Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of this book. It took me a while to get into the story. The timeline and narrator shifts felt a bit clunky until the narrators finally came together in one timeline. Overall it was an interesting story, but not a compelling one.

This one had true crime vibes but in a more storytelling, fictional way. Usually, true crime writing feels choppy to me but this one was smooth and seamless. One of my favorite things about this book was the authors note at the beginning telling us about how the book was inspired by true crime while still being a work of fiction. This one was captivating, clever, and held my attention for the length of the novel. The reveals were spectacular and well thought out. I also enjoyed the alternating points of views. I enjoyed how the reveal of how the two points of views intersection.

Thank you to @netgalley and the publisher, Post Hill Press, for my advanced e-arc in exchange for this honest review. I recommend you check this one out January 10th!

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher and the author, for an ARC of this book, in exchange for an honest review.
The premise of the book drew me in but once I started reading it, I just couldn’t get into it at all.
I wish the author, publisher and all those promoting the book much success and connections with the right readers.

Very clever writing that keeps you guessing from the start, and a clever storyline that’s a mix of fiction and non-fiction. It’s hard to predict what’s going to happen. Although it was slow at times, the pace does pick up during the second half. Some parts felt a bit long but overall it was a good read and one that I would recommend.

As a fan of Deborah Goodrich Royce, it is painful for me to say that I didn’t love AND didn’t hate this book. I’m not sure how to rate/review it. There were two characters - the ‘writer’ and Linda. I found the ‘writer’ to be annoying, but really liked following along Linda’s story. I struggled to get through the beginning of the book, but it picked up halfway through. I just wish that the connection between the writer and Linda didn’t come so later in the story. It wasn’t my favorite book from Royce, but I will continue to read her novels. Thank you to Post Hill Press and Net Galley for the ARC. All opinions are my own.

Inspired by the actual murder of her mother’s friend, Deborah Goodrich Royce begins Reef Road with a severed hand washing ashore in wealthy Palm Beach, Florida, on May 9, 2020. Due out in January, the psychological thriller unfolds a tale of two women: the first an unnamed writer obsessed with the unsolved murder of her mother Beth’s best friend in 1948, the second an anxious wife named Linda whose husband Miguel has seemingly kidnapped their two young children.

The writer lives alone with an aging dog, and she knows all about Linda’s life. When the two meet, the writer thinks that Linda’s father knows all about the murder of her mother Beth’s friend, and she eventually reveals what she wants from Linda. Linda feels more and more that the relationship with the woman who turns out to be named Noelle is inappropriate as Noelle seems to be stalking Linda and her family.

All is not as it appears to be. Noelle is desperate to “solve” the murder of her mother’s childhood friend as she says “I grew up under the shadow of a dead girl.” Her development was stilted as her mother didn’t allow Noelle to play outside unsupervised or to enjoy such activities as sleepovers with her friends. Linda, already fraught about her missing children, may have made a big mistake in trusting others.

Always with the pandemic playing in the background, the story reaches an unexpected climax as the truth about Linda’s life becomes unraveled as the severed hand becomes a part of her story with Noelle a witness to it all.

Deborah Goodrich Royce writes thrillers that involve “puzzles of identity.” She is also the author of Finding Mrs. Ford and Ruby Falls. Royce is a former actress having starred as Silver Kane on All My Children and having appeared in several feature films and TV movies.

My review will be posted on Goodreads starting November 28, 2022.

I would like to thank Permuted Press and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in return for an objective review.

Deborah Goodrich Royce’s Reef Road masterfully depicts the heightened anxiety, the struggles of a writer, and the generational scars that bind us together in a highly original book about how childhood trauma leads to murder during the early lockdown of the Covid-19 pandemic.

In alternating chapters between “A Writer’s Thoughts” and “The Wife,” this psychological thriller is a perfect amalgamation between the True Crime and Fiction genres. The separate stories of the writer and the wife merge at the halfway point into an expertly plotted psychologically attuned mystery about revenge.

Both leading female characters are intriguing and fully fleshed and the reader is compelled to root for each of their successes individually. Along the way, many history lessons are also used to highlight the motivations and reasoning for the characters’ choices and controversial decisions.

Reef Road shines with psychological astuteness and bravery in portraying the real struggles of characters effected by the sins of the mother and the sins of the father, while manipulating the unforeseen real obstacles of the pandemic.

I highly recommend picking up Deborah Goodrich Royce’s thrillers if you are looking for a psychologically introspective read. After reading Ruby Falls in 2021, I became an instant fan of her writing. I can’t wait to see what this talented writer comes up with next!

Trigger warnings: Bulimia, rape

4.5/5 stars rounded up

Thank you to NetGalley and Post Hill Press for the ARC of Reef Road in exchange for an honest review.

The ARC of this book originally came to me from an anonymous patron through my library's bookdrop. I then requested the electronic version from NetGalley for reading on-the-go, so thank you to the publisher for the opportunity to read it in advance.

A fairly compelling mystery/thriller told in alternating chapters from what at first appear to be two separate narrators - The Wife and A Writer. As the book unfolds, however, these perspectives intertwine more and more, and it becomes apparent that even The Wife's perspective is a narrative "embellished" by The Writer. The novel proceeds to tackle the questions of guilt, responsibility, and the stories that we involve ourselves in when we entangle our lives with those of other people. It's an interesting conceit and there were definitely moments of intrigue that kept me reading, but overall something nearly indefinable just felt like it was lacking here.

The reveal of the connection between the two narrators feels like it comes too late in the story. There is no real resolution except to apparently teach the reader that sometimes there is no resolution in life, which feels like something of a cop out. And a few aspects of Noelle/The Writer's personality and life feel like they're just shoehorned in for no real reason. Her bulimia seems like a completely out of the blue attempt at just giving her some extra traits. And I can only hope that the two random tangents she goes off on about the difficulties of using social media as a modern writer and how people in their twenties apparently still act like lazy teenagers even 10 years out of college aren't just airings of Goodrich Royce's personal negative opinions on younger generations.

This novel alternates between the story of "The Wife", seemingly living a charmed existence in Palm Beach but whose husband and children go missing during the early days of the pandemic, and "The Writer" who is writing a book about the long-ago unsolved murder of her mother's childhood friend, and who is unhealthily interested in The Wife. I couldn't figure out how the two women were connected until eventually it is revealed. A suspenseful, well-written novel.

I love Deborah Goodrich Royce's other books and this one is no exception. Its a psychological thrilled that hooked me right from the start. She is awesome at unfolding mysteries. I'm so glad I got a chance to preview this one early.

Thank you to #netgalley for the advanced digital copy.

I had high hopes for this book. The reviews were great. The cover is gorgeous but the story fell flat. I just couldnt get into this at all. It seemed to drag on and nothing happened.

I have read all of Deborah Goodrich Royce's books and this one is my favorite so far. The twists and turns of the book were so compelling I couldn't put it down! The characters draw you in and you don't know what to expect next. This book is brilliant and I will be recommending it to everyone I know.

Are our destinies inextricably linked to the actions of our antecedents? Does our life bear the scars, traumas, and actions of those who came before? If so, how do we break those ties or heal those generational wounds? Or do we?

These questions are at the heart of how a murder in the past has reverberations into the lives of the characters we encounter in this story. And it all takes place around the beginning of the COVID pandemic as people are relegated to existing mainly between the four walls of their home-a place where anything can be hidden and where dark deeds can come out of the shadows.

There were moments when I was extremely confused by the chapters from the "Writer's" perspective. The Writer was a character whose thoughts were revealed in a chaotically ordered stream of consciousness. It leaves the reader asking, who is this person and how are they connected to Linda-our second protagonist?

As the answers come to light and the story progresses, I wanted to know how this convoluted puzzle was going to come together. When the answers slowly took form, the story became darker and darker. I soon realized that this was a character study about people who are inextricably linked through the workings of fate.

I was disappointed that the ending was one in which we are still left with unanswered questions, but when I attempt an analysis I have come to the loose conclusion that that is the point: will the progeny give power to the mistakes of their predecessors? Are we likely to repeat generational harm or are we able to break the cycle by distancing ourselves from the darkness at the edges of our history?

I read and reviewed an advanced copy of this eARC thanks to Post Hill Press. All opinions are my own.

TW/CW: Physical and Mental Abuse, Assault, Homicide, Bulimia, COVID/protocols, Infidelity, Childhood Trauma, Stalking, References to the traumas of Argentina's "Dirty War".

Set in the pandemic we meet an unnamed writer and Linda a wife.

Both have stories...the unnamed writer's story is about an unsolved murder of her mother's friend when she was a child. ​This same writer looks for murder cases and statistics.​

The wife's story is about a woman whose husband took their children out of the country.

The book started out with teenage boys finding a washed up hand on​ ​the beach of Reef Road then it moved to the two women.

I honestly was lost about what was going on, but kept on reading​ and then decided to stop at 40% because I honestly couldn't follow what was going on​.

​Thank you for the chance to read Ms. Goodrich's newest. I LOVED Finding Mrs. Ford.

I didn't want to give a star since I didn't finish, but decided on a 3 since I wasn't able to leave a review without the stars...hope that is ok.

This book is great! Would definitely recommend. Thanks so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

An unusual mystery based on true events. Told from two very different perspectives, I struggled with the pace of the narrative. Beautifully written and atmospheric.

This book was a very interesting look at how crime affects us and spirals out in multiple generations. It tell the story of a writer affected by the murder of her mother's childhood friend, an unsolved murder. And a wife, who the writer goes out of her way to befriend and integrates herself into her life. Many secrets are revealed over time, in a matter of fact style that belies their importance. What is justice, how do so many wrongs be made right or can they ever. Makes you think. 4.5

Palm Beach, Florida.
Escaping the house during peak Pandemic 2020, two boys sneak onto a private beach to surf and find a severed hand with a wedding ring.

Pittsburgh, post World War II.
Noelle Huber is a 12 year old girl who is home alone, in the process of making a cake. Her older brother is at work and her parents are out for the night. When they come home, Noelle has been brutally murdered.

Reef Road by Deborah Goodrich Royce is a banger of a psychological read. It reads like true crime, much like Chasing the Bogeyman does. I have found that these sort of books are becoming my favorite genre, they create an air of mystery and anxiousness inside of me that I enjoy.

This is the story of two women, both who live in Palm Beach, during 2020. We all know what happened then. This is the story of family, of love, of guilt. The story of the wife is that of a woman who is trapped and knows it. She wants something else. She knows that she has good things but that her husband is a jerk. The writer is a successful person but full of childhood trauma.

But when the two lives intersect, and then intertwine....well, then....THEN...that's when things get wild.

Reef Road is just overall an outstanding story. Inspired by true-crime, it's a powerful way to tell a story. If only other writers could do something so classy.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review this book.

Without giving any spoilers it’s not easy to describe this unique murder mystery. Besides, the book description should hook you if you like holding your breath as you race through the pages to see what happens next. It is set mostly in a well-to-do Palm Beach neighborhood as residents are trapped in covid lockdown. There is also family background in Pittsburgh. The story unfolds with pieces of a young girl’s murder related from very different sides, one side from the novel writer neighbor and the other is the wife.
It's a crazy good, creepy tale about obsessively dysfunctional people! It’s dark, atmospheric, unexpected, and unpredictable. Besides the victim, her family, some local “citizen detectives” and police, there is the inevitable ripple effect created in others adversely affected. There is more death, infidelity, grief, dominance, a stalker, an ongoing spiral of events. Do you inherit evil? Do murderers remain unavenged? You should have questions when you’ve finished this. This story kept me guessing, it was entertaining and thought provoking. The characters were intimately real. Even the small predictable clues turned into disturbing developments. The fact that it’s based on actual events is scary.
A new author for me, one I would read and recommend again! A sincere thanks to NetGalley for the digital advance reader copy of “Reef Road” by Deborah Goodrich Royce and to Posy Hill Press. These are all my honest personal thoughts and opinions given voluntarily without compensation.

I enjoyed this book, it was easy to read and held my attention. I will be reading more from this author :)