Courtesy of charliedonlea.com
Book Title: Summit Lake
Author: Charlie Donlea
Series: None
Genres: Mystery, Suspense, Thriller, Fiction, Crime
Goodreads
02/01/16
Once again I couldn’t stop thinking about this book, so I felt it only fair to bump this rating up to 4 stars! Thank you Charlie Donlea for a book that caused me to change my rating and stick with me long after the story ended.
01/05/16
Many thanks to Netgalley for my copy in exchange for a fair and honest review.
3.5 stars
Well, I was all over the place on this one. I figured I’d settle in the middle to be fair.
This story is a healthy blend of past and present, told through multiple POVs which I thoroughly enjoyed. We begin with the murder of Becca and travel back and forth to figure out who did it and why. Kelsey is a reporter who has suffered a recent trauma unknown to us and is sent on assignment to Summit Lake to piece together a story on Becca’s murder. Each chapter alternates so that we get a little more of the puzzle until the big reveal at the end.
While I had a few problems with this story, I really enjoyed the characters in the past tense; I felt like I was experiencing college again with them. The story had so much potential and it kept me reading until the end. I don’t want to ruin the story for anyone, but I had an issue with the “big reveal” at the end. I felt cheated and manipulated and it felt forced and aspects of how this master twist was pulled off were left unexplained.
Overall, I’m glad I read it and would still recommend to others. It was a fast read and well written for a debut. I look forward to seeing the author’s next book.
