Since Laurel Hightower’s excellent debut novel Whispers in the Dark appeared in 2018 she has continued to impress with two subsequent novellas Crossroads (2020) and Below (2022). However, Silent Key might well be her strongest work yet, and is completely unique to those earlier works except for the recurring theme of loss which she frequently returns to and brings into raw focus in her fiction. It is fantastic to see Hightower’s highly original and startling novel being picked up Flame Tree Press, a publisher who has a great eye for high quality fiction and Silent Key sits comfortably with the best they have released over the last few years. Big genre names such as Josh Malerman and Jonathan Janz have been purring about this novel and rightly so.

I knew absolutely nothing about Silent Key when I read it and this undoubtedly made it a much richer reading experience as I did not have the faintest idea where the story was going. If you were to explain to an innocent bystander what this novel was about it would sound completely and utterly batshit crazy, a bizarre blend of fantasy and even science fiction, but within the confines of the story it was pitch perfect, with some massive revelations being dropped in the second half of the wildly unpredictable story.

With Silent Key I would be wary of spoilers (even the reason it has its name is a spoiler) as the change of direction it takes caught me completely on the hop and it was not something I expected in the slightest. The action opens with recently retired police detective Cam Ambrose struggling to cope with the recent death of her fellow policeman Tony, who died in horrific and unexplained circumstances. To make things worse Sammy’s five-year-old daughter apparently sees ghosts and is the main reason the pair are abandoning their New York home to move to a rural ranch in Texas which was owned by Cam’s recently deceased uncle. Quite early in the story Sammy begins to see the ghost of her father Tony and Cam realises that her daughter has been keeping secrets from her.

For the most part Cam Ambrose is a very closed off and guarded character and due to her present circumstances sees suspicion and threats everywhere. This is partially alleviated by the fact that she is accompanied by Dimi, a former Russian gangster who is now a combination of her bodyguard, surrogate brother and best friend. Cam and Dimi bounce off each other well and the relationships between them and Sammy form an important and believable part of the story with the mother troubled and feeling helpless to help their struggling daughter.

The plot revolves around what happens when the three arrive in Texas and realise their previous troubles and ghosts have followed them. However, it is significantly more complex than this as the plot begins to blend thriller and great action sequences as Cam realises that her uncle’s recent death was every bit as suspicious as her dead husband. Throw into the mix a sympathetic love interest, a fantastic guard dog and a house which is much more than haunted and you have a highly readable and enjoyable horror novel which was dreamed up by a highly fertile imagination. If you have never tried Laurel Hightower before Silent Key is a great jumping in point or if you want something shorter Crossroads is a stunner and as bleak as they come.

I would like to start by stating that I am a huge fan of Laurel Hightower. I loved Below and Crossroads is one of my favourite horror novellas. Thus, I must confess I entered this story with the ‘hypest’ hype ever. And I sadly think that worked against me.
A haunted house, a child who sees ghost and a lot of dead people. Of course, I was hyped! Sadly, I could not connect with most of the characters. They felt as if they came from another story, a kind of first part I knew nothing about. The romance felt so rushed not even the characters themselves saying that same thing made it coherent.
I was not expecting the Russian submarine plot either, and even if I was intrigued, it kind of changed the whole book for me. I was expecting a haunted house and some very angry ghosts, but not against that backdrop.
Anyhow, Hightower’s writing continues to be both intricate and hypnotic. The ghosts were horrific in their appearances and their rage; the whole ‘sea-related’ stuff was extremely claustrophobic. And her depiction of grief and fear for the love ones was as good as in Crossroads.
I would recommend it more to people who are looking for a mystery with a supernatural tone than to readers looking for a more traditional haunted house.

Thank you to Flame Tree Press for allowing me the digital ARC of Silent Key to review. The story revolves around former Detective Cam Ambrose, her daughter Sammy, and her best friend who she considers her brother Dimi. She leaves her home in New York hoping to escape the grief of her recently deceased husband, the news of his infidelity, and the ghosts who seem to be haunting her daughter. As she learns more details about her husband's death she realizes he kept many secrets from her and she never truly knew him. Moving to Texas to her uncle's home, who recently died, it's up to Cam to decipher the cryptic messages he's left her, unravel the mystery of her husband's demise, and stop the hauntings happening to her daughter. This was an amazing book from start to finish! The pacing of the story was perfect and kept me intrigued the entire time. It was a great horror novel that kept me on my toes, and I found myself trying to figure everything out along with the characters. I was invested in the characters, the plot, and the story. I can't wait for it to be published so I can buy a physical copy. 5/5 stars.

After the death of her husband, Cam Ambrose is plunged into a harrowing journey of grief and self-discovery. As she grapples with profound loss, she begins to uncover unsettling truths about her late partner, realising that he was a mystery even to her. She soon becomes entangled in a web of supernatural forces, and the darkness she falls into only ever seems to get deeper.

'Silent Key' follows Detective Cam, as she explores the death of her husband, Tony, with the help of her sassy, brother-like best friend, Dimi. Moving into her late uncle's small town farm, it's clear that they are not alone...

The characters are absolutely ace; so well written and feel very realistic. I wish more authors would write characters as well as Dimi is written in this one! I also loved that the dogs were all named after 'To Kill a Mockingbird' characters. Such a small thing, but as a fan of the book, it made me smile!

I've been a fan of previous work by Laurel Hightower, but I think this one has to be my new favourite, very closely followed by 'Crossroads'. If you're into aquatic horror and/or haunted houses, then I'd definitely recommend you add this one to your TBR.

Thank you to NetGalley, Flame Tree Press, and Laurel Hightower for the ARC in return for an honest review.

I didn’t connect with our FMC or her family at all during this book except when the “love interest” was involved. He seemed to be the only one with actual emotions and development going on outside the haunting issue.

The whole Cold War / Russian submarine plot was something I wasn’t expecting and truly wasn’t my favourite. I thought I was reading the second book in a series for a few moments because we had so much info without context.

Kept waiting for hauntings & ghosts that made sense or at least had better build up but they just popped up out of nowhere and the context wasn’t there. I was expecting more horror (other than bodily descriptions) but it leaned waaayyy more mystery for me.

First, I want to say thank you to NetGalley and the publishers for this ARC ebook.

My honest review? This was boring and dragged on longer than it needed to. This book felt like it was more about the police investigation and Russian activity than the actual haunting. I still don't understand what was going on with Dimi. This whole book was confusing. We were thrown right into the story and not given much backstory into any of the characters. I actually stopped reading halfway through to look up the book to check if this was the second in a series, because I was so confused. Maybe it was just me, but I felt it was lacking in a lot of departments.

Thank you to Flame Tree Press and NetGalley for the ARC!

This book was so much better than I initially thought it would be. It starts out a little slow, but the weird stuff happens quickly. Sammy, Cam's daughter, sees ghosts and the motel ends up mysteriously soaked. Not to mention the unusual way in which Cam's husband, Tony, died back in New York.

Cam, Sammy and her 'brother', Ex-Russian mobster Dimi, move to Texas after the chaos of Tony's death. They stay at her uncles house, which is now free after he died months ago. Only strange things happen and Cam finds out her uncle died in a strange way as well. A supernatural mystery ensues, with a watery twist and Russian influence.

I figured out what was happening in terms of the haunting quickly, but this was a great ghost story. It wasn't limited to a house, or even a person, and it was great to see Cam figure things out slowly. She's smart, and more than capable of taking care of herself and her family.

I won't say too much more as I'd end up spoiling a lot, but Eric was a sweetheart, Dimi was a protective big brother and Tony was an arsehole who I'm glad died.

Overall, I'd definitely recommend horror lovers check this out!

Laurel Hightower does it again and again. I'm not the most fond of the cover but I love this book. I love almost all of her books. Which is rare to find an author where you like all their works. But she really has a really great style of writing and her stories are really good. I won all her books that are out right now and this is going to be a great addition.

A curious blend of Genres can be found in this novel by Laurel Hightower: part Police detective, part supernatural horror and part mystery/thriller. They blend together seamlessly, and with the addition of exceptionally written characters with some gripping found family moments, this novel is something special.

After losing her husband under suspicious circumstances, Cam Ambrose moves her family to her uncle’s farm in a small town. Without giving away too much of the plot, ghost-stuff starts happening and thus begins their quest to find out the truth about her husband’s death, and how that has an effect on their current situation.

I’ll be honest, I didn’t actually care too much for the plot of this, and particularly did not like the direction the ghosts took us throughout the novel. However, I loved the characters and how they interacted with each other, as well as the little romance that is included. My personal favorite character was Dimi, the sassy Russian best friend.

If you like character driven horror, this novel is right up your alley. I’d recommend reading this book purely for the characters alone.

Thanks to Netgalley, Flame Tree Press, and the author Laurel Hightower for allowing me to read an E-arc of this novel.

A fantastic supernatural mystery awaits in Silent Key. This novel features an amazing cast of characters, a horrifying haunting, and a mystery that spans generations yet unlike anything you've read before.

After her husband is found brutally murdered, our protagonist realizes that she didn't really know him at all. But he and their five year old daughter shared a bond, a supernatural one. And when she and her daughter move to her uncles house, we'll find out that a haunting has followed them and will not relent.

This character driven horror novel ramps up the intensity and frights as secrets are exposed and nobody is safe from the wrath of these restless spirits. The setting in Texas serves as a perfect background as the mystery around what happened involves a watery grave and Russian government mobs. It's a great trifecta (Texas, water graves, and russian mobsters) in the hands of the author.. She writes with authority and precision and never loses sight of the horrors involved.

This is a book people will talk about for a long time in the ghost and haunting genre. It's fun, scary, surprising, and makes for a great read all around. I highly recommend it.