Stillhouse Lake · #2 / 7

Killman Creek

Rachel Caine

Every time Gwen closed her eyes, she saw him in her nightmares. Now her eyes are open, and he’s not going away.

Gwen Proctor won the battle to save her kids from her ex-husband, serial killer Melvin Royal, and his league of psychotic accomplices. But the war isn’t over. Not since Melvin broke out of prison. Not since she received a chilling text...

You’re not safe anywhere now.

Her refuge at Stillhouse Lake has become a trap. Gwen leaves her children in the protective custody of a fortified, well-armed neighbor. Now, with the help of Sam Cade, brother of one of Melvin’s victims, Gwen is going hunting. She’s learned how from one of the sickest killers alive.

But what she’s up against is beyond anything she feared — a sophisticated and savage mind game calculated to destroy her. As trust beyond her small circle of friends begins to vanish, Gwen has only fury and vengeance to believe in as she closes in on her prey. And sure as the night, one of them will die.

Published
December 2017
Where to find this book
External links open a book search at the selected retailer. Availability may vary.
Stillhouse Lake

The series

Full series details →

In the quiet shadows of a lakeside town, a mother’s fight for survival becomes a relentless game of cat and mouse. What begins as a nightmare behind closed doors erupts into a haunting journey through paranoia, identity, and the question of how far someone will go to protect their children.

Read full series description

This chilling thriller series unfolds in a world where trust is fragile and the line between victim and suspect is constantly shifting. At the center is Gwen Proctor, once just a suburban wife and mother, now a fugitive defined by the crimes of the man she thought she knew. When the truth about her husband shatters everything, Gwen doesn’t break—she disappears, taking her children with her and building a new life on the run.

But escape is never clean. Harassment follows her like smoke from a burned-down life, and danger creeps into the corners of even the safest-seeming towns. Each book draws deeper into a psychological storm, steeped in tension and hard-earned resilience. As Gwen navigates murder investigations, stalkers, and the ever-present ghosts of her past, she becomes something rare in the thriller genre—not an invincible heroine, but a mother who fights dirty because she has no choice.

Tautly written and emotionally charged, the series explores survival not as a dramatic moment but as a way of life. The atmosphere is thick with unease, every chapter brimming with dread and the quiet fury of a woman who has been hunted too long. It’s not just the crimes that keep readers hooked, but the quiet moments of doubt, the fierce protection of family, and the devastating cost of being believed too late.

Built on raw suspense and grounded in human vulnerability, this series doesn’t ask who the villain is—it asks what justice even looks like when the system fails you. It’s a portrait of trauma turned into armor, of motherhood sharpened into a weapon, and of a life rebuilt with grit instead of hope.

Risingshadow

Be the first reviewer

Sign in and write the first reader review.

Risingshadow

Readers Also Enjoyed