Shadow Creek: A Novel
Val is in no mood for a camping trip—she’s having a hard time dealing with her bratty teenage daughter, Brianne, and she’s working through her feelings for her estranged husband. Still, Val and her two best friends somehow end up chauffeuring Brianne and Jennifer, her soon-to-be-ex’s new girlfriend, upstate to the Adirondacks. It’s tense, to say the least—Val caught her husband cheating on her with Jennifer. When they arrive late to the resort, they all get stuck in the same room. The ensuing fight, ending in Brianne running away, causes the motley group to get kicked out of the hotel. They’re forced to seek accommodations at a nearby campground, which would be bad enough, but it gets worse—a pair of bloodthirsty killers is on the loose. Sounds campy, and several of the characters are pretty stock (the flaming former Broadway dancer best friend, Val’s cheating ex, Brianne’s box-of-rocks boyfriend), but Fielding manages to keep the tension (and plenty of gore) ramped up throughout this fact-paced novel of suspense. --Rebecca Vnuk