BOUND BY GRIEF AND TRAGEDY
Whoa. The ending had me reading it again since it was stunning. From start to finish, The House on Cold Creek Lane by Liz Alterman builds on top of itself as though it was layers of an expertly made puff pastry; its last bite proving the pastry chef delivered a dessert to remember. The cast of characters was masterfully drawn out to add mystery and suspense to the reading experience. At one point, I thought everyone the main character, Laurel, had met in her neighborhood was a potential villain. Then you have the other main character, Corey, filling in backstory of the house and neighborhood. Laurel and Corey had such heartbreaking backgrounds; you can’t help but root for them. Alterman shows them struggling with trauma and grief, and how it amplifies their struggles associated with motherhood. It was enthralling to read about them and the ways grief and trauma affect them.
The following in-depth book review will have no spoilers. And since it has quotes from the eBook, the page numbers may vary.
This domestic thriller is told from dual point-of-views, and it works out brilliantly because the author uses each main character’s view to make you compassionate for them, using the common thread of grief and tragedy. Laurel, she has a tragic past and has never gotten over it because it was treated as something that should not be spoken about, so people in her dad’s life could deal with it better, leaving her wounded since she was 12. Corey, she experienced her tragedy recently, and she is the previous owner of the house Laurel lives in on Cold Creek Lane. Alterman weaves their stories powerfully, making you feel more and more for them as bits of backstory are dropped so that by the end you have a full picture of what motivates both of them, making it difficult to put down.
LAUREL
As you can tell by the cover, the story revolves around a “white Cape Cod-style house on Cold Creek Lane” (1), and this house has a connection to both of the main characters. This chapter introduces Laurel, who’s the mother in the family who recently moved into the house. Alterman uses this character to describe their path to ownership, and this is also the beginning of the ominous vibes emanating from the story. They struggled to find a house because of the intense competition, which caused them to be outbid several times, making them give up until after the holidays. So, when they restarted their hunt for a home, they found the Cape Cod-style house while inventory was low. Laurel and her husband, Rob, tried to keep their hopes low, but when their lowball offer was accepted, Laurel immediately felt like “this seemed too easy, too good to be true” (1). Laurel’s instinct leads her to question her husband, finding out there were no other buyers. This triggers her to worry, wondering about what was wrong with the home, and this opens her up to remembering her tragic past: “My mother had been murdered days before Christmas when I was twelve years old. How much of my present unease was my past refusing to let me believe good things could happen?” (3). If that wasn’t enough to affect Laurel, her husband dismisses her feelings, telling her it’s perfect before pausing to let her know they should probably install a fence for the creek behind the house (4). But it’s the end of the chapter solidifying the ominousness of the situation: “Sometimes now I wonder if Rob hadn’t found the house… would his luck have held out forever? And if it had, would it have been enough to protect us all? (4). This foreshadow expertly sets in motion the mystery of the house, creating a page-turning effect, lasting until the end.
THE BRIDGE
By chapter two, the suspense and mystery surrounding this house becomes multilayered because its atmosphere is also eerie. Laurel describes the moment she saw the house: “The rows of headless tulips were what I noticed first when we pulled up to the house. Their green stems poked toward the cloudless spring sky. Not a single petal rested atop the mulched beds that flanked the slate walkway” (5). What a creepy first impression! Nothing says welcome to the neighborhood like headless tulips. Later in the chapter, the house also starts to make Laurel curious: “Briefly, I wondered about the former owners. Why hadn’t they insisted on the asking price? Did they have children?… Where were they now?” (9). This part also works to make the reader want answers as well. But before you get them, Alterman adds another layer of tension. Laurel contemplates what would happen if she told Rob about her concerns regarding the neighborhood, the neighbors, especially the overbearing, nosy old woman, ending the chapter by asking herself, “And if I had, would he have listened?” (12). The lingering question gives off ominous vibes, making you want to stay up and read this book in one sitting.
Corey
In the next chapter, we finally meet Corey. She makes you feel for her from the get-go. The poor woman can’t even stay at home. She lives with her mother. When Ma asks her to stay home, she gives a perfectly timed hint regarding her deep pain: “If I stayed home, I’d fidget and pace. We’d end up fighting over something stupid… Or I’d wait until her head dipped toward her chest then dump my tea and replace it with whatever was left in the bottles I stashed in the back of my closet. Anything to make the ache stop. The hours were all endless, but the ones in the middle of the night when I couldn’t imagine the sun ever coming up again… were the hardest. My loss was an open wound that grew and spread in the darkness until it became the only thing I could feel. I was desperate to numb it any way I could” (12). The desperation in that quote is palpable. You don’t even know what connects her with Laurel, but now you feel like it must be the grief produced by the trauma haunting them. Corey proceeds to go outside to run because it is one of the few activities easing her pain until the runner’s high goes away. However, the compassion toward Corey increases when Alterman shows the reader: “I wasn’t halfway down the block before my lungs started burning and that splintery pain in my shins reminded me how many miles I’d tried to put between me and my old life… Mostly I ran in a circle, a dog chasing its tail” (13).
Next, Corey reveals she goes to a neighborhood where she finds a piece of chalk, taking it as if it belongs to her all along. Alterman answers the “why” immediately by having Corey contemplate, “What made me take it? It was the color. Orange. Frankie’s favorite. Earlier that day, I’d seen the girl who held it. She was maybe three or four years old… So much like Frankie I bolted upright in the passenger’s seat. What was she drawing?… Once I’d gotten a glimpse of the girl, I couldn’t get her out of my mind. I went back to the neighborhood that night and plenty of times since. I’d tried to stop, but the hunger for something that belonged to her always won. It felt like Frankie was leaving things there for me to find, calling to me from some distant place where she was still perfect, still mine, whispering, ‘Don’t forget me’” (13). Wow. Reading that over again, it hits you in the heart. Corey’s chapters reveal many profound inner thoughts. Many reviewers mentioned her chapters as being their favorites. It must be because Alterman beautifully shows her struggle, trying so hard to be strong. I couldn’t stop reading, hoping for the outcome she needs to settle her soul, especially as her gut-wrenching backstory comes to light.
BEFORE WE SAY GOODBYE
This chapter combined with the previous two, they solidify the connection between Corey and Laurel: tragedy, grief, and their effect on the mother-daughter relationship. It’s the kind of tragedy and grief that follows you like a ghost, haunting you forever. In my culture, we have Dia de los Muertos, and this is called the Second Death; it’s the stage of grief after the first death, or physical death. In this stage, both characters are vulnerable to their obsession with their dead loved one’s tragic end.
Alterman uses these obsessions to weave the two point-of-views. Throughout the novel, the weave’s effect produces layers upon layers of clues as to what will finally make these women cross paths. The powerful effect of showing their connection lasts until the jaw-dropping end, enhancing the epilogues’ effect as well.
The twists and turns to get you to the end were phenomenal; reading them felt like driving a convertible sports car on a curvy mountain road, each curve keeping you guessing. The red herring made me think, aha, that must be the villain! It was so much fun figuring out the whodunnit, which didn’t happen until the clues started to point me in a specific direction. When I looked back at my notes, I was shocked to find clues I hadn’t spotted on the first read; Alterman’s novel is definitely one you can read over and over, finding out the different ways the twists and turns tricked you.
One of the interesting things at play in this novel is the dynamic between Rob and Laurel, since he tries to gaslight her by downplaying her instinct as paranoia produced by her tragic past; it’s poignant how this is layered into the wider story because Corey went through this in her own marriage while living in the house, as well. This also seems like life advice since Rob’s behavior becomes crucial to how the story plays out.
This novel had many examples of phenomenal writing to showcase. One of my favorites, the way the author shows the beauty of the mother-child relationship through Laurel and Corey, proving amazing mothers will do anything to protect their own. The themes of grief and tragedy, and their effect on humans are an important part of this novel, giving moments of profound introspection by both main characters and side characters.
Overall, The House on Cold Creek Lane by Liz Alterman makes you feel empathy for mothers because it shows you how hard their role is, in every way. The third act is heart-pounding suspense at its most immersive. I was legit addicted to the read, and even felt the same when I read through my notes, especially as all the clues came together, creating a satisfying end to the whodunnit aspect. This novel is a must-read.
Thank you for reading our in-depth book review about The House on Cold Creek Lane by Liz Alterman. We are not affiliated with the publisher, but here’s the link to pick up a copy.
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E. R. Sanchez is the author of Fried Potato Press’s first young adult thriller, Petaco Dreams, which will be released Fall 2025 after the rewrite, new title, and new cover. He also has poems and stories published online and in print. If you’d like to read his work that was published online, please click here to go to his Stories and Poetry Section.