WHERE HE CAN’T FIND YOU by Darcy Coates – Review

I received this book for free from the Publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.

Where He Can't Find You by Darcy Coates
Published by Sourcebooks Fire on November 7 2023
Genres: Horror, Young adult
Pages: 416
Format: ARC
Source: Publisher
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The nitty-gritty: Darcy Coates takes the serial killer story and gives it a unique twist in this creepy and unsettling tale.

“Doubtful, Illinois was a glue trap. People sometimes came in, but they very rarely left…The longer you spent in the town, the more you felt trapped there. As though there wasn’t any space for you in the outside world.”

Darcy Coates knows how to write a creepy story, and boy, does she deliver it in this book! Where He Can’t Find You is her first foray into young adult, and for someone who usually cringes when faced with YA, I had a blast from start to finish. Some of the subject matter is very dark, so word of warning if things like hacked up dead bodies bother you, but this is, after all, a story about a serial killer.

Doubtful, Illinois isn’t the kind of town people move to. Abby was born there and wants nothing more than to leave once she graduates from high school. Once a booming mining town, the mines have long since dried up, businesses have failed, and property values have plummeted. The reason? Doubtful is home to a serial killer called the Stitcher, who steals his victims when they are alone, hacks them up and stitches them back together with red thread, and leaves the bodies where they can later be found. Everyone in town knows the Stitcher is a creepy man named Charles Vickers, who is always found at the crime scenes but has never been arrested. The residents of Doubtful have learned never to go out alone at night, keep your doors and windows closed and locked, and always stay away from Charles Vickers.

But one day, Abby’s younger sister Hope is taken, and Abby vows to find and rescue her, even though no one has ever escaped once the Stitcher has them in his clutches. With her good friends Rhys, Riya and Connor helping out, Abby must sift through the town’s legends about the Stitcher to get to the truth and locate her sister—before she and her friends become his next victims.

Right from the first chapter, where we meet an unfortunate victim of the Stitcher who is trying (and failing) to escape, Coates sets up a tense, creepy atmosphere that never lets up. First, after only a few pages, the reader realizes that the town of Doubtful is not a normal town. People stay inside after dark, businesses are shuttered, abandoned houses litter the neighborhoods, and even those houses that are still occupied are falling into disrepair. There’s a feeling of doom hanging over everything, as residents go about their business and try to ignore what’s going on under their noses: a serial killer walks among them, but he’s too canny to be caught by the police. You’ll have to suspend your disbelief at this point, because I had a hard time believing these killings could go on for decades without some break in the case. But Coates does a great job of keeping the reader off balance, so it isn’t too difficult to ignore some of her more far-fetched ideas.

Then there is Charles Vickers, who might not be what he seems at first. He’s the epitome of a serial killer, and goes so far as to buy bunches of red thread at the local hardware store, as if he’s not ashamed to hide who he is. Coates lulls the reader into thinking one thing, then throws in a nice twist later on. I loved that the book includes comic book-like illustrations at the beginning of each section, although to be honest I’m not sure what their purpose was. Still, Vickers is portrayed as a sinister stalker, complete with dark sunglasses to hide his eyes, and I loved how unsettled I was by his character.

The other characters were also well done. I loved the “Jackrabbits,” the group of friends who understand they live in a dangerous place and do everything they can to keep each other safe. Each of the five friends—Abby, Rhys, Riya, Connor and Hope—are given interesting backstories, although they mostly fall into predetermined YA character tropes. I thought it was smart to include a new family in town, a teen named Jen and her father, outsiders who have no idea what’s going on and certainly don’t believe the tall tales Abby and Rhys tell them—at first, anyway.

And speaking of tall tales, Coates adds an extra layer to her serial killer story by including some unexpected speculative elements. It’s said that right before the Stitcher takes a new victim, technology goes haywire, phones and TVs stop working, animals act strangely, and people start having nightmares. Jen sees a deformed deer outside her house, which gave the story a post apocalyptic feel. All these weird things upped the suspense and kept me guessing.

The last quarter of the book is full of terrifying scenes as Abby and her friends race to find Hope before the Stitcher kills her. Here is where the story turns very dark, so do be aware if you have a weak stomach, because there are some gross and disturbing sections that were hard to read, even for me. I loved the way the author wrapped things up at the end—sometimes a bad ending can kill my enjoyment—but luckily that didn’t happen here.

YA thriller fans will love this story, and even if you don’t read a lot of YA, I highly recommend this well written, fast paced thriller.

Big thanks to the publisher for providing a review copy.