The blurb for The Lake promised an addictive page-turner and while I did finish reading it in a day, I am still as ambivalent about it as I was while reading it.

Kate Hardy, a grieving mother has been living in limbo ever since the drowning of her 15yr old son, six years ago. Though she suspects foul play considering that Michael was a good swimmer, no-one is willing to believe her. And with a haphazard investigation, the lukewarm support of her family and her controlling husband, Kate has been unable to move on. Things quickly take a turn when she discovers Michael's diary and figures that her son was hiding a huge secret, probably one that got him killed. Armed with a renewed sense of purpose, Kate begins her own investigation into her son's death. The villain is revealed midway through the story; the rest of the plot is about bringing the person to justice.

The story premise had great potential as the author has touched upon sensitive issues such as loss of a child, emotional abuse and underage abuse. While the first half of the book maintained a steady pace, the latter half drags by. The story itself was intriguing; my curiosity to find out what happens next kept me reading till the end. But the writing style was not to my taste. For eg: Though not an expert, I would suppose that a diary entry would be written in the past tense not in the present or present continuous tense. Also the repetitive use of certain lines (How many times have I said this? Why does everyone keep asking me this?) quickly got old. Not to forget the very convenient, coincidental way Kate found out the location of the antagonist.

The character of Caleb seemed like a forced addition to the plot, provided only to give Kate a happy-ever-after. The story was off to a great start but slowly peters out. The anguish of a mother is portrayed well as well as the insecurities of an emotional abuse victim. Overall, I would say the book was average.

A big thank you to Avon Books and Netgalley for approving my request for a digital copy of this book in return for an honest review.