Although, this would probably make a good movie, the writing was very amateurish and the story just didn't flow very well! The dialogue between the constantly quarreling husband and wife, which was the bulk of the story, and whether they would stay together or not, was incredibly shallow and immature. This was more about each of their flings on the island. This was suppose to be my choice for a suspense/thriller (#20/52) on the 2019 52-bookmark reading challenge. But, just like Ten Mile Creek, it's so stupid I can't even count it. My search continues for a real suspense/thriller novel.

Bill Anderson is the first one laid off from a lucrative software company because he was caught flirting and messing around with the bosses girlfriend. His wife, Karen, knows something was up but not sure how far things went. Bill hasn't been able to find another job in affluent California for two years now. Their house is going into foreclosure when, luckily, his lesbian Aunt Janie dies and leaves him the haunted house on Mateguas Island, once owned by an Abenaki native woman and her child. Centuries earlier, the native woman was booted off the hill and then eventally killed in the woods so that the white man could "make better use of the land" and build a home there. So, of course, the ghost of the Abenaki is looking for revenge. She cries and moans during storms until someone goes out searching to help her and they are never seen again.

Bill and Karen's twin girls, Sophie and Terri, find a hidden box with two locks on it. They are on a mission to find the keys to find out what's inside. Meanwhile, Karen is having hallucinations. She's out cutting rose bushes and blackerry bushes when suddenly she sees a well established trail in the woods just beyond. She cuts through the bushes and walks it to a beautiful pond surrounded by spring flowers. But, suddenly it all turns to swamp and the smell of rot and death. An owl attacks her and she takes off running as the trail seems to grow narrower and narrower. When she gets to the end, the bushes had already grown over the entrance to the trail, but she has to barge through the thorns because the owl is after her again. She barely makes it out. As she learns more, she discovers she's the only one who can save her family.

Meanwhile, the bulk of the story is about their relationship falling apart and each of them having affairs with an islander. He with the beautiful redhead Mag, and her with Dex, the finest and most successful fisherman on the island. Bill gets the lady pregnant on their last fling and loses it all, even his life in the end. The evil Abenaki spirit kills him in the swamp. Karen comes out the winner. Her husband is dead and she still gets the hunky Dex. He actually sells his beautiful home, his fishing boat and picks up and moves back to California with her and the two girls just days after her husbands death. So stupid.

The author sets it up at the end for part two, "Return to Metaguas Island". Maggie is pregnant with Bill's baby and has purchased the house on the hill. But, here's where I stop. The dialogue writing between persons and flow of the story is just horrible and is not worth my time. ( )

Couldn't Put It Down!

I saw that MATEGUAS ISLAND was free today and, because it had so many good reviews, I downloaded it this morning. Sat down to check it out and OMG I couldn't put it down! Watkins takes time developing her characters and, soon, I came to care about them, warts and all. Then strange things start happening and it becomes a real page turner. There is terror here and not all of it is supernatural - the disintegration of a once happy marriage and the effect it has on the children is also painfully portrayed.

So, if you enjoy well written horror that does not need to depend on blood, guts and gore to make its point, then you will love this book. I know I did and can't wait for the next installment!
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Complete piece of junk. It's not a "horror" novel at all, but a kissy-kissy adulterous romance (and a very poorly written one at that). As far as the supernatural element, that doesn't really come into play until the novel's 80-to-85 percent through, and even then it's almost laughable.

I got this at a cut price on Kindle based on the high number of 5-star ratings it has on Amazon. I'm beginning to suspect these ratings, and I'm wondering if this thing is self-published. ( )