The Girls in the Cabin

Want a name to watch in the dark fiction/psychological thriller bookscape? Indie author Caleb Stephens is worth a peek!

Chris McKenna recently lost his wife Lexi to cancer and an indiscretion on his part prior to her death has fractured his relationship with his 17-year-old daughter Kayla. To make matters worse, his youngest daughter Emma hasn’t spoken a word since Lexi died. In an effort to heal as a family, he takes the girls to the Colorado Flat Tops for a camping trip. 

When Emma seriously injures her leg and an unexpected storm front moves in, their situation becomes increasingly desperate. When hope is almost lost, Chris spots the lit window of a house in the distance. The woman inside named Clara helps bandage both Clara and Chris’ injuries and offers the family a safe place to wait out the storm.

Things seem to be looking up … until they aren’t. Chris, Kayla and Emma are soon to find out that Clara's isolated house in the woods harbors more than just this kindly woman!

The emotional tension is thick from the start of this book. In the past you see aspects of Clara’s life, both as a child and adult that give insight into her current life. In the present, you see a single dad and his two daughters dealing with grief and trauma, and in the case of Chris and Kayla - broken trust. You feel his desperation to fix things and his fear when everything goes sideways and his girls are in danger. The atmosphere is so well described in the house that it almost becomes its own character. The decay and squalor mirrors the messy interior lives of all these characters.

The sense of foreboding builds throughout the first half, creating a constant sense of unease. You know things aren’t safe but you don’t know why. A little over the halfway point, there’s a big reveal that changes the course of the rest of the book. It genuinely surprised me! The second half has several horrific moments, so if you’re squeamish this is your heads up. 

I've left a lot of detail out of this review intentionally. I think it'll be more fun if you go in blind like I did. There's one book that I could compare it to, but to do so would be a spoiler. You're welcome to guess which one I'm thinking of if you've read this! My one big piece of advice if you decide to read this: Just roll with it. I could nitpick a number of logical inconsistencies, including one glaring one in a certain character that was borderline insulting. I chose to give my brain permission to take a break. It's OK sometimes!

This is one of his earlier books released in 2023 and it’s put Caleb Stephens on my radar. I’ll be curious to see where his future ones take him. I’ve got 2025’s You’ll Never Know on my Kindle lined up for another day!

★★★ ½  (rounded up)