Title: Willow Run
Author: Kelly Sokol
Publisher: Koehler Books
ISBN: 979-8897474134
Pages: 296
Genre: Thriller
Reviewer: Liz Konkel

Read Book Review

One day Shannon had it all. She was a devoted wife and mother until everything she
knew blew up in her face. They had just returned from the perfect vacation, and things
should have been heavenly, until she read texts on her husband’s phone. The last thing
she expected was to discover her husband had been having an affair. She’s determined
to keep it together, regardless of how she’s really feeling. Soon she discovers the
exhilaration in finding herself and the thrill in meeting someone new. That is until she
starts getting ominous messages from a stranger, and before long she begins noticing
odd things around the house. At first, she can shrug it off, but once she’s certain
someone is watching her, things only get worse.

The story quickly sets up the family drama by throwing you directly into the height of it,
giving you just enough of a tease to get you interested. This is an enticing way to
introduce the family dynamics quickly and how messy things get before we actually see
the marriage break up. However, this doesn’t take long. The story begins with
Shannon’s discovery of her husband’s affair right after returning from the perfect family
trip. Author Kelly Sokol wastes no time blowing up Shannon’s life and sending her onto
a path of self-discovery through the arms of the charming Marcus. There’s only a quick
snapshot of the ideal life that Shannon had as the story focuses on the aftermath of the
secret exposed. So, we don’t spend a lot of time exploring the dynamics beforehand.
This makes it easy to see what the conflicts are going to be, though the tension and
suspense that builds as a result has plenty of surprising twists and turns that’ll keep you
invested.

The book shifts perspective throughout, with Shannon as the primary focal character
and her feelings regarding the affair. However, her two teens and her ex-husband are
seen at different times. This allows you to see how everyone is impacted by the change
in family dynamics. The drama is high, woven from the theme of a ‘double life.’ This is
first by Scott who was secretly having an affair and then by the other members in the
family. You see the teenagers pushing back and acting out in response, while Shannon
has her own double life she’s keeping from everyone. Each of these three is lost and
trying to figure out who they are in the new version of the family. Romance does have a
role in the story, though it’s secretive, a little messy, and helps light the fuse for some of
the drama in all the best ways. The thrill Shannon gets from someone finding her
desirable is reflective of everything she thought she had with her husband and it’s giving
her a chance to feel alive.

However, this feeling is juxtaposed by mysterious, and creepy texts. While Shannon is
reeling from the divorce, you see things only get worse thanks to these texts and how
these begin to mess with her mind. These begin to escalate as she finds disturbances in
the house, feels like she’s being watched, and is convinced she’s losing her mind. The
escalation feels organic to the situation and you easily feel like you’re in her shoes. Her
fear and anxiety are genuine with Sokol carefully building the suspense through a
psychological attack. You’ll find yourself questioning everything alongside her, but the
answers she’s looking for you won’t see coming.

Willow Run brings the drama, romance, and suspense by flipping the ‘perfect family’
upside down and using reinvention as a catalyst to bring a thriller to life.