Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this arc! I liked this book. The ending really surprised me. My only fault was I felt like the first of the book was tooo slow. I would still recommend for people to put this on their TBR.

Is there a better #SummerCover than 𝑻𝑯𝑬 𝑳𝑨𝑲𝑬 𝑬𝑺𝑪𝑨𝑷𝑬 𝒃𝒚 𝑱𝒂𝒎𝒊𝒆 𝑫𝒂𝒚, publishing July 15th & #gifted by @stmartinspress & @macmillan.audio via @netgalley!?!

I entered this story fully ready to engage with all the drama as 3 friends: Julia, David, & Erika converged with their respective families at the lake where they grew up. The tension was clear quickly with David having built a monstrosity of a glass home, blocking his friends' view of the lake (except through the house). When his extra young girlfriend disappears, the lake lore of disappearing women every 30 years becomes more concerning as does David's behavior. How well do they know him?

This story started well for me, but got a bit tangled with the 3 adult couples, 4 kids, & a nanny. That was a lot of names to keep in line. It also got a bit convoluted toward the end with too much happening for me to keep up. I felt like it may have been that I had lost enough steam to not care to work that hard.

All in all, not a complete win for me, but still a entertaining story if you can keep a list of characters like I did!

A twisty summer mystery surrounding three woman who go missing from the same lakeside community over a 60- year span. Lake lore says the lake took them (without a trace). Or perhaps it’s something more sinister.

Thanks to #NetGalley and the publisher for access to this book in exchange for an honest review.

I didn't really know what to expect when I started this book. What drew me in was the cover, and then the author, and then the fact that it was a thriller. I always love me a good thriller!

Well, this book blew me out of the water! Pun intended. LOL. There was all kinds of craziness going on, long time friendships that had changed over the years. Were people even the same anymore? And who were some of these people who joined the close knit group this year? What were their motives and can they even be trusted?

The lore of the lake is every thirty years, a young woman goes missing. It's been thirty years since the last disappearance. When another women vanishes, everyone wonders if the abductor has come back. Seems like everyone is a suspect.

Lives and storylines are intertwined and twisted and I loved all of it. This one had me guessing until the very end, with me thinking that almost everyone was guilty at some point. If you are a thriller reader with a love for twisted endings, this one's for you. I highly recommend The Lake Escape.

Well, this lake escape was anything but peaceful!

The lore says that the “lake takes them” - and it seems to have done it every thirty years. This year being no exception.

When Fiona goes missing, the investigation begins!

This was a fun read. All the characters are a bit sketchy and have flaws, the legend of the lake makes it mysterious, and the current situation with all three families involved is anything but normal.

I liked the drama and the suspense. I thought some of it was pretty far-fetched, but I can suspend belief for a fictional story for a while.

I enjoyed how it played out, but not the whole “explanation” part at the end. It was necessary, but kind of “telling” instead of “showing” IMO.

Overall, it was a good summer read!

I look forward to Jamie Day's thrillers and knew I'd like this one before I sat down to read it. I was correct. The Lake Escape is set in Vermont which seems to be the new go-to location for thrillers these days. As three old friends gather to their lake houses for their summer sojourn, you instantly feel the tension between the friends, especially since one, David, has modified his lake house into a McMansion that blocks the view of the lake for the other two houses. He then produces a much younger new girlfriend. The rancor, tension, angst and suspense escalates from there.

This easily could have gone downhill into campy trope areas but Day never allows that to happen due to expert writing skills. This is why she's one of the few "suspense" writers I still enjoy.

The Lake Escape is the perfect escape book to read this summer - highly recommend.

This was a good listen, but I found it a bit challenging to keep track of all of the people involved in the story when listening to it since there are so many.

This was a twisty lakehouse thriller that was great at grabbing my attention and not letting go. Secrets surface, relationships unravel, and the line between truth and deception blurs.

The main trio of characters is Julia, mother of Taylor, struggling in her marriage and the emotional anchor of the group. David who is wealthy and used to be their childhood protector who brought his twins, his young girlfriend Fiona and nanny Izzy to the lake. Erika is a defense attorney married to Rick, the group often seeks Erika out for guidance.

The book goes back and forth between Izzy and Julia's perspectives. When things start to unravel, you will be mindblown!

Once again Jamie Day crafts an excellent domestic thriller! This one is jam-packed with tension and highly suspicious characters. Julia, David, and Erika are supposed to be close friends but they all seem to be hiding things from each other. This year's joint lake vacation should be a great time but instead it turns into a nightmare. On its surface, Lake Timmeny appears tranquil but many secrets are hiding in the shadows. Thirty years apart two women went missing and now another is gone. Julia and Izzy, David's nanny are determined to uncover the mystery

The Lake Escape is filled with dramatic moments and an eerie allure. The setting is atmospheric and unsettling. Both POVS were intriguing as we learn about their lives and reasons for being there. Izzy is especially interesting as we learn about her mysterious agenda. This story kept me engrossed all the way through as I tried to sort out this sorted web of betrayal.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are my own.

If you were to ask me for a book recommendation with messy characters, family drama, and multiple POVs, I would recommend anything that's been written by Jamie Day in an instant. Jamie Day does an incredible job of capturing the chaos and antics of a big family/large group of friends, but done in a way that makes reading it feel so easy.

This book was SO good. It wasn't my favorite of this authors books, but it was still a really good read.

What I liked:
-I loved the setting of the lake houses. The glass house gave that eerie feeling to the book, and the whole time I was reading it, it felt like there was this eerie morning fog coating the surroundings. It had that perfect mysterious and creepy setting.
-Sometimes a group with so many characters can be hard to keep track of and read about, but like I said before, Jamie Day does such a good job at writing like this. It was really entertaining and hard to put down.

What I didn't like:
-It felt unrealistic at times. I know its a fiction book, but all of the mob stuff just didn't feel like it fit into the setting.
-I also felt like there were a few loose ties to still put together, like why was Izzy left on the woods? mor eexplanation on Danid being involved with the mob (how did it start, is he just creating "adult content" and tat got him involved? I know they have that connection to Cormac but I was just left a little confused).

This book is the perfect lake-side mystery read. If you liked this one, I would also recommend checking out the author's other books as well because Jamie Day has quickly become an auto-buy author for me.

Complex Web Of Secrets. You're in your 30's/ 40's or so - old enough to have mid teen kids yourself - and you've been going to the same lake houses for literally decades at this point with the same neighbor families, so you've effectively grown up with these people. Considered them close friends. Perhaps even family. You know you know them.

But do you? Do they know you? Do you as a collective know all the secrets the lake - or even the houses you've come to all these years - may hold?

You have your secrets. They have theirs. The lake has its.

All is about to be revealed...

(Yeah, yeah. I don't normally do a version of a description for a review, but seriously, *for this book*, I think the above is largely the best way to do the review. There are elements here that some will love and some will hate - there are a lot of characters and at least a few different narrators here, and the book takes over 350 pages to tell a somewhat simple (at a high level at least) tale. Breakneck action, this is not. But it *was* a *really* good tale of relatable friends and family... even when some of them are pretty open scumbags. The tale is rather dark, and there are no white knights to be had here. Just a group of people doing the best they can in rather interesting and stressful situations. So give this book a chance, read it, and write your own review and let us know what *you* thought about it.)

Very much recommended.

Another fun book by this author! I like that the story was told from multiple perspectives. It gives a variety of views of what is going on. The tensions start building immediately in the story. There are a number of secrets between characters that are slowly exposed. The tension keeps building nicely through the story. I really like the writing style and find I easily get pulled into the story. I look forward to more books by this author in the future. I received an advance copy from NetGalley and am voluntarily leaving a review.

Overall, this was a good story and one that got me out of a reading slump. I really enjoyed the story, until the last 10%. The ending left me with more questions than answers honestly. The ending seemed a bit too unbelievable for me, especially the podcast - an 18 year old is going on a podcast and speaking on a mobster and the inner workings? Seems very far fetched to me. Besides that, I enjoyed the story and would recommend it to others, just maybe with a warning about the ending.

🌟🌟🌟🌟
Love this dual POV novel!! “The Lake Escape” reunites three childhood friends who spent their summers together at the lake. This year things are different- David rebuilds his house, blocking off Julia and Erika’s views. Then his girlfriend goes missing. Oh, and his nanny has secrets of her own. Buckle up for a wild story!
Jamie Day is an automatic read for me!! If she writes it, I’ll read it. I can’t wait to read more by her. ! Many thanks to the author, St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for a complimentary copy of the book. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.
#TheLakeEscape #JamieDay #NetGalley #BookLove #Bookstagram #NewBook #ILoveBooks #BooksSetInASmallTown #SummerBook

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for the ARC. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I first read The Block Party and was hesitant to read this one cause I thought that one was just ok. Lots of twists and turns that you don’t necessarily see coming. I’ll definitely go back and read this author’s other book that I haven’t read.

I voluntarily read, listened to, and reviewed advanced copies of this book and audiobook. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Julia, Erika, and David have been friends since childhood. They spent every summer enjoying their families’ lake homes in Vermont. Now that they're adults, they bring their own children to the in hopes of a fun summer but long buried secrets find their way to the surface.

The Lake Escape is a stand-alone thriller. Similar to the author’s previous books, The POV alternates between Julia and Izzy.

The novel is fast-paced and packed with enough suspense to keep readers turning pages. There was at least one subplot that didn’t really add anything to the overall story other than a bit of unnecessary confusion. The MCs struggle with communication considering they’ve known each other for such a long time. The overall ending was unexpected and satisfactory which was nice.

The audiobook is narrated by Lisa Larsen and Phoebe Strole. Their voices are different enough that I didn’t have any issues differentiating between them. They both did well keeping the large cast of characters distinct.

If you’re looking for a suspenseful novel with summery vibes, The Lake Escape may be a good fit for you.

Did I just read this while at a lake in Vermont? Yes, I did! This was a good suspenseful mystery by an author that I have enjoyed before. Julia, David and Ericka have a lot on their plates and as secrets are revealed, so adds the suspense. This was a nostalgic read and I recommend reading it in a Adirondack chair in Vermont!

A big thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for providing me with the chance to read and review this novel.
Julia is looking forward to her vacation at Lake Timmeny in Vermont. Her husband, Christian, and daughter, Taylor, are staying with her in her family’s lake house. Julia can’t wait to reconnect with her childhood friends, Erika and David. Erika’s husband, Rick and son, Lucas are staying in the house next door to Julia. David’s house is directly opposite, and Julia is horrified to arrive and see that David has renovated the entire house and it is all windows. David is there with his new girlfriend, Fiona, and his twins along with a new nanny, Izzie.
When everyone wakes up the second morning they are there, they discover that Fiona is missing. The tales of the “Lake Lore” start coming up. Two women disappeared exactly 30 years apart. When human bones are found nearby, questions arise as to whether the bones belong to one of the missing women. Could Fiona’s disappearance be a third woman also 30 years apart?
Izzie has her own reasons for being on the lake and it isn’t to be a nanny to five-year-old twins. As she and Taylor form a friendship, Izzie becomes more and more leery of David. Did David do something sinister to Fiona?
Told in the point of view between Julia and Izzie, you get a good feel of the full story. There is a lot going on in the book and each character has a hidden secret.
I’ve read Jamie Day’s other books and none of them are to be missed – they are all definite must reads!

This book was not at all what I expected but all I could hope for in suspense with characters holding onto deep, dark secrets. Introducing all of the characters made the first part of the book drag a little for me, but once everyone was in place at the lake, the scene was set for some high drama and plenty of action. When one of the guests disappears, then the past comes to the forefront and I had no idea who to trust. None of the characters was particularly relatable or likable, but they were all compelling in their desire to hold their secrets close to their vests. If I had to choose a favorite character, it would probably be Erika because she was the one I trusted the most to be honest. I liked that there were multiple points of view because that element seemed to keep the story flowing. There were sometimes that I got bogged down in all of the details, but the author did a masterful job of directing my attention back to the unresolved conflict and the idyllic setting of the lake. This is a slow-burn suspense with plenty of fake trails and lots to enjoy as I read it. I think the ending was a bit over the top, but it was a satisfactory conclusion to a story that begged to be finished, just to find out what in the world happened in the past and in the present.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. I was not required to write a positive review and all opinions expressed are my own.

I have mixed feelings about this book. While the premise had potential and parts of the story were engaging, the pacing made it difficult to fully connect with. There was a heavy influx of information at the beginning, which made the start feel overwhelming and dense. Just as the narrative found its rhythm, the ending suddenly rushed in with a flood of new developments and details, making it feel uneven overall. The story itself was semi-interesting, but it struggled to maintain consistent momentum. It felt like the author tried to do too much in the final chapters, cramming in twists and explanations that might have been more effective if spread out or better developed earlier on. Overall, there were glimpses of a compelling narrative, but the structure and pacing made it hard to fully appreciate. I would round up to 3.5 stars

If you like an exciting thriller with lots of twists and turns and numerous secrets to be revealed, you should enjoy this one. Even if you think you know where the story is going, there will still be plenty of surprises. Plus, all of the twists and turns make sense, and none of it is too out of left field.

There are also plenty of family vibes in this book. It is full of both family and found family vibes; some are quite touching, others less so. The relationship that develops between Izzy and David's children is especially touching. Their eventual parting is heartbreaking. Overall, however, the ending is satisfying and not sad.