About the Book:
Red Lady, Red Lady, show us your face…
In 1991, Heather Cole and her friends were members of the Dead Girls Club. Obsessed with the macabre, the girls exchanged stories about serial killers and imaginary monsters, like the Red Lady, the spirit of a vengeful witch killed centuries before. Heather knew the stories were just that, until her best friend Becca began insisting the Red Lady was real–and she could prove it.
That belief got Becca killed.
It’s been nearly thirty years, but Heather has never told anyone what really happened that night–that Becca was right and the Red Lady was real. She’s done her best to put that fateful summer, Becca, and the Red Lady, behind her. Until a familiar necklace arrives in the mail, a necklace Heather hasn’t seen since the night Becca died.
The night Heather killed her.
Now, someone else knows what she did…and they’re determined to make Heather pay.
583 pages, ebook
First published: December 10, 2019
Genre: Horror, Thriller, Mystery, Suspense
My Review:
Let me start by saying I loved the premise of this book, and right from the beginning, it grabbed me to the point where I didn’t want to put it down.
The story flips between time periods where a group of four girls around the age of twelve form a club, and then to present time where the main character, Heather, is an adult woman.
My favorite parts were of the past with the dynamics between the young girls and how a spooky story can feel all too real.
As an adult, Heather, in my opinion, was a little bit annoying, in a whiny kind of way. She’s a child psychologist who no rational adult should ever send their child to. A lot of what she does is unethical and her attitude made me hope we were switching to the past again soon.
That isn’t to say I didn’t enjoy the book when, after all, Heather had been through a huge trauma as a child. In some ways, her current behavior and decisions makes her character more realistic.
I wish I could say more, but….
→ Hover your cursor over the word “Spoiler” below to see the spoilerish sentence. ←
SPOILERIn the end, the relationship between the girls saves this book for me. I wish there was more of that.
My Rating:
I am interested in reading more from this author even though I was sometimes frustrated with Heather. I think perhaps part of the problem was that maybe the genre this book is listed in is a bit misleading. If I were putting this in a genre of my choice, it would be mystery.
About the Author:
Damien Angelica Walters is the author of The Dead Girls Club, Cry Your Way Home, Paper Tigers, and Sing Me Your Scars, winner of the 2015 This is Horror Award for Short Story Collection of the Year. Her short fiction has been nominated twice for a Bram Stoker Award, reprinted in The Year’s Best Dark Fantasy & Horror and The Year’s Best Weird Fiction, and published in various anthologies and magazines, including the Shirley Jackson Award Finalists Autumn Cthulhu and The Madness of Dr. Caligari, World Fantasy Award Finalist Cassilda’s Song, Nightmare Magazine, Black Static, and Apex Magazine. Until the magazine’s closing in 2013, she was an Associate Editor of the Hugo Award-winning Electric Velocipede, and she lives in Maryland with her husband and two rescued pit bulls.
The Author’s website: Damien Angelica Walters
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Holy WoW! This sounds so good, and seriously a scary book I could read! Amazing huh?
Yes! I’m impressed, Bee! lol 😀 I think you might like it. It’s more of a mystery than anything, if you ask me.
The premise sounds like one I’d enjoy; however, having worked with troubled kids, her attitude would irk me too much, lols. Great review. Thanks for sharing, Kymber 💕😊
I know what you mean. She really isn’t a good therapist at all. At least not in this book. Honestly, if she was having all the troubles that happen to her, she should have taken some time off if possible.
It sounds like an intriguing book. However, you wrote “The night Heather killed her.” Was it Heather or the Red Lady who killed Becca? I am probably just being slow.
Thank you, Thomas. Actually, that line is in the official blurb for the book. I thought it was spoilerish, but you’d have to read the book to understand. 😀 Thank you for pointing that out. 🤍🌺
Oh I see. I’ll better do that then. Thank you Kymber.
Hope you have a terrific weekend, Thomas! 🙂
The cover is beautiful and jarring when paired with that title! It sounds a little twisted. I’m curious how the necklace found its way to Heather so many years later. I might have to give this a read 🙂
Thank you, Jacquie. I thought the exact same thing about the cover. It’s definitely a little twisted, you got that right. lol The way the necklace plays out is why I would classify this book as more of a mystery than any other type of genre. If you read it, let me know what you think!
You did a nice job describing the book and its premise. Congratulations.
Thank you so much, JC. I’m glad you enjoyed the review.
It does sound interesting. Wow it’s long! Almost two books worth!
Thank you, Jacqui. The good thing for me was that it didn’t feel overly long. It definitely was interesting.