⭐️⭐️ – Not Quite the Escape I Hoped For

The Lake Escape by Jamie Day definitely had potential. The storyline was unique, and the narration was solid—those were the highlights for me and kept me hanging on in parts.

That said, I was expecting more of a thriller, and this ended up feeling more like a slow-burn mystery. I wanted that fast-paced, edge-of-my-seat vibe, but the pacing just didn’t deliver. The book dragged in quite a few spots, and when the big plot twist hit, it kind of took over the whole story—but not in a good way. It felt more jarring than clever and pulled me out of the experience.

Huge thanks to NetGalley, the publisher, and Jamie Day for the ARC! While this one wasn’t quite for me, I can see how fans of slower, twisty mysteries might enjoy it more.

Most think: a summer vacation is just what we’ve been waiting for – just what we need.

Three families were eager to get together at their lakeside cottages right next to each other in Vermont. David, Julia and Erika had known each other since their teenage years and this was an all-time favorite gathering.

Julia was excited being the first to arrive with her family but her mood quickly changed. David’s lakeside home, since her last visit, was bulldozed and reconstructed into a monster glass structure -- now blocking her lovely view.

David arrived with his nanny, Izzy, and two adorable twins in his new Mercedes. Soon after that, Fiona, his young girlfriend, showed up in a sleek Porsche. Erika told Julia not to be so bothered by David’s new display of wealth.

There was the fun rehash of the good-old times with the couples. Then about a third of the way, this story moved into a series of knock-out twisty discoveries. My eyes couldn’t move fast enough to keep up.

The checklist of issues was large. This author cleverly crammed into the story a number of critical concerns including financial hardships, alcoholism, police corruption and women who had vanished. It moved right along with characters holding on tight to their dark secrets.

There was nothing calm about this annual summer getaway. Yet, it surely would be one that would be talked about for years to come. This book was a constant flow of unexpected turns as I raced to get to the end.

My thanks to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for allowing me to read an advanced copy of this book with an expected release date of July 15, 2025.

I always enjoy Jamie Day's books. This was no exception. The plot twists through this were numerous. The author sets the scene for lifelong friends vacationing together at their homes every year. There is mystery twisted into this which will keep you turning the pages.

An insidiously delicious mystery thriller! There are three childhood friends who still vacation at the same lake where they grew up together and where there are two unsolved disappearances thirty years apart. Full of red herrings and lots of twisty and tantalizing crumbs along the way.

Many thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this ARC!

The lake takes them…

Three lifelong friends and their significant others reunite at their family lake homes for their annual escape. This cluster of waterfront homes once belonged to their parents, but now the fun of those long endless summers of youth need to fit into the one seven day stretch a year they can all commit to returning and spending with each other . This year should be an idyllic week of celebration, catching up, sun- except looming over everyone’s heads is the lakes dark history. Three decades ago to the day, a young woman went missing from that same shore when our friend group was just coming of age, and what is even stranger is that she wasn’t the first one. Two women disappeared exactly thirty years apart, so naturally our story opens with our trio reuniting their families at this lake full of secrets on the 60th anniversary of these mysterious disappearances beginning.

Will the story that unfolds unravel the mystery before a third woman goes missing, or will the lake take another before the sun rises?

I greatly enjoyed the first 60% or so. The book was atmospheric and made the location feel so real, and the writing was immersive. Unfortunately the pacing of the back third felt a bit off, like the story was quite rushed at the end. There were lots of big exposition dumps, and all I could think of was my college writing professor writing SHOW DONT TELL in giant red letters at the top of a submission of mine.

Overall it was a decent read for people this summer to enjoy pool, or, erm, lakeside. If they dare.

"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."

David deserves to die for his new house.

Really good mystery about women who go missing from the lake all 30 years apart. Now another is missing exactly 30 years since the last. It gets more interesting towards the middle/end end. secrets start to be revealed and we see how the characters are connected. Unexpected twist at the end!

Rating: 3.5⭐️
Pub Date: July 15, 2025
How I Read It: 📱🎧

Synopsis
Julia, David, and Erika are three friends who spent their summers together at a Vermont lake. As adults, they still visit their family homes every summer. Julia returns to her lake house only to find that David has built a hideous monstrosity of a home blocking her lake view, at least partially, the house is made of glass. David arrives to his home with a new younger girlfriend in tow, as well as a nanny who has her own reason for wanting to be at the lake. When David’s younger girlfriend mysteriously vanishes after a fight the night before, that the whole lake overheard, Julia and Erika wonder just how well they know their lifelong friend. She’s not the first girl to go missing from the lake though; two young women, with no known connection, vanished without a trace thirty years ago. The search is on for Fiona, David’s girlfriend, and lies, secrets, and betrayals start surfacing with the situation taking an unexpected turn. Are the women putting themselves in danger digging into Fiona’s disappearance?

My Thoughts
This book is the perfect summer read if you’re by the lake or pool. It has all those summer vibes with mystery and suspense thrown in. And who knew there could be so much drama at the lake! The story is a dual narration with Julia and Izzy, David’s nanny. I liked how we had both perspectives because it kept the story flowing nicely. I alternated between reading and listening to the audiobook, and I liked both formats.
The audiobook had two narrators, and they did such a great job portraying Julia and Issy.

This book kept me guessing. At one point, I thought Izzy was a goner, and that was really where the book got suspenseful for me, and I started becoming worried that there may be another victim because I had a hard time trusting characters. Then things started getting weird when Izzy was doing her own detective work, and I didn’t anticipate what happened next. If you’re looking for a summer thriller with some twists and suspense, pick this one up!

Themes
🫣 Suspense
🤫 Secrets
🌪️ Twists
👧🏻👱🏻‍♀️Multiple POVs

Ratings
Characters: 4 ⭐️
Pace: 3.5 ⭐️
Enjoyability: 3.5 ⭐️

Thank you Macmillan Audio, St. Martin's Press, and NetGalley for an advanced copy of this book!

3 ⭐️
Expected publication date - July 15, 2025

WHAT I LOVED - The present-day mystery wrapped up in past mysteries.

WHAT I LIKED - A couple of twists I wasn't expecting.

WHAT I DISLIKED - The story was a little slow at times, but it was still a quick read.

WOULD I RECOMMEND? Probably, it depends on the readers' preference for mysteries.

Thank you, NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this eARC for review. All opinions are my own.

Jamie Day's The Lake Escape plunges readers into a suspenseful summer where idyllic childhood memories collide with decades of hidden truths. Julia, David, and Erika, lifelong friends who grew up sharing Vermont lake summers, now face adulthood burdened by sullen teenagers, mortgages, and lackluster love lives.

This summer, David is particularly eager to flaunt his newly renovated lake home—which now obstructs his friends' cherished views—and his much-younger girlfriend. Unbeknownst to him, he's also brought a nanny with a dangerous hidden agenda into their midst. What could possibly go wrong?

The serene façade shatters when David's girlfriend mysteriously vanishes after a heated argument. Julia and Erika are forced to question how well they truly know their lifelong friend. The lake itself holds a harrowing past: thirty years prior, two young women with no known connection disappeared without a trace. Has the lake claimed another victim?

As a frantic search gets underway, an intricate web of lies, deceits, and betrayals spanning generations begins to surface. Everyone finds themselves in peril, vulnerable to the lake's dark history or, perhaps, something even more sinister. The Lake Escape is a gripping novel that expertly weaves together past and present, revealing how secrets can shatter even the strongest bonds and put lives at deadly risk.

I’ve read two of Jamie Day’s books and enjoyed them, so I was excited to receive both an ALC and an ARC of his new one. The Lake Escape did not disappoint. There were several intertwined storylines that came together to form a larger, cohesive story.

The audiobook had two narrators, Lisa Larsen and Phoebe Strole. The story alternates between Julia, one of the lake homeowners, and Issy, the nanny. They perfectly captured the voices of Julia and Issy, making it easy to stay engaged. Julia’s voice came across as more mature, while Issy’s had a younger, more youthful tone.

Publication date- July 15, 2025
#TheLakeEscape #NetGalley

This was such a wonderful book, a twisting and enticing thriller that kept me on the edge of my seat wth every page turned! If you are looking for something to keep you intrigued and fully engrossed in the story, then this is definitely the book for you!.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for providing me with this eARC.

This book was a perfect summer thriller read to enjoy by the pool.! It has all of the perfect characters and atmosphere for a great summer thriller. I did not see the twist coming and my jaw was on the floor! It was fabulous! Five out of five stars.

Not going to lie, when I read the reviews of this book I was not super excited to be starting it. BUT I was pleasantly surprised and I had to know the secrets that this lake held. All the missing girls and who is responsible, or is it just a coincidence? This is my first book by Jamie Day, and I loved it!!

Let me start by saying i am a big fan of Jamie Day! The Lake Escape did not disappoint, though it did get a little wild at the end. Irish mobsters, 3 missing women, discovered bones, and a nanny who frequently quotes Mary poppins - oh my!

This was tense and atmospheric and all the things I love about a book. There were a ton of players in the game. But our POVs kept things easy to understand/follow. I did this one on audio, and really enjoyed David’s chapters with his accent and cocky bravado. You love to hate him!

Highly recommend you add The Lake Escape to your summer reading list — especially if you’re in a cabin (or giant, glass mansion) on a lake 😉

Three childhood friends gather at a lake with their families but when one person disappears, everyone panics. The lake has had an obsession with women vanishing though - is this one another that will go unsolved?

Thrillers where juicy secrets are revealed are always my favourite so I knew this one was going to be good when the reveals started! Though it was a little over the top in some cases, I found the writing to be solid and engaging. With multiple POVs, this thriller will be one you should definitely add to your summer reading list.

This book is set at a lake in Vermont where a group of friends have been going to summer at tuislake for many years. One of their friend's girlfriend disappears at the lake, which sets off a thriller with lots of secrets emerging. This is a dual POV book. Both the characters were at different points in their lives and had very different perspectives, which made it interesting to be reading them both. I was shocked by the ending and thought this was a great thriller overall.

I thought this book was the perfect fun summer read. Julia, David and Erica grew up together spending summers at their family lake houses. David renovates his family home into a modern glass monstrosity which sets the neighborhood into an uproar. Bones are discovered while a builder is breaking ground on a new house. Cue the drama. In this neighborhood every family has drama. They turn on each other quickly as the situation escalates. I kept asking myself are these lifetime friends or enemies. I will say there are a lot of twists and A LOT of slightly unrealistic scenarios. I definitely enjoyed this book though despite it being a tad bit melodramatic.

Thanks to netgalley for a copy of this book.

The Lake Escape is an interesting mystery/crime thriller about long-buried secrets (or maybe not that much buried...) involving old friends and families who used to vacation at their lake house every summer, for decades. Three women have vanished by that lake in the past 30 years and now, in the recent days, another one disappears. We follow intruiguing and some not so likable characters throughout this mysterious story full of gossip and drama.

I'd say readers who are more into reading crime fiction, this book might work better for them. Readers who are into traditional thrillers, this book might disappoint a little. I personally wouldn't call this a slow-paced book, but there is a lot of character development and dialogues. That's why I choose to call this book a mystery crime fiction book.

This was the second book I've read by this author and I really like her writing and how she chooses to portraits certain flawed characters.
I believe that anyone who has read a book by this author before and enjoyed it, might as well enjoy this new one, too. For those who haven't read anything: if you are into friends and family drama and gossip + a slow-burn narrative + a mystery plot about crimes against women, consider giving this book a go. It's a nice book for the summer.

Thank you, NetGalley and St. Martin's Press, for providing me with a free eARC of this novel in exchange for my honest opinion.

I feel like the marketing relies heavily on the mystery, but the mystery is truly secondary until about 70% in. Once there is a full focus on the mystery and pieces start getting put together, the story quickly picks up. However, it takes way too long to get to any real clues. I understand the need to have this from Izzy and Julia’s perspective, but I cannot relate to or empathize with Julia (especially considering her consistent forgiveness of Christian’s behavior…truly could not relate). Also, Julia’s attempt at being a middle-aged “influencer” (and constantly thinking in Instagram captions) felt a little cringy. On a similar note, I felt like some modern-day terms were really spelled out for the reader, when I don’t know if that was necessary for me, Maybe the target demographic for this book is someone a little older (and less online).
I didn’t hate the multiple plotlines, characters, and general craziness of the plot at the end. I found that all to be a lot of fun when putting the clues together. However, I felt like some of the very end was unsatisfying. Overall, this would be a fun beach read and anyone who likes a good puzzle would enjoy this one for sure.