Five friends reunite to celebrate their 40th birthdays. They excitedly rent a remote cabin to have some quality time together. But the cabin is run down and the owner seems odd. When one of the friends dies, can the rest of the women trust each other to stay safe?
The Lake House is an entertaining thriller featuring five women who have been friends since college but recently lost touch. I had to suspend my disbelief as the whole plot is completely and wonderfully crazy.
The tone of the novel is set by the lake house itself which has a creepy and dangerous feel. The women feel ill at ease with the secluded location and lack of communication with the outside world. They are also trying to negotiate relationships with each other that have lapsed over the intervening years. There are also secrets they have been keeping from each other and the very last line of the book made my jaw drop!
The book is written from the first person perspective of Megan, a relationship therapist whose own marriage is in trouble. The majority of the plot is delivered in the present day but we also see Megan’s memories of events that are relevant to the current events as secrets are revealed.
The author cleverly hints at potential secrets form the past which may be behind the events in the present. She also provides a range of potential suspects and motives so that we can try to figure things out for ourselves, increasing our involvement with the plot and characters.
Overall, The Lake House was thoroughly entertaining and engaging. I have previously reviewed Two Widows by Laura Wolfe.
You can always trust your closest friends. Can’t you?
This trip was a chance to reconnect away from our busy lives. The five of us used to be so close—going right back to our college days, when we shared a rickety house and all our favorite clothes, as well as every high and low of our lives—but that was then.
Now, the thought of three days in a small cabin far from anywhere, surrounded only by water and trees, with my four oldest friends makes my stomach sink and my hands sweat. Because if they knew what I’d done—the betrayals I’ve committed—they’d never forgive me. And neither would you.
The straight-A student, the sports star with a bright future ahead of her, the sheltered girl who blossomed away from her family and the hippie child who was going to save the world. Their lives have turned out so differently to how we pictured all those years ago. I try not to think about why.
But then danger strikes, and too late I discover I’m not the only one keeping secrets. And I wonder: who will go furthest to keep the truth hidden?
Gripping, addictive and totally unputdownable, The Lake House will have you reading late into the night. Perfect for fans of The Girl on the Train, The Woman in the Window and Big Little Lies.
Author Bio:
Laura Wolfe writes fast-paced and twisty mystery and suspense novels. Her new and upcoming releases include TWO WIDOWS (Bookouture, August 2020), SHE LIES ALONE (Bookouture, November 2020), and THE LAKE HOUSE (Bookouture, March 2021.) Her equestrian-themed YA mystery books have been shortlisted for multiple indie book awards. Laura is a lover of animals and nature. When she is not writing, she can be found hanging out with her highly-energetic kids, growing vegetables in her garden, or spoiling her rescue dog. She enjoys living in Ann Arbor, Michigan
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