This book was a little bit of a letdown for me. The setting was great, the characters not so much. There were almost no likeable characters and I didn't find myself reaching for this book in my down time. There were a LOT of characters and story lines to follow and honestly, the ending was a little confusing with all the different people involved, the lies and coverups, and the mob tie-in. I liked the podcast connection at the end. It was a good attempt to tie things together. I really enjoyed Jamie Day's first book, The Block Party, and that's what I would recommend to friends over this one!

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and Net Galley for the opportunity to read an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

The Lake Escape by Jamie Day is a big no for me. Terrible characters. I could not find a single thing to like about any of them and I could have cared less for anything they did. The storyline was ridiculous. None of it made sense to me. And what did make sense was more than predictable. It didn't keep my attention. Skip this one. As always I feel so fortunate to receive an advanced digital copy in exchange for my honest opinion. Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press. 1 star for me.

Julia, Erika, and David have been vacationing at Lake Timmeny since they were kids. During their teen years a young woman disappeared, exactly 30 years after the disappearance of another young woman. When the three friends gather at the lake they hope to enjoy a carefree break but from the very beginning something is very wrong. The disappearance of yet another young woman has them all questioning everything.

The first 3/4 of this book were incredible, like Gone Girl good. I got sucked in and it was hours before I managed to pry myself out of the story. Everywhere I went I was sneaking in a chapter on my phone, 5 chapters on the elliptical, 2 chapters while waiting for dinner to cook... then I got to the last 1/4. This is just my personal opinion but I felt like the ending was kind of cheating. The surprise twist has become a bit ho-hum and authors are trying so hard to up the game. The result? Great books with weird and completely implausible endings. For me, this was a solid 5-star read until that last quarter when it slipped to a three, maybe a 2.5.

Overall, I enjoyed the book and I think the author did an incredible job of creating a really compelling world. I did not like the ending. I didn't like the way the crimes were explained or how even when we were given the explanation it was chiseled away until it became less and less plausible. With all this being said, there is the old saying "truth is stranger than fiction" and with the podcast angle it does strike me a bit as a story too crazy not to be real.

Thank you to the author, the publisher, and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this Advanced Reader’s Copy of The Lake Escape by Jamie Day due to be published July 15, 2025.
Also recommended by Jamie Day – One Big Happy Family!
Julia, David, and Erika have gone to Lake Timmeny since they were babies and are reuniting with their families for an annual vacation. Two women disappeared 30 years apart at the lake, and now another one is gone. Everyone says, “the lake takes them”. Does it, or is it one of them or someone they know?
This one really kept my attention – suspenseful and the plot went fast with a few twists. The ending came together nicely. I would highly recommend this one and any others from Jamie Day!
#NetGalley #JamieDay #StMartinsPress #TheLakeEscape

This lake has a history. Two girls disappear 30 years apart. Three families have come to vacation with each other for generations. Now, another girl is missing. A twist, a turn and then BAM. This book was so good. I love when a book can still surprise me! Don't miss this book. Make sure it is on your summer reading TBR!! Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read this book in exchange for my opinion.

Wow. I was sent an invitation to read this book. And I am so glad I got the chance too. It was so thought provoking and kept me on the edge of my seat. I couldn't stop reading.

Thanks to NetGalley and St Martin’s press for this arc.

This book follows Julia, David and Erika -they are childhood friends who gathered together at the lake in upstate Ny every year since childhood.. they are now adults and are back at the lake when David’s girlfriend goes missing.

There were lots of twists and turns and we learned of the lore of the lake.

4 stars! I enjoyed reading this one.

I liked the story overall but I felt it had a few to many point of views making the story somewhat hard to follow overall
Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for letting me review the book

A group of friends since childhood will have their lives changed forever. Lake Timmeny is in Vermont and it holds secrets from decades past. It all catches up to the friends in this last week of innocence. They all are holding secrets, but who among them is a killer? This book had me at page one and I couldn't put it down. This is my first book by Jamie Day and I will add her to my TBR collection. What a great read!!

Jamie Day is fast becoming one of my go to favorite authors and I was excited to read The Lake Escape. Julie, Ericka and David’s families all have houses on the lake that they have been coming to since they were kids. They are all grown up now still come every year with their own families. Julie, her husband and daughter, Ericka, her husband and son and David his two small children, a nanny and his girlfriend. When they were teenagers a young girl around their age disappeared at the lake and was never found. Then suddenly David’s girlfriend also goes missing and it seems all the friends are keeping secrets but is one of them a killer? This book had lots of twists and kept me on the edge of my seat. I highly recommend it to anyone who loves a good mystery. Thank you St. Martin’s Press and Netgalley for this arc.

The Lake Escape is about 3 lifelong friends- Ericka, Julia, and David who return to Lake Timmeny every year. The lake holds special memories to all 3 friends but it also holds scar secrets. The lake takes women- they disappear and are never found.
Thins get a bit worrisome when David’s new girlfriend, Fiona, goes missing. Old secrets come to the surface and we begin to find out a little more about each character.

The pace was a little bit slower than I would have liked and all of the characters did have me confused occasionally, but overall it was a good read!

Thank you to St Martins Press and NetGalley for the opportunity to read the advanced copy in exchange for my honest review!

loved the mystery surround the lake. everyone who came up had secrets. it was told in julia and izzy point of view. great mystery . All the couple's had their secrets and the murders from the past played a part surrounding the mystery.

I felt this was a very entertaining book with thoughtful characters. I really enjoyed the setting and the authors way of transporting the reader to the environment in which the characters were in at the time. Although a bit slow at first; I found this book to have a good purpose; a good foundation and some good plot twists. I enjoyed the ending and how everything came together. I liked it almost as much as the block party. Which is my favorite jamie day book. Thank you for letting me review early.

Since I thoroughly enjoyed reading The Block Party by Jamie Day, I may have inadvertently set my standards too high for Day's newest book, The Lake Escape, The Lake Escape is a twisty, mystery thriller centered around three people, whose families owned neighboring vacation homes on a lake in Vermont. Julia, Erika and David were the best of friends growing up, sharing vacation memories which they continued into their adulthoods with their own families. Unfortunately, we quickly learn that all friendships do not stand the test of time and there are many secrets lingering hidden within this group. Although the book started off a little slow for me, it definitely kept me intrigued once it gained momentum so if slow burns are your thing, this would make a good cozy summer "beach" read.

My biggest problem was not in the story line itself but the characters - there are so many! I stopped counting once I got to twenty and realized that even people who did not actually have any dialogue were given full names which left me at times getting confused asking myself, who is that again? With so many individuals used to put the plot line together, we may loss some depth in the main players, even Mary Poppins was mentioned 5 times. I felt like I would care more about the main characters of the story if they were developed a little further and some of their dialogue was a little more realistic. While a detective telling a neighbor they did find a gun in a home fits the story well, I don't think the average officer would include the neighbors in the details of their open investigation. I did have to check the book information to make sure that it was not YA because the author explained how someone knew that an upside down paper was a photo because they have seen the name Kodak before - am I that old?

Thank you to St. Martin's Press and Net Galley for the opportunity to read an advanced copy in exchange for my honest review.

This heart pounding thriller will keep you in the edge of your seat.

It was very intriguing and perfectly narrated with different POV’s. Mysterious disappearances thirty years apart, this story was tense.

After long time friends reunited at the lake, some old secrets started to resurface.

I really enjoyed this suspenseful thriller, the drama and very entertaining.

I definitely recommend.

Thank you so much St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the eARC, opinions are my own.

The Lake Escape is my first book by Jamie Day. I was immediately drawn in after reading the premise and really loved the Authors writing style. She paints a vivid picture of the lake homes, as well as each character as they’re introduced. The mystery aspect of the book hooked me and I was flying through the pages dying to find out the conclusion. Once I got about 3/4 of the way through, the story takes a weird turn and I found myself not enjoying the book as much. That’s not to say it’s bad, I just felt like the tone of the book started to change and I was becoming a little more disinterested. The ending of the book was mildly predictable and seemed to drag a bit, even with a small twist. Overall, while I think the Authors writing and character building is solid, the book went a little off the rails at the end.

Many thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for gifting me an ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I have read each of Jamie Day's novels, and I have to say, this is the best one yet! I've been attracted to the synopsis of each book, but felt this one was a bit more complex and clever than the others (The Block Party and One Big Happy Family). The Lake Escape focuses on three families who come together each summer to spend time at their vacation homes on a small lake in Vermont. The homes have been in each family for multiple generations, and the intertwined families and their relationships go back in time. The lake is steeped in mystery -- two girls have gone missing, never to be found, exactly 30 years apart. At the start of this book 30 years after the last disappearance, another young woman goes missing. Did the lake take her, or was something more nefarious at play?

Given that there are three missing girls across three generations, there's lots of mystery here to unravel. It really wasn't clear to me how each disappearance was connected at first, and even who a plausible suspect (or suspects) was/were. It was definitely a page-turner of a book. I do have to say, in all of Day's novels, I feel like the writing is not super strong -- don't expect perfectly beautiful prose -- but in this case the fast-moving plot and complex mystery pulled me along. I would recommend this for a summer beach read for sure!

The Lake Escape starts off with three childhood friends and their families who are spending two weeks in their lake homes in Vermont.
Each family has their own set of problems, but when someone goes missing, things take a bizarre turn, and soon secrets are revealed that has them questioning their friendship.
This story was a wild ride and I enjoyed reading it.
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for inviting me to read an advanced copy of this book.

The Lake Escape by Jamie Day, published by St. Martin's Press is a full length, stand alone thriller/ mystery.
Three childhood friends have spent their summer holidays in Vermont and now their children do the same. But evil lurks around the corner and nobody knows whom to trust anymore. An ok read, well written with some lengths, sometimes bit confusing.

The Lake Escape by Jamie Day is about three lifelong friends—Julia, Erika, and David—who return to Lake Timmeny every year. The lake holds special memories, but it also harbors dark secrets. Over the years, two young women have mysteriously disappeared from the area, and now David’s girlfriend, Fiona, goes missing too. As the group deals with Fiona’s disappearance, old secrets resurface, and everyone’s past seems to be connected to the eerie events around the lake. There were parts I genuinely liked and others that made me wonder what I am actually reading.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the opportunity to read The Lake Escape.