Charlie Donlea | SUMMIT LAKE

Plot (via Goodreads):

Some places seem too beautiful to be touched by horror. Summit Lake, nestled in North Carolina s Blue Ridge Mountains, is that kind of place. But two weeks ago, Becca Eckersley, a first-year law student and daughter of a powerful attorney, was brutally murdered there. Now the town is reeling with grief, and the police are baffled. 

At first, investigative reporter Kelsey Castle thinks of the assignment as a fluff piece. But the savagery of the crime, and the efforts to keep it quiet, hint at something far more sinister than a random attack by a stranger. As Kelsey digs deeper, despite danger and warnings, she feels a growing connection to the dead girl. And the more she learns about Becca's friendships, her love life and her secrets the more convinced she becomes that walking in Becca's footsteps could lead her out of her own dark past.

Review:

I love Charlie Donlea and was so shocked when I realized that I had never read his debut novel. Well, with Halloween approaching, I thought the perfect time to pick it up was one rainy October night and what a thrilling debut this was. I will say, I loved the dual timeline with this one, the characters, and I think this is also Donlea's most atmospheric novel yet.

While this one kind of goes back and forth between Becca and what her life was like right before her death as well as Kelsey investigating what happened. The town and its inhabitants in this one were definitely reminiscent of a cozy mystery, but the brutal murder of Becca kept me invested as Donlea opens this one with your standard terrifying horror movie opening. The similarities in the pacing between both timelines was jaw-dropping and made the novel really fly by. Early on with this one, I knew it was going to be difficult to put down. The current timeline was creepy and ominous - filled with clues and I loved that it was more of an investigative aspect compared to the typical police procedural. The past timeline was like going back to my college days and I felt so nostalgic and thought the characters were very relatable.

I was definitely invested in this story and found Donlea's writing hypnotic as usual, but as the red herrings began to fall off an I was getting into serious "time to get suspicious" mode, I found the story to be dragging a bit in certain areas. The final reveal was definitely worth it and the twist that came about was definitely one I didn't see coming, I just wish there would have been more to the final reveal in regard to explaining a few things.

Rating: 3.5/5