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A review by riley_rogers
The Lake Escape by Jamie Day
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.0
The Lake Escape is a killer thriller and mystery novel, but unfortunately falls short due to uninteresting characters, an obvious motive and killer that’s far too easy to figure out.
Childhood friends return to Lake Timmeny for their annual retreat, but when Fiona, David’s new girlfriend goes missing, their hopes at a easy going escape disappear and instead turn into chaos.
The set up was for the first ~100 or so pages, or roughly ~30% of the book. I wasn’t attached to any of the characters. Nothing grabbed my attention, or truly made me want to keep reading. Julie, who feels entitled to a lake view, and is suspicious of her husband’s financials. Izzy, the sophomore college student who lied about her nanny credentials. David, who came into new money and has his girlfriend, Fiona mysteriously disappear the night after an argument. Erika and her husband were forgettable. Even more suspiciously so, the night before – Fiona and Lucas (Erika’s 18 year old son) were found kissing. Fiona is also in her 30’s! Ew. It felt unnecessary to include that, especially as it did nothing to push the plot forward.
Christian especially irked me from the beginning. While Julie herself was no saint either, he had an affair previously, blew all of their money, and she can somehow STILL forgive him? Girl, please. I’m big on the “if he wanted to, he would.” He’s definitely not giving that vibe. Case in point:
“I changed all the passwords as a precaution. It’s not big deal. Please, just get some sleep, or at least let me sleep. You’re worrying too much.”
Honestly, Izzy’s involvement was predictable. Julie mostly served as a narrator for her growing suspicions of those around her. There were some minor “plot points” that were quickly forgotten and shoved to the side as well.
I’m typically a sucker for thrillers, but I don’t care for stilted, awkward conversations. Plus, to make it worse – Day kept trying to stack up the “oohs” and “ahhs” with incredulous reveal after reveal that made NO sense, nor was it even briefly mentioned previously, but was instead brought up out of nowhere.
When the big mystery of who the killer was is revealed, I wasn’t surprised. They weren’t given much dialogue or any actions until the way end of the book. My suggestion for future books would be to include the suspicious characters more often. The less you talk about them, the more (I, as a reader!) am thinking that they’re the killer.
Then, the last ~10% or so was absolutely ridiculous. The MOB?? Come on. That’s just an easy out at that point, a last-ditch effort to make things more “thrilling.” I didn’t care for this at all and I’m quite surprised at all the positive reviews surrounding it.
Overall, not something that I’d be happy to recommend to anyone.
*I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review. *
Childhood friends return to Lake Timmeny for their annual retreat, but when Fiona, David’s new girlfriend goes missing, their hopes at a easy going escape disappear and instead turn into chaos.
The set up was for the first ~100 or so pages, or roughly ~30% of the book. I wasn’t attached to any of the characters. Nothing grabbed my attention, or truly made me want to keep reading. Julie, who feels entitled to a lake view, and is suspicious of her husband’s financials. Izzy, the sophomore college student who lied about her nanny credentials. David, who came into new money and has his girlfriend, Fiona mysteriously disappear the night after an argument. Erika and her husband were forgettable. Even more suspiciously so, the night before – Fiona and Lucas (Erika’s 18 year old son) were found kissing. Fiona is also in her 30’s! Ew. It felt unnecessary to include that, especially as it did nothing to push the plot forward.
Christian especially irked me from the beginning. While Julie herself was no saint either, he had an affair previously, blew all of their money, and she can somehow STILL forgive him? Girl, please. I’m big on the “if he wanted to, he would.” He’s definitely not giving that vibe. Case in point:
“I changed all the passwords as a precaution. It’s not big deal. Please, just get some sleep, or at least let me sleep. You’re worrying too much.”
Honestly, Izzy’s involvement was predictable. Julie mostly served as a narrator for her growing suspicions of those around her. There were some minor “plot points” that were quickly forgotten and shoved to the side as well.
I’m typically a sucker for thrillers, but I don’t care for stilted, awkward conversations. Plus, to make it worse – Day kept trying to stack up the “oohs” and “ahhs” with incredulous reveal after reveal that made NO sense, nor was it even briefly mentioned previously, but was instead brought up out of nowhere.
When the big mystery of who the killer was is revealed, I wasn’t surprised. They weren’t given much dialogue or any actions until the way end of the book. My suggestion for future books would be to include the suspicious characters more often. The less you talk about them, the more (I, as a reader!) am thinking that they’re the killer.
Then, the last ~10% or so was absolutely ridiculous. The MOB?? Come on. That’s just an easy out at that point, a last-ditch effort to make things more “thrilling.” I didn’t care for this at all and I’m quite surprised at all the positive reviews surrounding it.
Overall, not something that I’d be happy to recommend to anyone.
*I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for a fair and unbiased review. *