Title: Fallen
Author: Mia Sheridan
My Rating: 🌟🌟🌟🌟1/2
Type: Standalone
Genre: Thriller, Suspense, Dark Mystery
Primary Characters: Scarlett, Haddie, Kandance, Camden
Narration: multiple third POV
Couple of months back, I had read some of Mia Sheridan Thrillers and I had loved it. So, when I read this blurb as per my kindle unlimited subscription I was intrigued. This book kept me on the edge of my seat and also awake till 3.30 AM. Fallen is packed with plot twists, secrecy, turns I didn’t see coming, suspense, violence and some really crazy head spinning outcomes.
Book begins with Scarlett & her 7-year-old daughter Haddie moving to Lalith house in the small town of Farrow. This house consists of dark past. Couple of years back this house was a reform school for wayward girls. Scarlett has a personal connection as her best friend Kandance was sent here and is rumored to have run away just before the tragic fire incident of Lalith house. No one has seen her in years.
Scarlett plans to revamp that house into an industrial kitchen and build a business of her own. In a small religious town who aren’t open to modern ways, its not easy. Town of Farrow is keeping secret and closed off from outsiders. Camden is town’s deputy sheriff. He has secrets of his own and his own agenda for that house.
Plot flips back and forth between past and present with story being told in dual timelines. Past from Kandance point of view along with current situation. It was completely engaging. The violence endured by those young girls in the name of religion was bone chilling. I was surprised by the authors point of view where she has given feelings for the house. House filled with memories. The house is waking up and those walls are ready to bring out the truth and is waiting for a second chance to reform. Those whisper and hallways scream, the drumbeat of horned monster, wardrum sounds of indigenous tribes made this a riveting mysterious tale.
Kandance Journey in this book was heartbreaking and courageous. Its not easy to endure all those things and still fight for right thing. Her resilience, strength and perseverance in her cause to fight and protection of others; and each act of selflessness was admiring. Camden strength is flattering. At such a young age when your thought wrong, to rebel against it and see beyond that is extraordinary. Haddie was the most adorable character. That child at young age is show casing extraordinary skills, along with she struggling to express her thoughts was fascinating. Scarlett as single and understanding mother is awesome. She may not understand her daughter completely but her patience and acceptance of situation is welcoming.
The only downside of this book is climax. It felt little hurried. We do get answers to several questions, however some questions are still open.
Overall, Fallen is a fast paced suspenseful & thriller story about history, past believes and about new beginnings. If you are looking twisted, compelling, haunting, intricately woven story then this is for you.
Source : Free in KU
Link for Book: https://www.amazon.in/Fallen-Mia-Sheridan-ebook/dp/B08LBSQQT8
Blurb as per Amazon:
Scarlett Lattimore arrives at Lilith House, an abandoned mansion built in 1876, that later housed a reform school for troubled girls, to start a new life with her seven-year-old daughter.
But between the nearby town with the strange, disconcerting feel, the deputy sheriff who is equal parts intriguing and suspicious, and the discovery that their new home holds a dark and violent past, Scarlett soon begins to question her rash decision.
She is shaken and afraid by the screams that echo in the walls and the drumbeat that arises from the surrounding woods where the ghost of an indigenous man is said to roam, seeking vengeance. Her fear is also personal, because Scarlett knew one of the girls who attended the school, a friend who escaped into those woods and was never seen again. They all thought she was a rebellious runaway who later encountered foul play, but perhaps the truth is far more sinister.
As Scarlett’s extraordinary daughter Haddie becomes consumed by the eerie figure who weaves and beckons through the forest fog, and a legacy of secrets reveal themselves, it becomes clear both Scarlett and Haddie are in grave danger. When the past intersects with the present, they will come face to face with the true evil of Lilith House. An evil that has lasted for more than a century.
Meander - Read & Roam 