The Children on the Hill by Jennifer McMahon on April 26, 2022
Genres: Fiction / Ghost, Fiction / Thrillers / Supernatural, Fiction / Women
Pages: 352
Format: Paperback
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“I don’t believe places can be haunted. Only people, and not in a supernatural way. People are only haunted by their pasts.”
1978: at her renowned treatment center in picturesque Vermont, the brilliant psychiatrist, Dr. Helen Hildreth, is acclaimed for her compassionate work with the mentally ill. But when she’s home with her cherished grandchildren, Vi and Eric, she’s just Gran—teaching them how to take care of their pets, preparing them home-cooked meals, providing them with care and attention and love. Then one day Gran brings home a child to stay with the family. Iris—silent, hollow-eyed, skittish, and feral—does not behave like a normal girl. Still, Violet is thrilled to have a new playmate. She and Eric invite Iris to join their Monster Club, where they catalogue all kinds of monsters and dream up ways to defeat them. Before long, Iris begins to come out of her shell. She and Vi and Eric do everything together: ride their bicycles, go to the drive-in, meet at their clubhouse in secret to hunt monsters. Because, as Vi explains, monsters are everywhere.
2019: Lizzy Shelley, the host of the popular podcast Monsters Among Us, is traveling to Vermont, where a young girl has been abducted, and a monster sighting has the town in an uproar. She’s determined to hunt it down, because Lizzy knows better than anyone that monsters are real—and one of them is her very own sister.
I very much enjoyed this book. It was not quite as fast paced as I am use to but did keep me engaged all the same. I was quickly entranced with figuring out the mysteries of past and present, and McMahon is a master at eloquent prose and gripping plots. I never read or saw all of the original Frankenstein, but I know enough. Using that background was a clever touch. Even though I guessed one major twist early on, there were still a couple surprises in store.
I gave this novel a four star rating. Overall, this is an entertaining mystery that really won me over. I hope fans of the genre will be impressed, and rightly so. This was such a unique book and different from anything I’ve read before in a great way!
It had many elements of thriller, suspense and horror all packed into one and a few bonus twists added in as well.