I really like Shanora Williams, so this is a little hard to write, but here we go.

Every ridiculous cliché of the "girl in a horror movie" you can think of happened. Tripping while running, hiding and almost getting caught, having no cell signal but not trying to find it, ignoring what the police tell her to do, etc etc. I spent at least 50% of this book getting irrationally angry at Rose for what stupid decisions she was making. I think I rolled my eyes and had to stop reading at least once a chapter because it was so frustrating to read; I would have finished this much sooner if I didn't have to literally take breaks to avoid the ridiculousness.

The other thing that really bothered me about this book was Eve as a character. I feel like the audience was being <i>told</i> to like her, instead of actually feeling empathetic and liking her. Oh she made a bad decision? Here's a journal entry of exactly why she did it according to her therapist, so feel bad!! I almost feel like a bad person for not liking her, because it was written out for me why I should feel bad and like her. If that makes any sense at all.

Overall, this was not my thing. Check out some other thrillers from this author instead of this one.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

3.5

This was an enjoyable thriller, but is ultimately not a favourite for me.

We follow Rose, who has just split from her husband and is no longer speaking to her best friend, Eve. However, Eve’s sister gets in touch with Rose as she hasn’t heard from Eve for a while, which is unusual. Eve is a travel blogger so Rose books the cottage Eve stayed in (the last place Eve was known to be) in order to find her.

We have a lot of shady characters in this small town that Rose visits, which definitely adds to the already eerie atmosphere of the creepy cottage. I enjoyed this aspect, as well as the setting in general.

I also liked the pacing of this, I was never bored while reading this book and it left me intrigued from start to finish with wanting to know what happened to Eve.

I didn’t love our main character and feel she made some really annoying decisions which I found irritating. I also think there was maybe one too many characters in here, some I don’t think we’re hugely necessary.

Overall, this was an enjoyable, fast-paced thriller that kept me guessing until the end. I definitely do recommend giving this one a go.

Rose is rebuilding her life. After filing for divorce and distancing herself from her former best friend, she’s immersed in her work as a journalist- breaking a story on a well-known, shady billionaire. All is well until she receives a frantic call from Zoey saying she can’t find her sister and Rose’s former bestie- Eve.

Despite their fallout, Rose senses something is wrong and embarks on a mission to find her. The suspects are piling up and her life is certainly in danger but she’s determined to find out what happened to Eve and where she is.

From the 1st page, I was hooked and rearranged my reading schedule to finish this in one day. Shanora Williams thrillers always leave me hooked because they’re fast-paced with amazing plot twists- this book was no different.

This was such a good, addictive page-turner.

Thank you Netgalley and Kensington Publishing for the advance reading copy of this book.

Investigative reporter Rose Howard is exhausted from trying to manage her seemingly perfect life. With her marriage to the man she thought was her one true love collapsing, she desperately needs for one thing to go right.

While striving for a promotion to senior reporter, her efforts are interrupted when she learns her former best friend and travel vlogger, Eve Castillo, isn't responding to attempts to contact her at the North Carolina cottage she's reviewing. Rose knows Eve can be flaky and irresponsible. And after Eve breaks the ultimate ethical friendship code and crosses boundaries to the point of no return, Rose wants nothing to do with her. Still, Rose heads to the tranquil small town of Sage Hill . . .

Rose soon discovers that Eve has vanished without her purse and passport—even after booking a trip abroad. The personable cabin owners’ accounts of Eve's stay just don’t add up . . . and most of the town's initially hospitable inhabitants become increasingly less helpful . . .

Rose's instincts tell her the solution lies somewhere in Eve's—and Sage Hill's—past. To get answers, she’ll have to ask inconvenient questions, stumble onto shocking truths, and face vicious attempts on her life. But some truths are best left alone. And secrets Rose never saw coming could easily sink her, and her future, without a
trace . . .

This book kept me guessing right up to the end! This is the first time I've read a book by this author, and hopefully won't be the last! 3.75 out of 5 ⭐️

Absolutely stunning! My favorite Shanora Thriller by far!!!! I DEVOURED this book! It kept me guessing and I could not turn the page fast enough!!!!

As usual, Shanora delivers with an amazing twisty thriller!
Whispers of the Lake had my jaw on the floor!
I loved this one just as much as her other thrillers!
Cannot recommend her enough!

The author writes this book so that you're learning alongside the investigator. It started out being really creepy and ended that way but with more information. The writing is short sentences and chapters which makes it easier to read. I liked the journal entries as well, they were really interesting and kept the plot going. I really enjoyed this one.


Thank yo to the publisher and author for sending me this copy.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC.
This rating is more of a 4.5, wish that were an option.
This author does it again. She's quickly becoming one of my favs.
Rose is a recently separated woman who caught one of her BFFs with her husband. Said BBF is Eve.
Eve has recently disappeared and no one can find her, especially her sister Zoey.
This is where Rose is a better person than I am, as she goes on the hunt to find Eve.
She finds more than she bargains for.
The twists at the end of this book will have you reading so fast you're skipping over the important parts.

Yaaa...I'm in my psychological thriller era!! haha

Wanna book that will keep you on the edge of your seat, lots of twist and turns and to top it off it is a psychological thriller!!! Well don't look any further than Whispers of the Lake by Shanora Williams.
She checks off all those pscho boxes for me for sure!!!

I will tell ya.... this cover and the title of the book had me intrigued for sure, I wanted my hands on this one for sure!! Ohhh my goodness I could not put it down!!!

Rose is an investigative reporter. Her work life is going well...but her personal life is, well frankly going down the drain. Her former best friend has gone missing, and her marriage is hanging on by a thread.

<b>"To get answers, she’ll have to ask inconvenient questions, stumble onto shocking truths, and face vicious attempts on her life. But some truths are best left alone. And secrets Rose never saw coming could easily sink her, and her future, without a trace . . ."</b>

Rose definitely has her job cut out for her with soo much betrayal that maybe she should have left these truths and secrets well alone.

Another 5 Star read by Shanora Williams. I loved every cray cray page of this book for sure!!!

Make sure you go one click on release day!!!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Loved. This. Book.

Rose was set on a very difficult path. While freshly heartbroken, she had to go on a journey in search of the person who had done the breaking. Oof.

Being betrayed by someone you love is hard enough! Now she’s gotta deal with all this while trying to heal and move on??

Her best friend Eve is possibly missing. She is known for being reckless and spontaneous and wild. But when you have been best friends with someone since you were little, you know when something is just not right.

And sometimes, you’ve just gotta trust yourself. Especially when you can’t trust anyone around you.

When Eve, who is a travel vlogger and is constantly on her phone, isn’t responding to anyone after checking into a cottage on the lake in a very creepy small town, Rose is determined to use her skills as an investigative journalist to get to the bottom of things.

The thing that stuck out to me the most about this book, other than the keeping-you-on-the-edge-of-your-seat twists and turns, was its message about empathy: it is important to put ourselves in other peoples shoes and understand why they are the way that they are. Seeing Rose trying to balance out her feelings about Eve was so real to me. Having empathy for someone doesn’t mean not holding them accountable and sometimes it can be hard to know where to draw the boundaries.

Eve may have been “a lot” for most people to deal with, but she still deserved love, which is all she ever wanted.

But what if the thing she has always wanted leads to her downfall?

This thriller was definitely thrilling! The atmosphere and vibes were spot on! It kept me on the edge of my seat and twists were awesome! I have loved everything this author has written! 5 stars ⭐️

ARC Review

Whispers of the Lake by @reallyshanora

5 stars

A marriage on the rocks, a missing friend, and a tangle of shocking lies converge at a peaceful North Carolina lakefront cottage in this irresistibly twisty new psychological thriller from New York Times and USA Today bestselling author Shanora Williams.

“There are friends you keep for life who feel similar to your heart- an organ you carry with you at all times. One you take care of and listen to. One who means so much to you. Then there are the friends who are like dead limbs. Sure, it’ll hurt cutting the limb off and yes, amputation will suck, but you’ll find so much relief when you realize you don’t have to carry such a heavy burden anymore.”

This fast paced thriller was a messy, bingeable read that kept me turning the pages! The last 20 percent had me holding my breath and I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough! The journal entries were the perfect icing on the cake!

This is my new favorite thriller from Shanora! 10/10 recommend! Get your hands on Whispers of the Lake dropping June 24th.

#thrillerbooks #shanorawilliams #whispersofthelake #kensingtonpublishing @kensingtonbooks #netgalley @netgalley

Thank you NetGalley and Kensington Publishing for an ARC of this book. “Whispers of the Lake” publishes June 24, 2025.

This was a pretty solid mystery/thriller. It follows Rose, who is trying to find out what happens to her former best friend, Eve, when she stops answering everyone’s phone calls and messages. Rose starts to investigate what’s happening, and we’re provided the perspective from Rose, as well as journal entries from Eve peppered throughout.

The story itself was good. It was straightforward, and not overly twisty. It had its twists, that I ended up guessing just before the reveal, but they definitely weren’t on my radar beforehand. I didn’t know how the story would fully progress or wrap up, so that was a pleasant outcome.

For the characters, I really liked Rose. I think she has very real reactions, although I do think she was almost too forgiving. Eve, on the other hand, annoyed me a lot. Even her journal entries annoyed me - I found her an unlikeable character who was just aggressively sex obsessed. That type of character doesn’t work for me, so I found it harder to connect to her.

Loved this quick read by Shanora Williams!! It quickly reminded me that I just need to grab her entire catalog. The story starts with a fast paced “Waiting to Exhale” moment and kept me on the edge of my seat the entire time. I also appreciated the plot twist as it was not on my radar. Perfect, cozy, weekend thriller!!

This is very engaging read, starts off strong and kept me interested the whole time! I really enjoyed it! Thank you NetGalley and publisher for arc copy of this book!

I truly enjoy this book from the very beginning.
Rose’s sense of betrayal by her best friend and husband.
I felt how emotionally damaged Eve was. The childhood trauma she and Zoey endured. The strong bond of friendship, no matter how devastating would compel you to seek out the truth if your loved one went missing.
This is a story of family, friendship, pain and suffering, acceptance and closer. Thank you Netgelly for this ARC.

Not surprising, I could not bring myself to put this down for the last 150 pages.

Eve isn’t taking calls and her former bff, Rose, as much as she’d like to leave it alone is swept up in reaching her. As she begins to track Eve, she’s sucked into a vacuum of secrecy in an equally mysterious and somewhat sinister town.

Shanora ALWAYS hooks us from the first few pages and I know I’ll spend the entirety of the book dying for answers. This was no different! I loved the characters at play, so many suspects, so much detective work for the reader. There is a subplot of relationships-friendships, marriage, dating, familial which are all tackled as the story progresses. None of it is easy but all of it is eligible for healing.

Rose is an investigative reporter. She is at a weird place in her life. While career wise everything is going well, her personal life is going downhill. In the midst of investigating a huge case, her former best friend Eve has gone missing. In Rose’s mind she is done with Eve, why should she care? Still she begrudgingly sets out to figure out where Eve is.

This was a quick fast pace thriller with a little action! The characters were well written and the layers of complexity in the relationship between the two main characters, had me rooting for a particular outcome. I did not see the twist coming!

This one wasn’t quite as exciting as I had hoped, but it was a solid read. I believe an audiobook version would be even more exciting. I’d definitely recommend to friends and my book lovers.

Is there anything Shanora can’t right?!?! After obsessing over Beautiful Broken Love I can say this thriller didn’t disappoint. It was such a fast pace, binge worthy thriller with so many reveals.. I enjoyed the pace and reveals throughout the chapters. Eve’s diary entires were a nice touch to give us more of an idea of who Eve was( not sure how I feel about her and her decisions) overall this was a great popcorn type thriller.