Book Summary

This book was chosen by Lisa (August 2020-my first pick) – I chose this book because it was a book on many lists and it was just released. I wanted to pick something new so that it was something none of us had read. I like books that will keep me guessing and I thought it would provide great conversation amongst our group.

“The Sun Down Motel” is a dual-timeline supernatural thriller following a woman in 1982 and her niece in 2017 who both uncover dark secrets while working at an eerie New York motel. The novel explores themes of generational trauma and unsolved mysteries through an atmospheric, “ghost story meets true crime” narrative.

I liked the book because it kept our group guessing and it provided a lot of discussion points. There was also a little love connection with the main character. I think that a book that is suspenseful and a little scary softens a little when there is also romance. The book jumps back and forth between two time periods, the chapters are clearly marked with the year, which helped a lot. We have since read other books that jump between time periods and some of them have not been labeled as well.

We celebrated this book with a road trip to Erie, PA. It was during COVID restrictions, we had to mask up when in public places, but we made it work. We were itching to do something since businesses and travel were opening back up. I believe we decided on Erie because it is right across the border of New York. The state of New York was shut down at the time and we wanted to be as close as possible. We found a hotel in Erie that resembled the hotel description in the book for us to stay at. It lived up to what we pictured in our minds. Bayfront Inn.  I remember when we pulled into the lot, we were excited because it was so ideal.

Some of the trip highlights were a ghost tour at The BREWERIE Brew Pub and Restaurant, exploring  Presque Isle State Park, light houses and lake Erie and a sneak across the border into New York to a quaint town, Findley Lake. We shopped on Main Street and ate lunch at a beautiful establishment called Pine Junction Tavern. We traveled during October so a lot of the touristy attractions were closed for the season but that didn’t stop us from photo ops. This was a great bonding trip with so much time in the car.

Our trip home included an overnight stay in South Bend, IN. We toured the Notre Dame campus, Touchdown Jesus was my favorite. That night we had fun dancing and wearing wigs at a cool bar called Vicki’s. The next day included the finish line home with a stop in Gary, IN to see Michael Jackson’s boyhood home. It was a rainy day with a little drama about the reputation of Gary being the murder capital of the nation, but we survived.

In all the trip was a success, of course there was some bickering, with 9 women traveling together, that would be hard to avoid. But the laughter, friendship, and love that we share outshines any dark clouds that come our way.

Sundown Motel was a great novel that kept us guessing and a surprise twist. I hope you decide to read the book and get to go enjoy a sketch motel with some of your Ride or Die Friends.