I think there was an interesting idea behind this book but the execution fell flat. There was a lot of telling and not showing, and time jumps instead of building the plot to make the book make sense. The book (I think) tried to focus on social issues, but it was executed in an extremely weird way because the book revolved around a police chief who might as well have arrived in a time machine from 1960. I'm from a small town and I really do know many people this conservative/sheltered, but building the book around him made me wonder what exactly the author was trying to say. By the end, the plot had spun out in so many directions, I truly have no idea what happened.

I really, really, kept trying with this book but I just couldn't manage to get into it and DNF'd around 30%

Could not finish this book and I was not sure what I was expecting but, the writing just didnt work out for me.

Thank you to the publishers who approved this e-copy in exchange for an honest review.

I liked the writing style of this author and found the plot line to be quite engaging, I guessed some bits but was surprised by some of the other twists and turns

This style of choppy sentences might appeal to some but to me it didn’t work out. I felt like I was pausing too much and the pacing wasn’t working

Great plot to get yourself lost in. This book has everything. A real fast paced thriller. Will get your heart racing on more than one occasion. Very well written. Highly recommend this book

This is the first book I have read by Joe Clifford and it took me a bit to figure out his "style". Once I had it sorted, the book, or rather the story, moved at a faster pace. The back story is of a man that had stood trial for his wife's murder and been acquitted in the eyes of the law, but not in the eyes of his community. He chooses to make his home in his wife's home town......well, that seems a little strange, but it works for the story. The voices of the story are the current girlfriend of this man, who definitely believes he did not kill his wife, and the town's current Sheriff, who knows all of the history of the town's residents. This back story took a little bit to develop but it's worth it in the long run.
There's another murder. Immediate suspicion is thrown at the man whose wife was murdred. Now the girlfriend and the Sheriff must join together to stop/ solve the current crimes before anyone else gets killed.

An overall quick, good read. Stick with the world building at the front, it definitely helped at the end.

The sentence structure is so choppy and does more telling than showing with minimal dialogue to move the plot forward. Beyond that, is the character's name Todd or Gregg because changing the name of an accused killer within a few chapters was a horrible idea?

Having been cleared of killing his wife, Todd Norman returns to her insular hometown to complete what would have been their dream house. Already the subject of small-town whispers, things get immeasurably worse when a dead woman washes up on the shore near the property. When Todd and Tracy Somerset, already marginalized in the community as a divorced mother, cross paths, small-town paranoia and finger pointing spiral out of control as the investigation kicks into high gear. A cast of colorful supporting characters, and suspects, make The Lakehouse an engrossing whodunit that takes its time playing out over the course of several seasons in rural Connecticut.

That book is the ultimate textbook thriller, it has all the aspects and steps of how to writer a contemporary thriller/mystery book, which are:
( A sudden murder _ a prime suspect who everyone thinks is the culprit _ a copper, preferably close to retirement just to give an edge to the book _ a small town setting, which must be described as a safe haven until the murder _ many side characters, the more the merrier _ unlimited side plots, literally everyone has to have a connection _ an ending in which you discover that the main suspect isn't the murderer ( surprised, right?) And instead it's one you didn't even doubt until the grand finale.
The book is a really slow paced one and what made it worse was the writing style, the author just kept jamming a lot of information in the same paragraph in an overly descriptive manner, also, i didn't like the heavy usage of slang and acronyms.
Don't recommend👎
* Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book in exchange of an honest review*

Great thriller which kept me turning the pages well into the night. Great characters and plot. Highly recommend to others!!

I give this novel 3 stars. I don't know what it was, but maybe I did not connect with the writing style, or just didnt' connect with the characters. It just wasn't a big hit for me. The ending was disappointing, and I just felt I had wasted time with this one.

Great book. Highly recommend and will most defiantly read more by this author and suggest to others!

When I began reading The Lakehouse by Joe Clifford, I was anticipating writinging along the lines of Junkie Love & The Jay Porter Series, which I truly loved. Unfortunately, what I ended up with was another seemingly young adult, poorly written book. The characters had absolutely no substance and I was totally uninvested in their plights. The story was convoluted and extreme confusing at times, with an ending that made absolutely no sense.

I feel like Clifford took much more time and put much more effort into writing Junkie Love & Lamentation and ended up with 2 rather good books, but since that time, I feel he is putting more stock in quantity of books and less in quality of his his writing. Unfortunately, I think this will be the last Joe Clifford book I will be requesting from Netgalley I really cannot recommend this book to anyone.

This was an entertaining read. I like some characters and dislike others. The setting was well done. You feel cold and alone while reading it.

Thank you to Netgalley and the author for allowing me to read this!

I was instantly intrigued by the synopsis of this book. This book instantly drew me in, I got to explore through the eyes of our main character and this is always my favorite way to discover these details of the story and, it was done very well in this book. I really enjoyed this book and the plot. This author did amazing. I loved the writing style.

This was an amazing book. Definitely a page turner from start to finish. Shady characters, murder, twists, turns, an intense thriller of a story line . Body washing up on the shore of a lake house and escalates from there. Must read

This is a new author for me and really enjoyed his writing. I truly enjoyed the small new england town feel this thriller had. Definitely a thought provoking story that has you questioning if he's innocent or guilty. The story had a great cast and oh wow what a twist. I highly recommend to true crime lovers.

I did not read The Lakehouse by Joe Clifford through an educator lens.

The Lakehouse by Joe Clifford felt both predictable and confusing. Told through two different perspectives, the story followed Todd and Tracy. The perspective shift is normally something I love, but Clifford's writing style in this book made it hard to follow with pacing and time. Todd was an underdeveloped character and there were a lot of secondary/tertiary characters that were involved in the story. None of the characters were super memorable or drew me into their story to want to keep reading.

I loved this thriller!!!!!!!!!!!! This is my first Joe Clifford novel and it was amazing!!!!! The twists and turns will make you're head spin!!!!! I highly recommend this book to all thriller fans.