THE CHILDREN ON THE HILL BY JENNIFER MCMAHON

Jennifer McMahon is the queen of writing spooky thrillers that will make your skin crawl! Readers can rest assured that this is one of those books too. 

Rating: ★★★★
​Release Date: April 26, 2022
Genre: Thriller and Suspense
Series: None.
Pages: 349 pages
Format: eBook. Source: ​Publisher.

From the New York Times bestselling author of The Drowning Kind comes a genre-defying new novel, inspired by Mary Shelley’s masterpiece Frankenstein, that brilliantly explores the eerie mysteries of childhood and the evils perpetrated by the monsters among us.

1978: At her renowned treatment center in picturesque Vermont, the brilliant psychiatrist, Dr. Helen Hildreth, is acclaimed for her compassionate work with the mentally ill. But when she’s home with her cherished grandchildren, Vi and Eric, she’s just Gran—teaching them how to take care of their pets, preparing them home-cooked meals, providing them with care and attention and love.

Then one day Gran brings home a child to stay with the family. Iris—silent, hollow-eyed, skittish, and feral—does not behave like a normal girl.

​Still, Violet is thrilled to have a new playmate. She and Eric invite Iris to join their Monster Club, where they catalogue all kinds of monsters and dream up ways to defeat them. Before long, Iris begins to come out of her shell. She and Vi and Eric do everything together: ride their bicycles, go to the drive-in, meet at their clubhouse in secret to hunt monsters. Because, as Vi explains, monsters are everywhere.

2019: Lizzy Shelley, the host of the popular podcast Monsters Among Us, is traveling to Vermont, where a young girl has been abducted, and a monster sighting has the town in an uproar. She’s determined to hunt it down, because Lizzy knows better than anyone that monsters are real—and one of them is her very own sister.

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Jennifer McMahon (to me) is the female equivalent to Stephen King. I know that’s a big thing to say and really, can anyone live up to the master? I think yes, they can, and McMahon is one of those people.

The Children on the Hill is a spooky book. Not because there are ghosts hiding in the shadows or demons going after the innocent but because the monsters in this book are REAL and they could easily be someone we know. This is a darker read, one that sends chills up and down readers spines, and it’s also a story that is easy to get lost in because we all have a little monster inside of us. It’s easy to relate to these characters and sympathize with them especially considering what has happened to them in that Inn. Not only that, but I believe there is some truth behind this one as well and the things that happened within these pages easily could have happened in the past. You’ll know what I’m talking about when you read this one.

Overall, this is another solid book by McMahon! I enjoyed her take on the original Frankenstein tale and feel like it’s perfectly fitting for our time. I definitely recommend this one along with her backlist because she has written some of my favorite books!

𝗣𝗘𝗥𝗙𝗘𝗖𝗧 𝗙𝗢𝗥 𝗙𝗔𝗡𝗦 𝗢𝗙:
• Chilling mystery and thrillers
• Genre defying novels that mix horror, mystery, and suspense

𝗠𝗬 𝗥𝗔𝗧𝗜𝗡𝗚: ⭐⭐⭐⭐