Silence

Written by Mercedes Lackey and Cody Martin

Narrated by Brian Wiggins

NEW YORK TIMES BEST-SELLING AUTHOR. ENTRY #9 IN MERCEDES LACKEY'S CELEBRATED SERRATED EDGE URBAN FANTASY SERIES!

Teenager Staci’s father has just remarried, and now she finds herself being shunted aside by her new stepmother. Shunted all the way to the run-down and dying Maine town of Silence, in fact, and the custody of her alcoholic mother.

It gets worse. Silence seems to be stuck in the proverbial stone age. There’s no cell phone service except at the very top of a bluff outside of town, no internet except dialup, and not one familiar franchise or business. Staci’s mom
seems to have gotten even worse since the last time Staci lived with her. The only bright spots in the whole place are a friendly waitress at the diner, and a bookstore where she meets a gaggle of geeks and gamers.

But all is not as it seems in Silence. There are strange things moving beneath the shabby surface, terrible plots in play, and deadly players in the game, and Staci is about to find herself caught up in the middle of it all.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Recorded Books, Inc.
• Release date: Feb 23, 2021
• ISBN: 9781980051039

Mercedes Lackey

Mercedes entered this world on June 24, 1950, in Chicago, had a normal childhood and graduated from Purdue University in 1972. During the late 70's she worked as an artist's model and then went into the computer programming field, ending up with American Airlines in Tulsa, Oklahoma. In addition to her fantasy writing, she has written lyrics for and recorded nearly fifty songs for Firebird Arts & Music, a small recording company specializing in science fiction folk music. Also known as Misty Lackey.

Reviews for Silence

[bettytaylor56 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

This book is difficult to gather my thoughts on. It had a long and laborious buildup, finally getting interesting about ¾ of the way through it. That last ¼ had me on the edge of my seat. But the ending came out of the blue with no earlier hints at all. While I like books with that unexpected ending, I should be able to think back and see the clues I missed. But this one had none – zilch. Very disappointing.

[hcnewton · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

This originally appeared at The Irresponsible Reader.---This is one of those thrillers where it feels like if you say anything, you'll ruin something. But, I've got to try (if only for the sake of my NetGally Feedback Ratio).WHAT'S THE SILENCE ABOUT?I'm going to borrow the blurb, because if that says too much, it's on Sourcebooks, not me. It was supposed to be our last weekend away as friends, before marriage and respectability beckoned. But what happened that Saturday changed everything. We killed a stranger and covered it up. In the middle of the night, someone died. We didn't know our victim was a serial killer. The six of us promised each other we would not tell anyone about the body we buried. But now the pact has been broken. We don't think he was working alone. And the killing has started again ...The year following the killing of the serial killer was not easy on these six friends, the toll on them all is great. Then when the killing starts again, it's even worse, the fragile hold that Matt (the narrator) has on his life and mental health is about to shatter. Sone of his friends are doing somewhat better, while others...well, you should read that for yourself.While we what happens to these six around the one-year anniversary we get some quick glimpses at some of the formative experiences they shared through childhood, adolescence, and university that shaped who they are and how they reacted to the present crisis.WHAT CAN I TALK ABOUT?That borders on too much about the plot, and I really don't think I can talk much about the characters for the same reason—almost everything we learn about them is tied to the story.Let's focus instead on the feel of the book, the atmosphere. Wow. The opening pages are upbeat, joyful—but you can tell that won't last for long (and not just because you've read the blurb). Then it gets bad, and worse, and worse yet. And you can't look away—like the proverbial car wreck you see coming. Not only can you not look away, you have to see more, you have to keep turning the pages to see just what kind of damage will be done. How these lives will be further shattered.It's horrible. It's tragic. It's compelling.SO, WHAT DID I THINK ABOUT THE SILENCE?I don't know that I can honestly say that I enjoyed this book—I don't think anyone can. It's not that kind of book. It's a serial killer novel like you've never read before. If for no other reason than the focus isn't on the killer or the hunt for the killer. It's about the victims, prospective victims, and those that are left behind. It's about seeing the ripple effects of trauma.It's a great experience. An intense read. This will be lurking in my subconscious for a while. Veste tapped into something here, and you've gotta try it.Disclaimer: I received this eARC from Sourcebooks Landmark via NetGalley in exchange for this post—thanks to both for this.

[atticusfinch1048 · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The Six – A Serial Killer is on the rampageLuca Veste is a shining example of an author whose books get better with each new book published. As the king of scouse noir, Veste is expanding his repertoire once again with The Six, which is an excellent standalone thriller. Following the great master Stephen King’s mantra about great writing, is to read, read and read, then read some more, Veste has taken that advice. So what the reader gets is a high concept thriller, with what seems like a simple story, but with a killer twist, that even I did not see coming, even though looking back, the hints were there.Six friends agree to go away for what might be their last week of freedom, before marriage, and adult life finally catches up with them all. Some have been friends from school, and everyone else from University. They are going to go camping at a music festival, and enjoy themselves, before having to be sensible catches up with them.At the end of the evening one of them is in trouble and the rest come to their aid, and unfortunately it means one or all of them, accidently kill the attacker. But through fear and stupidity they bury the body and try to find the body of another victim, which seems to have gone missing.The six promise not to tell anyone about the body they buried or actually what happened that night. Someone breaks the pact, and someone is hunting them down like common animals. Leaving a red candle in a lantern as a hint to who the person may be. They do not know who will be next in the fight for survival, but one by one they are getting picked off by a killer out for revenge.A wonderful book really grabs your attention and keeps you hooked through-out. This is a fantastic read, one I can highly recommend.