The Sundial Inn
Stephen John Ross
Friesen Press (2022)
ISBN: 978-1039139497
Reviewed by Diana Coyle for Reader Views (01/2025)
Tim and Sara have had a lot of heartache lately. After many failed attempts to have a baby, things aren’t working in their favor. Plus, Tim feels he is in an unfulfilling job where he’s not appreciated like he should be. Out of the blue, a box arrives at their place from a courier. Sara thinks Tim knows something about the box and leaves it for him to open when he gets home from work. But when Tim looks at it, he doesn’t know where it came from. They are both in for the surprise of their lives.
In the box, there is a letter stating that they have won an all-expense paid vacation to the luxury Sundial Inn in New Orleans, two airline tickets, and transportation instructions. Each thinks the other entered a contest without telling their spouse. But neither did. Although it seems a bit odd to win such a luxurious vacation neither tried for, they can both use the few days of peace and luxury to recharge their batteries. They decided to go, but they never planned on just how different this vacation was going to be for them.
“The Sundial Inn” by Stephen John Ross is one thriller that had this reviewer sitting on the edge of her seat. Right from the start, something didn’t feel right about this whole vacation package given to Tim and Sara. It was obvious with all the burdens they were shouldering lately that they needed a vacation, but one would think they would have questioned more about the origins of this paid luxury vacation since neither one entered any vacation contest. Mr. Ross penned such emotions into his characters, Tim and Sara, that readers will feel as if they are witnessing everything firsthand. You very well might feel as if you were another character standing next to them trying to make sense of everything.
When they ended up days later boarding their flight home to San Francisco battered and bruised, with no recollection of how they got on the plane, one must wonder what happened to them once they arrived at the Sundial Inn. But without much recollection to the last few days, Tim and Sara must try piecing together exactly what happened to them and why they have no memory of any of it. But how do they even go about trying to make sense of something so outlandish to begin with?
Stephen John Ross has a way of developing his characters to be people you can relate to and that could very well be your neighbors next door. Tim and Sara seem like an ordinary couple going through their rough patch of misfortunate events, and nearly everyone can relate to them at some point. But once they show up battered and bruised, with no recollection of anything odd happening to them both, readers have to wonder why they were picked out to have won this luxury vacation in the first place.
“The Sundial Inn” by Stephen John Ross is one historic thriller that will not only have you sitting on the edge of your seat wondering what will happen next, but you may question your own well-being in the end. This was a great story that comes highly recommended!