The Last Rodeo Girl: BOOK NINETEEN - (2018) (Whispering Pines 19)
About
THE LAST RODEO GIRL
A Whispering Pines Novel — Book 19
Every summer, the rodeo comes to Whispering Pines.
Lights flood the arena. Music rattles the stands. Families cheer. Traditions repeat themselves the way they always have, unquestioned and familiar. For a few days each year, the town believes it knows exactly who it is.
Then a girl disappears.
At first, no one panics. Rodeos are dangerous. Injuries happen. People move on. It’s easier to assume the worst was an accident than to ask the wrong questions. But Erin Black, the rodeo medic stationed behind the chutes, has seen too much to accept the story being told.
The injuries don’t line up.
The explanations don’t hold.
And the silence feels rehearsed.
As Erin follows a trail that leads deeper into the rodeo’s hidden spaces—stock trailers, holding pens, locked tack rooms, and narrow corridors where no one lingers—she begins to understand what the crowd refuses to see. The danger isn’t sudden. It isn’t loud. It doesn’t hide in the dark.
It exists in plain sight.
Whispering Pines has survived by looking away before. But this year, tradition itself becomes a shield for cruelty, and the cost of speaking out may be higher than Erin is prepared to pay. As the town closes ranks and familiar faces turn distant, only law enforcement remains willing to stand beside her.
By the time the truth surfaces, it’s clear that what happened to the last rodeo girl wasn’t an accident.
It was allowed.
Written in a Stephen King–inspired style that favors slow-burn dread over shock, The Last Rodeo Girl marks a turning point in the Whispering Pines series—a darker, more dangerous year where silence no longer feels neutral, and safety becomes an illusion.
Why You’ll Love This Book
- A slow-building sense of dread that tightens page by page instead of relying on cheap shock
- A powerful female lead whose professional instincts collide with moral reckoning
- A familiar setting turned unsafe, where crowds make danger easier, not harder
- Psychological horror rooted in realism, not supernatural gimmicks
- Violence used with restraint and purpose, making every moment land harder
- A standalone story that still deepens the long-running Whispering Pines arc
What Kind of Story This Is
- A psychological thriller with horror elements
- A character-driven mystery, not a puzzle-box procedural
- A small-town story about complicity, tradition, and silence
- A page-turner built on tension, not excess
What This Book Is Not
- Not splatter horror
- Not graphic for shock value
- Not dependent on profanity or explicit content
- Not a supernatural story
- The fear here comes from recognition—from realizing how easily harm can hide behind routine.
Perfect For Readers Who Enjoy
- Stephen King–style realism and escalation
- Small-town thrillers with emotional weight
- Dark stories where the setting matters
- Psychological suspense that lingers after the final page
About the Series
Whispering Pines: 24 Years, 24 Secrets is a sweeping saga that follows one town across twenty-four years, each book revealing a single mystery and a single moment when silence can no longer hold.
Each novel stands alone.
Together, they tell a larger truth.
You can begin with The Last Rodeo Girl.
But Whispering Pines will not let you leave unchanged.