REVIEW: Salthouse Place by Jamie Lee Sogn
This was an Amazon First Reads, I think. Here’s the blurb:
From debut author Jamie Sogn comes a twisty thriller about the allure of the past and the danger of the truth as a young woman dives headlong into a cult in a desperate search for answers.
In the far reaches of the Pacific Northwest, three best friends spend a day at the lake…but only two come home.
Ten years later, Delia Albio is tormented by the mystery of what happened to fifteen-year-old Zee on the lake that day. When she receives an email from Cara, the remaining friend in the trio, she can’t resist the pull of the “life-changing” news in the message. Delia, hopeful for answers, travels home to see her old friend.
But Cara is gone by the time she gets there, setting off another mystery. When Delia hears about the women’s empowerment group that Cara joined, she sets out for the group’s retreat property on the Oregon coast to find her. Delia feels this could be her chance to reconnect with Cara and reckon with that fateful day at the lake.
Instead, Delia uncovers a possessive group with a dark agenda. As their leadership closes in, Delia hurtles ever closer to the truth—if only she can survive a cult that will protect its secrets at any cost.
Delia has just turned 25 and is living in Seattle, freelancing as a legal copywriter (she dropped out of law school after her father died in a car accident). She has a boyfriend, Teddy, a nice guy who she soon breaks up with. Delia is haunted by Zee’s disappearance and the way in which it destroyed her sense of safety and the unit she’d formed with Cara and Zee. She’s a bit of a prickly loner, and seems older than 25 (at least to me).
When she hears from Cara, it ignites something in her that leads to her pursuit for answers. She returns to her hometown and finds that Cara has gone radio silent. Delia meets with Cara’s older brother Tom (and hooks up with him, as she had done after Zee disappeared) and tells him she’s going to find Cara.
This search leads to a mysterious group called Artemis Wellness, a “woman’s wellness and empowerment organization.” Cara was involved in Artemis and now she’s disappeared. Delia attends an Artemis seminar and is later chosen to receive a scholarship to a retreat at Salthouse Place, a complex where Artemis Wellness is based.
Delia puts her life and work on hold and heads to Salthouse Place. There, she rooms with Jenny, whom she met at the seminar, and Gillian, a slightly older married mother who is financing Artemis’ pricey offerings on her credit card.
The founder of Artemis is actually a man, Everett Ware – it wouldn’t be inaccurate to call him a guru. Everett has been absent from Salthouse for a while (also somewhat mysteriously), and business is being conducted by his sister and right hand, Sage. Delia comes to know Sage and other Artemis employees and gets a sense of the darkness roiling underneath the “woman empowerment” surface.
Delia is an interesting character; growing up biracial (her father is white, her mother Filipino) in a very white environment has formed her character, and the loss of Zee has solidified a certain coolness that seems intrinsic to her personality. As the novel progresses, she ping pongs between viewing Artemis (and the disappearances of Cara and Zee) as a mystery to be solved, and falling under the spell of Salthouse Place a bit.
Salthouse Place was yet another suspense novel that felt marred (?) by too many twists at the end. I include (?) because there is a part of me that likes the crazy twists – I’m certainly entertained by them. But it feels like most of the novel is fairly naturalistic, with good prose, strong characters, and an interesting setting. Then it just goes haywire at the end, with multiple dramatic deaths and shocking revelations. It feels a bit like being given a plate of McNuggets at the end of a fine dining experience. I enjoy McNuggets (my digestive system may not) but that’s not what this meal was about up until this point, and it doesn’t feel like a strong thing to end on.
I’m probably being a bit too harsh – I do feel like Salthouse Place was a cut above, and I’d definitely give the author a try again. My grade is a high B/B+.
Best,
Jennie
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