OMG! How much can one family take? In Bitter Falls, unfinished business from Wolfhunter Lake is resolved but oh man what these people, this family have to go through is beyond what most could or should.

Backing up to the beginning... in this outing, the 4th in the Stillhouse Lake series, Gwen Procter (formerly Gina Royal, ex-wife of serial killer, Melvin Royal - the prior books go into details on all that) and her family, partner Sam Cade, sixteen year old daughter Atlanta (Lanny for short) and thirteen year old son Connor, have begun to settle into family life.

Well, sort of.

The town of Norton doesn’t want them there. Things happen in rapid succession, Gwen’s case, Connor’s trouble at school, Sam’s inability to get and keep work due to their notoriety, threats from the local bad guys, and trouble from their past. Whew! Just saying it makes me weary and that’s just the beginning, as the saying goes.

In discussing Gwen in the first three, I would refer to her as fierce mama bear going after anyone who she feels threatens her family. In this one, she is no different in her fierceness, just in how she goes about things.

I’m glad that the author continues to flush the ancillary characters. I also like how she shows how and why the core characters have changed. Especially how the family has become a family and are working to heal from all the past trauma.

While this one reads fine as a stand-alone, if you have not done so, I encourage you to read the first three.