Review by Booklist Review
Heather Cole is an accomplished child psychologist married to the love of her life and generally enjoys a comfortable existence. This is all shattered when memories of her childhood best friend, and the night that changed everything, come back into her life. As children, Heather and Becca would get together with other friends and talk about serial killers and other morbid things, but when Becca started telling stories about the Red Lady, the Dead Girls Club lost its appeal. The stories felt too real, even though that was impossible until Becca ended up dead. Heather has done her best to move on from the tragedy, but her efforts have clearly been in vain. With the narration moving between present day and flashbacks to 12-year-old Heather, it's clear she is still haunted by losing her best friend. Heather's eventual descent into madness is difficult to watch as she tries to make sense of what's happening to her. Especially appealing to readers who grew up with R.L. Stine's Fear Street series, Walters' first novel will find fans among a wide range of horror readers.--Carrie Rasak Copyright 2019 Booklist
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Maryland psychotherapist Heather Cole, the narrator of this underwhelming thriller from Walters (Paper Tigers), gets a disturbing reminder of her past when someone mails her a half-heart pendant that Heather last saw almost 30 years earlier, on the neck of her best friend, Becca Thomas, after she killed Becca. Flash back to 1991. Heather, Becca, and two other friends form the Dead Girls Club, based on their shared macabre interest in serial killers. The girls became obsessed with an urban legend that one of them shares about the spirit of a woman falsely accused of witchcraft and executed. Meanwhile in the present, Heather is frantic to identify her correspondent. She believes that she has a lead when she learns that Lauren Thomas, Becca's mother, who was convicted of Becca's murder, has recently been released from prison. Heather acts increasingly erratically, leaving the reader in doubt as to the reliability of her narration and memories right up to the over-the-top conclusion. This will work best for those who have never encountered a story about a group of women with murderous secrets in their past. Agent: Heather Flaherty, Bent Agency. (Dec.)
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Review by Library Journal Review
DEBUT Child psychologist Heather Cole receives an envelope containing half of an old heart-shaped "Best Friends Forever" pendant, and her secure and happy life begins to unravel. She believes the necklace belonged to her childhood best friend Becca, who was killed 30 years earlier. When they were in middle school, Heather, Becca, Rachel, and Gia loved talking about anything gruesome, from true crime to making up their own ghastly stories. A natural artist and storyteller, Becca created the Red Lady, a witch who would avenge those who have been wronged for a price. The lines between reality and imagination became blurred by Becca's obsession with the Red Lady, and Heather was caught up in the frenzy. Now, as reminders of her past begin to infiltrate her life, Heather must protect herself from someone who knows the truth of what happened that summer and is out for vengeance. VERDICT Horror short story author Walters offers up her first novel in the crowded psychological thriller field. The plot is suspenseful but the character development is weak. Overall, a moderately decent psychological thriller with a touch of the supernatural.--Joy Gunn, Paseo Verde Lib., Henderson, NV
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Review by Kirkus Book Review
Dark secrets haunt a guilt-stricken child psychologist in this twisty supernatural thriller.When somebody mails Dr. Heather Cole one tarnished half of a heart-shaped "best friends" necklace, she panics; the last time she saw this particular bit of jewelry, she was 12, and it was hanging around the neck of her dead BFF, Becca Thomas. Heather tells herself that nobody could know she killed Beccathe girls were alone when it happened, Becca's body was never found, and Becca's drunken and abusive mother, Lauren, served time for the murder. Then more overt threats follow, prompting Heather to fixate on identifying her tormenter at the expense of her marriage, her career, and her sanity. Flashbacks to the summer of 1991 stud Heather's first-person, present-tense narrative, chronicling the formation of the Dead Girls Club, whose members gather to read true-crime books and share scary stories; the deterioration of Heather and Becca's relationship; and Becca's growing obsession with a vengeful spirit called the Red Lady. Although Walters (Cry Your Way Home, 2018, etc.) offers knowing nods to Slender Man, The Shining, and The Turn of the Screw, her own attempt at a terror-filled tale of adolescent trauma falls flat. Manufactured conflict, preposterous plotting, and characters lacking in complexity and verisimilitude sap drama and tension while the half-baked legend of the Red Lady fails to frighten. Stilted dialogue and bloated prose further frustrate the pacing and drive. A sterile, shrugworthy take on long-form horror from acclaimed short-fiction writer Walters. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.
