Shore Lodge by Susan Specht Oram – Review by Darla Yocom

Shore Lodge: A high-stakes psychological thriller by Susan Specht Oram
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

This book is described as a psychological thriller and that is exactly what this author created. Initially the story starts with a sad story regarding the main character, Jacklyn Stone, losing her true love, her husband of many years, her rock. She deals with the aftermath of his passing that most of us would struggle with if put into this situation, including the fact that she finds that her husband made a number of questionable decisions related to their financing. Due to this fact, she will be unable to sell their business since she will be forced to recoup the money taken from their savings.

While Jacklyn is riddled with grief, which is expected, she finds that she sometimes struggles to remember things like the placement of her keys, her last name, etc. Her two children, a son named Dusty and a daughter named Rose, are very concerned for her well being. Therefore, they decide to look into a medical facility that could assist their mom in the grieving process and help her deal with latest struggles.

When Dusty and Rose present her with the opportunity to stay at a nice retreat that helps grieving widows/widowers, Jacklyn is not immediately receptive. After a bit of convincing and assurance that she will only stay a few days, she agrees to a few days of extra rest and relaxation. This is when readers learn of the Shore Lodge, where nothing is quite what it seems. Quickly Jacklyn realizes that her children were not very forthcoming or truthful with the details surrounding her stay and she finds herself in a scary and dangerous situation.

Readers will commiserate with Jacklyn and her situation. Anyone dealing with an abrupt change in circumstances could understand why such an aggressive response should be expected in this situation due to the overwhelming feelings of helplessness. Thankfully the main character is stronger than even she expected and has a lot of fight left in her as she deals with the heartbreaking betrayal and struggle for control over her life again. All she wants is to return to her own home and continue to own/run her impressive and successful garden store.

I enjoyed this book from the get go and it made me internally question what I would do if I were ever in this situation. I think readers will enjoy this book as well while trying to determine how this story will end with so many twists and turns.

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