know the characters, see their interactions. I think Jenny was my favourite, I related to her the most in more ways than one. She had her own motives for going to Tall Trees, she was also the one with her head screwed on the most!
The last third of the book is where things hit the ground running and it was my favourite bit! The hunt is on and the deaths were creative for sure but not overly gory, a lot happens off book so instead, you can imagine their pain and fears. Not sure what’s worse!! I will admit I was a bit gutted about a couple of characters and I felt some things of their bits were a bit rushed. But I think I am being greedy as I wanted as much information as possible. And yet, bravo to Ody, I did LOVE the ending, a far cry from a Hollywood ending and that made everything so much more enjoyable for me.
I can easily see this as a movie, and it will be fantastic! It was so nostalgic and so much fun to read. I wasn’t expecting the complete twists we are given, I had an inkling someone was behind it but the reason, nope it got me! I had no idea!
I look forward to the next instalment to see the fall out from this tale, to enjoy the campsite, less the murders…….oh wait isn’t that why we are going?!
Until next time xxx
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