When Lucas decides he needs some fresh air and new surroundings in order to complete his newest horror novel he books a room at a writers retreat. Upon arriving at the retreat he meets the owner, Julia Marsh, and quickly finds out that she is grieving from the sudden loss of her husband and child. While having a stroll down by the river her daughter is abducted by an unknown captor. Thinking that their daughter has fallen into the water her husband jumps into the river to save her and drowns. Though they are able to locate her husband’s body they never find her daughter which gives Julia hope that she still may be alive.

Due to a scary local myth about someone called The Red Widow, who is said to come and take a child every thirty years or so, some people believe that Julia’s daughter, Lilly, is the red widow’s latest victim. With his new focus of helping Julia find some closure about her daughter’s disappearance Lucas finds himself in the middle of the red widow myth and the truth about what happened to Lilly. Throughout their time together Julia learns that Lucas has some sadness and loss in his past he is also trying to overcome. At the end of this book I was shocked to find out the truth about what happened to Lilly and who is responsible. There is a lot of speculation throughout the book about the captor and I could have never guessed who it was. I would recommend reading to find out!

If you are interested in purchasing The Retreat: