This Must Be The Place

This Must Be the Place by Beth Curry is a gripping, mind-bending journey that hooks you from the first page and refuses to let go. The novel starts with a seemingly innocent road trip but quickly dives into a world where reality twists with every turn. Curry masterfully creates an eerie small-town atmosphere in Harmony Springs, where everything feels just a bit too perfect—until it isn't.

The story follows Alex Whitaker and his friends as they become stranded in a town that feels like a dream and a nightmare at once. Harmony Springs seems welcoming at first, but Curry keeps readers on edge, slowly revealing the unsettling truth behind the town's charm. It's not just a place—they're being drawn into something far deeper, and much darker.

What stands out in this novel is Curry's ability to blend psychological suspense with elements of the supernatural, all while maintaining a sense of foreboding. She doesn't rely on cheap thrills, but instead builds tension gradually, leading to shocking twists that leave you questioning everything. The tension builds to those signature "shock endings" she's known for—endings that make you want to flip back through the pages to see how everything was so carefully foreshadowed.

The characters are relatable, each one distinct in their reactions to the town's mysteries, and their dynamic keeps you invested. The themes of identity, perception, and the lure of a too-good-to-be-true reality are explored in ways that are both thought-provoking and spine-chilling.

For readers who enjoy psychological thrillers with supernatural elements and mind-twisting finales, This Must Be the Place is a must-read. Just when you think you know where the story is going, Curry flips the script in ways that will leave your jaw slack. The only downside? You might never look at small towns the same way again.
An excellent choice for fans of suspense and those who appreciate a plot that keeps you guessing right until the very end.

Beth Curry's This Must Be the Place weaves a mesmerizing tale where normalcy dissolves into nightmare. When an engine malfunction leads to an unplanned detour, what should be a quick stopover in Harmony Springs becomes a haunting exploration of reality's fragile edges.

The brilliance of Curry's novel lies in its subtle manipulation of reader expectations. Rather than relying on traditional horror elements, she crafts disquiet through seemingly mundane details in the towns people and landmarks. Each scene peels back another layer of the town's façade, revealing glimpses of something impossible lurking beneath.

The novel's protagonist, Alex, serves as our unreliable guide through this maze of uncertainties. His growing obsession with uncovering the truth mirrors our own mounting unease, while his companions' varying degrees of acceptance or rejection of their circumstances raise provocative questions about human nature and willing blindness.

Where Curry truly excels is in her exploration of choice and consequence. Every decision to stay, to investigate, to trust—or not—carries weight, building to a conclusion that manages to be both shocking and, in retrospect, utterly inevitable. This Must Be the Place will appeal to readers who prefer their thrillers cerebral and unsettling, leaving them to question not just what they've read, but their own perceptions of reality.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​

Well, well, well... I thought I was just going to have a casual little fling with this book. You know, a quick 20-minute coffee date, maybe get to know a chapter or two. As a beta, I get time to go through these books I’m assigned. PLOT TWIST: This book basically kidnapped my entire evening! Three hours later, I'm still Stockholm Syndromed into its pages, completely forgetting the outside world exists.

From the first pages, I found myself brewing theories like a conspiracy theorist. Something was *off* about this town and its strange gravitational pull around Alex and his friends. I cycled through scenarios. Was it a hidden cult? A bizarre social experiment? Some supernatural undercurrent? Each page had me reconstructing my hypothesis, certain I was closing in on the truth.

Turns out, I knew nothing.

The actual revelation? Completely blindsided me. My carefully constructed theories crumbled like a house of cards, and I'm pretty sure my jaw physically dropped. Those last few chapters didn't just subvert my expectations, they obliterated them. Beth didn't just surprise me; she rewrote the entire landscape of the story in a way I never saw coming.

Mind. Blown.

A chilling, immersive journey into the uncanny…

Curry’s latest is a thrilling cocktail of suspense, surrealism, and psychological intensity. Alex Whitaker and his friends embark on a road trip, only for their journey to take an unexpected turn when their car breaks down near Harmony Springs. But beneath the town’s picture-perfect facade lurks a darker truth. As reality bends and time warps in unsettling ways, they must fight for their sanity and escape the town’s grasp before it’s too late.

Curry deftly captures Alex’s descent into isolation and paranoia. His strained relationships with his friends become a tense exploration of group dynamics, each succumbing to the town’s manipulations in different ways. The prose is sharp, building tension through vivid imagery and subtle, unsettling details. From the shimmering yet ominous Eternal Fountain to the unnerving synchronicity of the townspeople, every element pulses with an eerie wrongness. Harmony Springs itself feels alive, its shifting streets and hidden secrets both alluring and menacing. The novel expertly blurs the line between illusion and reality, leaving readers to question the very nature of happiness, identity, and belonging. Fans of psychological thrillers and speculative fiction will find much to savor in this suspenseful story.

This Must be the Place is a new novel by Beth Curry. I found this book to be excellent. The characters were interesting and I saw Alex grow and question everything in Harmony Springs. I was totally blown away by the ending… I did not see it coming and I thought it was perfect. I felt that this story was very different and I believe that it should be in everyone's TBR list. I received an arc for free and am leaving my review voluntarily.

Just finished Beth's new one, This Must Be the Place, and I enjoyed it. It follows Alex and his friends getting stuck in this super wholesome-looking town called Harmony Springs, but something's definitely off about the place. Beth absolutely nails that creepy-small-town vibe where everything looks perfect on the surface but feels wrong underneath. The way she builds tension is just *chef's kiss* - you're constantly trying to figure out what's up while watching Alex slowly lose it as his friends get weirdly comfortable with the town's oddness. The ending had me sit there for a good minute processing what I'd just read. Goosebumps. If you're into psychological thrillers or supernatural mysteries, this one's a must.

Wow. Beth has done it again. This Must Be the Place is everything I wanted: eerie, suspenseful, and packed with twists that had me flipping pages faster than I could keep up. Very hard to put this one down. They don’t call Beth the queen of the whiplash ending for nothing. She lures you in with her signature slow-burn tension, only to hit you with a twist so good it makes you want to reread the whole thing to see things you missed. The story follows Alex Whitaker and his friends, who end up stranded in the pleasant (and super creepy) Harmony Springs after a car breakdown. It’s one of those towns that feels a little too perfect, and Beth is a genius at making even the most mundane details feel unnervingly off. As the group explores the town, things get weirder and weirder, and Alex becomes the only one who realizes something’s seriously wrong. Watching him try to unravel the mystery (and himself) while his friends fall deeper under the town’s spell had me on edge the entire time. And that ending? Beth knows exactly how to leave you reeling. In hindsight, the clues were everywhere even in the book trailers! Seriously, go back and rewatch them after you finish. The little Easter eggs and subtle hints were so clever and make the whole experience even more fun. I hope she talks more about this somewhere some time because it’s damn creative. If you love stories that keep you guessing and twist endings that stick with you or leave you literally saying “what the hell”, you need to read This Must Be the Place. Easily five stars.

This Must Be the Place is a chilling exploration of perfection, control, and the sinister underside of paradise. Set in the seemingly idyllic town of Harmony Springs, the novel begins as a road trip detour for Alex and his friends but soon spirals into a gripping descent into psychological and supernatural horror.

The story shines in its ability to juxtapose the picturesque charm of Harmony Springs with an escalating sense of dread. Beth’s prose creates a palpable atmosphere; every detail—from the too-perfect lawns to the enigmatic Eternal Fountain—feels both inviting and menacing. The town’s residents are eerily cheerful, their uncanny behavior adding layers to the unsettling mystery.

While the entire novel is a masterclass in building suspense, it’s the shocking finale that left me breathless. Without spoiling too much, the ending flips the narrative on its head, delivering revelations about Harmony Springs that are as haunting as they are unexpected. Beth skillfully manipulated my expectations, leading me to believe we’re unraveling the town’s mystery, only to reveal that the true horror lies in the characters’ complicity.

The closing chapters are shocking. Alex’s resistance to the town’s pull reaches a harrowing climax, culminating in a devastating truth about the nature of Harmony Springs. The final image—a chilling echo of the novel’s refrain, “This must be the place” lingered leaving me questioning the price of a dream.

This Must Be the Place is an unforgettable thriller blended with supernatural mystery that really shook me. It was an easy and fascinating read. Beth has crafted a tale as beautiful as it is terrifying.