Zero Cell Service, Zero Common Sense
Another book I finished in one sitting and yet another book that I cannot give more than 3 stars. Go me, right? No, I need a five-star read in June please. This is a book that you cannot take too seriously. When I started it, I had a good feeling that it was going to be a solid thriller. Unfortunately, it didn’t stay that way.
If this book were a horror film, the audience would be screaming at the screen within the first twenty minutes. We follow three childhood best friends—now fully grown adults in their mid-20s and early 30s—as they head out for a hiking trip along Washington State’s ominous Bone Hollow Trail. The red flags start flying almost immediately. Not only are they trekking through wilderness miles away from civilization with zero cell service, but they are also casually listening to a true-crime podcast about a local serial killer who targeted women in that exact forest. Naturally, one of them gets injured. Naturally, they stumble upon an isolated cabin. And naturally, there is a strange man inside offering “help.”
This is where the story morphs into a masterclass in terrible decision-making. Despite openly admitting that this stranger gives them the creeps, these women decide the best course of action is to walk right into his cabin and start drinking with him.
The sheer lack of survival instincts was maddening, but the group dynamic made it even harder to root for them. Two of these friends are textbook “mean girls” whose toxic behavior makes you wonder why they are even traveling together in the first place. You’ll spend half the book practically begging them to just turn around and run.
While the characters’ monumentally ridiculous choices kept this from being a top-tier thriller for me, Eliza Jabore definitely has promise. As a debut, Backstabbers has incredible pacing and a ton of potential. I’ll absolutely be keeping an eye out for her future work—especially if she brings back those atmospheric, true-crime podcast elements.
