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The Lake Escape: A Novel
Domestic Thriller
Setting – Vermont
Publisher : St. Martin’s Press
Publication date : July 15, 2025
Print length : 368 pages
ISBN-10 : 1250358191
ISBN-13 : 978-1250358196
Kindle ASIN : B0CXMD9J3W
Audiobook ASIN B0DFRF4G1Q
The next riveting summer suspense by the author of THE BLOCK PARTY and ONE BIG HAPPY FAMILY, Jamie Day.
WILL THIS BE THE BEST WEEK OF THEIR LIVES… OR THE LAST?
JULIA, DAVID, AND ERIKA grew up together spending summers at their idyllic Vermont lake homes for as long as they can remember. Now adults— with their own sullen teens, endless mortgages, and low-voltage sex lives— the three friends have amassed secrets over the years.
This summer, David is eager to show off his newly renovated home—which now blocks his friends’ cherished lake views—and his much-younger girlfriend. He also, unwittingly, brings a nanny with a hidden agenda. What could possibly go wrong?
When David’s girlfriend mysteriously vanishes after a shouting match, Julia and Erika wonder just how well they know their lifelong friend. The lake harbors a harrowing past: two young women, with no known connection, vanished without a trace thirty years ago. Did the lake take another?
As a search is mounted, an intricate web of lies, deceits, and betrayals spanning generations starts to surface, and everyone finds themselves in danger of becoming the next victim. Of the lake, or something darker.
Dollycas’s Thoughts
Julia, David, and Erika, ‘”the Lake Gang”, have had many happy days spending summers with their parents on Lake Timmeny in Vermont. Now they bring their own children to spend a couple of weeks together each summer.
This year, when Julia arrives, she sees that David has built a huge monstrosity where his family’s cabin used to be, blocking the lake view from both her and Erika’s cabins. When he arrives he is pretty cocky about his renovation and his new “lady of the moment”. He also has a young new nanny in tow to take care of his five-year-old twins.
Erika arrives with her husband and son; she is unusually quiet about the massive multi-windowed structure blocking the lake. Julia wants to know why, but the three have accumulated many secrets over the years, so she assumes there is a lot more to the story.
Lake Timmeny has a tragic history. “The lake takes them.” Two young women have “vanished” 30 years apart, and now it has been another 30 years. So when David’s new girlfriend vanishes after a very public disagreement, everyone wonders if the lake has taken another. While a comprehensive search is organized and carried out, secrets start to be revealed that go back for generations. Lies. Betrayal. Deceit. Danger lurks. Will the Lake Gang survive the summer?
Three couples, two teenagers, 2 five-year-olds, and their nanny on a summer vacation. What could go wrong? Everything!
Ms. Day has written a complex story featuring complicated characters who all have secrets now in their daily lives that are compounded by what takes place and revealed over a very short timeframe. At times, I felt I needed a scorecard to keep track of everything. Her characters are very interesting, so it is easy to get caught up in everything they are going through.
The lake’s history was intriguing for this mystery lover, and an elderly woman who lives on the lake year-round not only stole my heart but was the key to disclosing so much of that history. Hold on, though, there is so much more to sink our teeth into as memories are tested and secrets are divulged. Layers are peeled away, a little too slowly at times, but some epic twists ratcheted up the tension and suspense in all the right places. Being told from two points of view, I was totally pulled into this story. There is family drama to the max in ways I couldn’t imagine. The ending was elaborate, intricate, and satisfying. I would have liked a little more action instead of explanations, but it still worked for me.
The Lake Escape takes readers on a wild ride as each character’s journey intersects in numerous ways. This is Ms. Day’s third venture of domestic suspense following her debut, The Block Party, and then One Big Happy Family, last year, each time upping her game. Words of wisdom from Julia: “Be in the moment. Relax and enjoy. Don’t try to control, just let it roll.” That was from Chapter 7. Boy, did things roll from there. If you are looking for your next summer read, this one will have you feeling like you are right there at the lake, witnessing all the drama these families serve up. A strong 4.5 stars and an Enjoyable Escape.
*There is some explicit language.
I voluntarily reviewed an Advance Reader Copy. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review. Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC.
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About the Author
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that she can take on a dysfunctional family and all their drama and she has turned that up a notch or two in 
). Saying Jamie Day’s characters have issues is a huge understatement. The book is mostly told from Alex’s point of view. She is a divorce mediator who has a dangerous relationship with wine that she thinks she is hiding. Her 17-year-old daughter Lettie is doing whatever she can do personally to save the planet. She is also crushing on the son of their new neighbors. After a suspension for vandalism at the end of her junior year she just wants to graduate high school and go cross country to attend USC. Alex’s husband is miserly when it comes to his daughter’s education and is trying hard to get his wife to give up her vino.
you will enjoy this story but unlike the housewives, I have no desire to be friends with anyone on Alton Road but they will probably stick in my brain for a while.