The truth can bring out the worst in the best of friends.Esme and Benedict Werner have an idyllic life in a tight-knit community until an accident in their cul-de-sac ends in the tragic sudden death of one of their dearest neighbors. After vindicating eyewitness accounts morph into contradictory memories, suspicion, and unaccountable accusations, Benedict is arrested. Esme’s life, too, is changed … life, too, is changed forever.
As the neighborhood largely turns against her and her family, Esme has time to think about her past and what to do next. Then her fellow residents start looking deeper, questioning one another, and themselves, about hidden lies and betrayals.
Esme has more than her share of secrets. And the consequences of what happened on that fateful late-summer evening on Raven Lane are far from over. When the mask of civility slips, can friends and neighbors recover from seeing the monstrous truths beneath?
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I finished this book, listened to all of it, but I never really got into it. I feel like my mind would wonder at times and it was just background noise. It’s definitely an interesting story, all the lives and scandal on Raven Lane. I just didn’t connect with Esme or the other characters. The narrator did a great job, it was just the story that I didn’t love. It has not deterred me from trying more from this author in the future, just this didn’t make my love it list.
Wow! This book is full of twists and turns, deceit and truths, love and hate and murder! This is my first book by this author and it was okay but there is so much to remember with who did what with whom and why that you get so tangled up you don’t know if you’re up or down. I’m sure there are others out there that will love it. Enjoy!
I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
A solid 4! Lots of twists and turns.
Engrossing novel! The story has interconnected characters and a plot that involves all of them. The story is about a neighborhood and the people and the families who live there. They know each other and even attend parties together. One night this will all change when one of them is killed by another in a terrible accident. Then the secrets come out. Huge secrets and surprises throughout the whole story!
This is the second domestic suspense/thriller I have read by author, Amber Cowie. Although I loved her debut novel (Rapid Falls) I found Raven Lane to be more intricately plotted with well-drawn characters and intriguing sub-plots.
Cowie drew me in in the first chapter and didn’t let go until the explosive and unpredictable ending. I loved having the sense of having an voyeuristic view of the unique characters and their relationships. So many twists, turns and betrayals I didn’t see coming!
A renowned author, a former actress, a former model…and a murder. All in one neighborhood. How can you not love a book like that? Amber Cowie’s RAVEN LANE is an absolutely delicious, addictive, twisty suspense with a cast of very compelling and flawed characters. Not only is Cowie’s writing so well-paced and flows so beautifully, but she accomplishes the near-impossible by also writing in an entirely different voice and style for book passages penned by one of the main characters. Intricate, complex, and gripping, RAVEN LANE is also an emotional read. Highly recommend!
Excellent book, the ending was unexpected and will remain with you.
An interesting book to say the least. It takes place in a small cul-de-sac in an affluent neighborhood, with a close knit group of neighbors, carefully sorted out to include those with artistic backgrounds, writers, an actress, classical musicians and a successful real estate agent, who basically hand picks the buyers.
Close friendships are threatened, when a tragic accident invades the peaceful coexistence of the neighborhood, as secrets are revealed, relationships are not what they seem and the tragic accident evolves into a murder trial.
Amber Cowie is a skilled writer who develops interesting characters, and in this case, they are pretty unlikable people. I saw my initial perception of close knit neighborhood friends evolve into a lying scheming unlikable group. As friends turn against friends, we see that nothing is ever as it seems. An excellent follow up to Ms Cowies debut novel, Rapid Falls.
My thanks to #LakeUnionPublishing #AmberCowie and NetGalley for my ARC. All opinions are my own.
Welcome to Raven Lane but beware…appearances can be deceiving! Amber Cowie wrote a story of a close-knit neighborhood and the devastating consequences of a tragic death. Turning the pages was like peeling back layers of each character. I have to say I didn’t like any of the characters but loved this book! Fans of Little Fires Everywhere and Big Little Lies will enjoy Raven Lane!
Raven Lane is a delightful domestic suspense. I haven’t read any other books by Amber Cowie, but I think it’s time to get them on order. This is a book about family and friendship and how hiding our past can have ramifications on our present. The deep dark secret is slowly unraveled which made it a book that was difficult to put down.
Raven Lane is a cul-de-sac in a town in the Pacific Northwest with five detached homes arranged in a U shape, tucked into an area just two blocks away from one of the busiest commercial areas. It’s a very exclusive area and the real estate agent who sold all of the houses and lives there herself only sold to select people – actors, models, writers. All of the neighbors were very friendly with each other and had parties on a regular basis.
In the beginning, the people who lived on Raven Lane all appeared to be best friends who loved to spend time with each other. After the accident, Esme and Benedict learned who their real friends were as some of their neighbors turned against them. As the skeletons in the closet came to light, they had even more friends turn their backs on them. When the mask of civility slips, can friends and neighbors recover from seeing the monstrous truths beneath?
A domestic suspense novel, Amber Cowie’s RAVEN LANE lends itself to the question, “How well do you know your friends/neighbors?” Set on a small cul-de-sac on the Pacific Northwest, the residents are almost all “artistic” types: former actress, model, author, etc. with the unofficial head being Kitty, the realtor. She has made it her job to screen new residents to be sure they will fit the neighborhood. With weekly dinners and parties that everyone is expected to attend, they are close, for the most part. When a horribly tragic accident occurs, the secrets and lies start to unravel. At the center are Esme and Benedict. Esme is the main character, and events are told from her perspective switching from the present fallout, to the past leading up to the accident. Interspersed are parts of the best-selling novel by the author in the group. The novel is disturbing, as are the events leading up to the accident, especially in hindsight after the accident.
Esme made mistakes, big ones, but Benedict was no saint, not even close. I admit, I wanted to shake her, more than once. There were a few unexpected twists to close out the novel, and they did serve to make me re-think the some of the earlier events.
This is definitely domestic drama and reminded me of a nighttime soap opera. I enjoyed the writing, and the characters were all flawed and that made them interesting.
Thank you to NetGalley for my advanced review copy. All opinions and thoughts are my own.
#RavenLane #AmberCowie #LakeUnionPublishing
Superb Sophomore Outing. In Amber Cowie’s much anticipated sophomore effort following her debut, Rapid Falls, nearly one year ago, she becomes even more ambitious – and gives the reader even more value for their money. The overall story here is perhaps a *slight* slump from her stunning debut, and yet even that speaks to how amazing her debut truly was, as this is a truly strong book in its own right and has explosive revelations very nearly as deep as that one did. But what makes this book truly stand out is the novella effectively buried within it – and which would be classified in an entirely different genre of its own. Readers of my other reviews will know that I often proclaim Jeremy Robinson the Modern Day Master of Science Fiction and I have my reasons for doing that. The novella Cowie embedded within this book? It alone could give Robinson a run for his money, and if expanded into a book of its own could be one of the most compelling science fiction thrillers of whatever year it is released. Truly amazing work, and very much recommended.
This was an interesting book to get through. I really didn’t like any of the characters as they all seemed self centered and deceitful. The plot displayed several possible people that shared a motive in setting up Benjamin and the bike accident but it seemed a little far fetched. Too much lying and cheating and bizarre neighborhood relationships.
Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of the book. This review is in my own words.
I found this book to be more like a soap opera and less like a mystery/thriller – a lot of cheating, lies, and drama in an upscale neighborhood. I didn’t really care for the characters and found that while the story started off strong, as it progressed it became less so. I will say the ending was TOTALLY unexpected…
What I found most interesting was the concept of this hand-picked community of Raven Lane where the residents were chosen by a realtor (who also lives on Raven Lane) who specifically looked for specific attributes in her neighbors (artists, actors, etc.).
Thank you to Lake Union Publishing and NetGalley for providing a copy for review.
/ 5
Adults behaving badly is a great way to describe Amber Cowie’s new novel Raven Lane. This book was full of secrets and lies, and all the things that make for lots of drama!
I can’t honestly say I liked any of the characters all that much in Raven Lane, but I did both empathize and get angry at them. Esme is such a complex character and I really liked all the depth that Cowie gave her. This book ended up being more emotional than I had expected and Esme both fascinated and disgusted me at times, along with a few other characters. This book is caulk full of secrets and you never know quite where things are going as life on Raven Lane becomes more and more complex. SO MANY SECRETS! WHO CAN YOU TRUST?
I also loved that there was a book within a book! The neighbor that dies is an author and Cowie included paragraphs from his book into Raven Lane. I always enjoy when an author does that, and it gave this one a little something extra. The only thing I am a little confused by is the fact this is marketed as a mystery/thriller since I found it to be more of a drama, and there isn’t really all that much mystery to it besides the secrets people are hiding.
Song/s the book brought to mind: Untouched by The Veronicas
Final Thought: I really liked the structure of Raven Lane which is set in present with Esme basically having what I would call mini flashbacks to the past before the death of their neighbor. In this way, the past is untangled and the whole truth comes out, along with lots of skeletons in more than just Esme’s closet. Cowie has quickly become one of my favorite authors and I highly recommend this if you are into a slower paced, neighborhood drama.
Thank you to NetGalley and the author for my advanced review copies. All opinions and thoughts are my own.
This is a very good book! Had some good twists more of a who dunit book. It takes place in a Cul de sac where neighbours start to turn against each other ,aking for a very interesting read! It was slow to start but got very interesting as it went on it seemed to catch you and bring you along making you want to know more about the different characters and lives.
Thanks for to NetGalley for a fee copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
My my my. What a twisted little web the residents of the cozy cul-de-sac of Raven Lane weaves around the unsuspecting reader. It’s sticky. It’s intricate. It’s deadly for some. It’s also devilishly difficult to make sense of.
Amber Cowie’s domestic drama has elements of mystery, suspense, thriller, and drama but one clear genre never quite breaks free from the pack. It reads a great deal like the refrain “more money, more problems.” These neighbors, a conclave of wealthy artsy types, are in and out of each other’s beds as much as each other’s backyards. And now, one of them is dead at the hands of another. Was it murder, or just a tragic accident?
The author takes a long time to answer that question, in fits and starts that move back and forth between past and present. The momentum never lags, but it also never quite barrels forward, either. Reading it is like riding a roller coaster that climbs but never plunges. And to say the ending comes out of left field is an understatement. One that leaves the reader asking what on earth just happened. In the end, you are left with explanations that explain very little. The way the book is set up, there is no reason for the ending to happen as it did.
It’s a solid effort, and not at all a bad read. The characters are flawed, but human. You get the feeling they live in this bubble of privilege and when the bubble pops there’s a gummed up mess on everybody’s face. One no amount of scrubbing will erase. Esme is deserving of the sympathy we feel, right up until she isn’t. And Benedict, the accused killer, is more bumbling than vicious. The story pulls you along, even if at times it feels more like a rocking chair that keeps you occupied without getting anywhere. In the end, it’s a mixed bag of satisfaction and confusion.
The one truly intriguing part of the book, the hit and run victim’s novel The Call, creates a nice commentary on the monsters that live inside us. The story within the story reflects the actual events taking place and it is the author’s attempt at a second bestseller that gives us the impetus for the entire series of events taking place. If you like digging beneath the too perfect surface of suburban life, Raven Lane will take you there.
Oh, Esme and Benedict… Suburbia is never dull with you around. I’m so glad you’re not my neighbors. Highly entertaining, darkly thrilling, and deliciously crazy, that’s Raven Lane. Good thing Amber Cowie doesn’t shy away from the dark and crazy. It’s why I thoroughly enjoyed this novel.