VEIL OF PINES Book Review

Veil of Pines (book 5 in A Dear Celeste series) by J.R. Erickson, eBook, 338 pages

Synopsis from GoodReads: Kidnapped. Trapped. Haunted. Celeste wakes in an isolated cabin, imprisoned by the man she once loved. As hours bleed into days, pain and psychological manipulation begin to fracture her sense of reality and her hope of escape.

Detective Harris Mayne knows something is wrong the instant Celeste vanishes. His own brush with death left him sensitive to the unseen—and when logic offers no answers, he is forced to follow cryptic, otherworldly messages instead.

As Celeste searches desperately for a way out, she uncovers a dark decades ago, a brutal murder occurred in the cabin—and the restless dead are stirring once more. Don't miss this haunting tale of obsession, betrayal, and paranormal suspense.

BOOK REVIEW: I have been anxiously waiting for this final installment to come out for what feels like forever! This series has had so many twists and turns since book 1 and I am here for it all! We pick up right where book 4 ends (I have read and reviewed all books in this series and will tag the last three books in related posts) with Celeste's abduction. And it comes up, I feel like, more in this book about the Celeste's hit-and-run accident and it's hard to believe that this series takes place over the course of about a year. It's crazy but in the best way possible.

Is it possible for me to pick a favorite part? I don't know. I think something recurring throughout the whole series is how the group work together and seeing how things that don't appear to be connected are connected and how important they actually end up being.I also want to note that the last time I ate at an A&W was in Washington state and I haven't lived there in 12 years almost but I just looked and there might be one about 45 minutes away.

This is obviously a 5 star from the get go. Celeste see's the ghosts that are important to the story and learns the history before we know how or why it's relevant. The author does a call back for characters in previous books as well. I've noted along the way that this series is kind of like a series of stand alones with Celeste's accident and info about that accident being learned throughout but to fully grasp this book you need to have read the others first. The details and some scenes get a little graphic but it's just enough to enhance the story when it's needed. Obviously I recommend this book and this series highly! Do yourself a favor and read them all on KU and if you like them as much as I do, get a physical copy too!

5/5 Stars

2026 Reading Challenge: 8/55 complete