She Never Left by C.M. Harris

Jane is a literary agent in Chicago and she’s currently representing her cousin TJ for a book. Jane has a stalker – Lincoln, her school classmate. In spite of blocking him multiple times, he still manages to find a way to send her emails and observe her every move.

Jane and TJ decide to go to their hometown for high-school reunion party. They knew they would come face-to-face with Lincoln but what they did not expect was to unearth a secret that’s guarding their hometown.

Wow! I went totally blank after reading this book. Creepy, mysterious, suspenseful with a dash of horror, reading She Never Left by C.M. Harris gave me nightmares. Literally! I had a hard time sleeping after reading this book. So, this means I should warn the readers – do not keep this book as your bed time read unless you want your sleep to be marred with nightmares!

I was a little lost as the story began. Jane is being stalked by her high-school classmate and yet she decides to go to the high-school reunion where she’s sure to meet him. Her cousin TJ is also joining Jane on this journey – she has a book to write and she feels her hometown and its well-kept dark secrets is an inspiration for her next book.

But when they reach the place, they do not realize they have unknowingly triggered something that laid buried two decades ago. One of their friends Evie was ‘absorbed’ by The Thicket. Jane and TJ learns the rest of their friends who were at The Thicket on the fateful night of Evie’s disappearance or either dead or at the death-door. All except Jane…

As the story proceeds, a lot of missing (stray) bits of the puzzle fall into place. Or rather, the creepiness starts to make a lot of sense. “The Thicket” seems to be the ‘culprit’ behind a handful of disappearances and death. As an icing on top, Jane and TJ come across the hallucinogenic mushrooms they used to eat as teenagers – but these ‘shrooms have weird spots now. All the ‘shrooms have 7 spots each – they all look like an eye.

The whole story revolves around ‘The Thicket.’ We have the stalker angle, the mysterious Thicket and ‘unexplained’ disappearances and deaths surrounding those who made a wish at The Thicket. This is a power-packed book. We have the elements of mystery, suspense, a dash of paranormal and spooky stuff.

If you love to read stories that are creepy, suspenseful and mysterious, you might want to give She Never Left by C.M. Harris a try.

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I received an ARC from One More Chapter and NetGalley in exchange for an honest and unbiased opinion.