Title: Dive Bar at the End of the Road
Author: Kelley Armstrong
Published: October 6, 2026
Format: e-ARC
My Rating: 4 stars/5
Synopsis: A forested road at night, slick from the pounding rain and eerily illuminated by flashes of lightning. Just before midnight, a car swerves to avoid something—or someone—mysteriously standing in the road, only to slam into a fallen tree instead. In the pitch black, four more cars follow in a pileup no one can seem avoid.
Stumbling out of the wreckage, soaked from the rain and nursing various injuries, five strangers find themselves in a backwoods dive bar, waiting for daybreak and hoping for cell service. But as tensions rise and the storm rages on outside, the occupants of the dive bar start to notice that not everything is as it seems. Time is moving differently, and they quickly learn that going outside—whether to assist another accident victim or to hike for help—is a very bad idea.
There’s something in the woods, something that isn’t natural. Could the figure in the road have been a warning? Or something more sinister? None of this is normal, and they’ll need to work together to figure out what’s happening if they have any hope of surviving through the night.
My thoughts from the Vault
Disclaimer: I received an e-ARC of this book. I chose to review it and this in no way impacts my opinion of it.
As a book horror fan, I was stoked when I heard that KA had another horror novel coming out. I was so happy to receive an e-ARC from St. Martin’s Press and dove right in.
I really enjoyed the concept behind this novel and found it to be a fun read. I wouldn’t say it was actually scary at any point but maybe readers who don’t watch horror movies for fun will find it spooky.
This novel had a combination of characters to love and characters to hate and I sure did hate some of them. Armstrong has a wicked knack for creating characters that make you feel and this novel is no exception.
There is a lot of surprise elements to this novel so if horror and cheering for the main characters to survive is your idea of a good time, you’ll love this novel.
