DIVE BAR AT THE END OF THE ROAD by Kelley Armstrong is perfect for any reader who appreciates the supernatural, mortality, altered reality, and sinister forests.

This book evokes both a Twilight Zone episode and the atmosphere of the Eagles' 'Hotel California. The characters find themselves on a dark, deserted road, surrounded by dense forest, as a storm rages. All crash their cars. Help is nowhere in sight, or is it? Neither cell service nor GPS functions.

Ellie is the first victim. She thought she saw a woman standing in the road, but instead plowed into a thick tree. That ends her journey for a time. Next comes Henry, a beefy paramedic, who crashes into Ellie's car and attempts to assess the damage.

After wandering through the woods like Hansel and Gretel without the breadcrumbs, Henry and Ellie stumble upon a skeevy dive bar. Inside is a taciturn woman nursing an endless beer and a loquacious bartender who dispenses wisdom, candor, and warnings. 

Other victims either spill into the bar, like Caleb and Noemi, or are discovered by Henry and Ellie among the wreckage, like Edgar and Raymond. Time operates strangely. Reality proves unreliable as shadowy figures materialize and vanish among the trees. Lights flicker on and off, and eerie sounds echo through the woods. Some victims vanish, reappear inexplicably, then vanish once more"

Some scenes are difficult to parse, forcing me to reread passages for clarity. The grisly consequences play out in a nightmarish setting. One character assumes a narrator's role, revealing the victims' backstories, exposing truths, and probing painful memories best left untouched.

I genuinely couldn't predict the ending; every possible escape route seemed blocked. It was like reading a book with funhouse mirrors: everything became distorted and disorienting. The ending felt incomplete because I wanted something concrete and permeable. My favorite character was Henry because he was calm, brawny, careful, and willing to take the fall.

A DIVE BAR AT THE END OF THE ROAD is a bizarre, creepy read. One takeaway stands clear: readers shouldn't trust their senses implicitly in a world where reality shifts. It's a timely reminder that technology fails; an old-fashioned map might save your life!