I received this book from Simon and Schuster Influencer Program in exchange for an honest review.
“In your head, and your secret heart, it’s easy to be tough,” (Jones).
Four years after Dark Mill South’s Reunion Tour, Jade Daniel’s is back in Proofrock, Idaho. Now a history teacher at her old high school, Jade tries to move on with her life until one day as her students are giving presentations on Proofrock’s history, one of her students shows drone footage that reveals the dead bodies of two missing teens from town, and right when a manmade wildfire has started in the forest nearby. As the sheriff and a number of volunteer firefighters go into the forest in an attempt to stop the fire, Jade stays behind, recognizing the signs of a slasher. But final girl Letha is away getting surgery, so who will be the one to save Proofrock this time?
Well, it took three books but we finally got it, a first person perspective from Jade Daniel’s herself! Yes, we got hints of this in My Heart is a Chainsaw with Jade’s slasher reports to her history teacher (which I argued were the strongest parts of the book) but now we finally have a full book from that perspective. It’s probably what made me enjoy The Angel of Indian Lake the most out of this trilogy. Enjoy, but still not love.
What can I say, I’m just not a slasher girl. While finally getting to read a book from Jade’s perspective made me enjoy the narrative more, it was still confusing. There are much more moving parts to a slasher than I can wrap my head around, and despite the fact that Proofrock’s population has been decimated twice by slasher scenarios there are still too many characters for me to know who everyone is, too much lore to remember which dead body is cursing who, and then trying to figure out if this is a person acting for vengeance or if there’s some supernatural involved.
And yes, while I’m happy with Jade’s perspective I don’t understand how each novel in the trilogy is told in such different ways. My Heart is a Chainsaw was told in third person following Jade with first person excerpts from her reports to her history teacher, Don’t Fear the Reaper was told in third person from a variety of perspectives (which I did enjoy), and now The Angel of Indian Lake is told in first-person from Jade’s perspective. I just think there should have been some consistency with how this trilogy was narrated, mainly making Jade narrate the whole thing.
The Angel of Indian Lake is a good end to the trilogy though, and those who’ve loved this trilogy from the start will love it more so. If you’re a slasher fan than continue on and enjoy the end of this series, but right now I think I’ve gotten my fill of slashers.
Publication: March 26 2024
Publisher: Saga Press
Pages: 416 pages (NetGalley)
Source: NetGalley
Genre: Fiction, Horror, Mystery, Thriller
My Rating: ⛤⛤⛤.5
Summary:
It’s been four years in prison since Jade Daniels last saw her hometown of Proofrock, Idaho, the day she took the fall, protecting her friend Letha and her family from incrimination. Since then, her reputation, and the town, have changed dramatically. There’s a lot of unfinished business in Proofrock, from serial killer cultists to the rich trying to buy Western authenticity. But there’s one aspect of Proofrock no one wants to confront…until Jade comes back to town. The curse of the Lake Witch is waiting, and now is the time for the final stand.
Sarah O'Connor 