This book is about Harper Reed and how she returns to her childhood family home when she turned of age to collect her inheritance. It is hard for her to come back to the home on the island in which it sits as most of her immediate family has died a tragic death on the island. and her boyfriend disappeared. Harper gets to the home and finds out how much work will need to be done to fix up the place. Then odd things start to happen; dolls are put in places she knows they weren't before, her daughter's cat goes missing right when she arrives and a gun has disappeared. She also witness a horrific suicide on the day she arrives. The story unfold going back between what has happened in the past and what is happening now. Was all the deaths that circle Harper really an accident? Did her boyfriend just up and disappear or did something more sinister happen.

I do love a good Lisa Jackson thriller but this one just felt a little flat for me. The novel was needlessly long and had a lot of repetition for my liking. The premise was great and I was going into this book with much enthusiasm but found myself just wanted to get to the end of the chapter. I predicted the ending for the most part but there was a bit of a twist that surprised me.

I will read more Lisa Jackson as I have followed her for years and enjoy most of her books.

Thank you NetGalley and Kensington Publishing for the ARC in return for an honest review.

It Happened on the Lake by Lisa Jackson
4.2⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Spice: 0.7/5
Cursing: min-
Format/Source: ebook ARC from NetGalley a d Kensington Publishing
Genres/Tropes: Thriller, mystery, gothic
Audience: Adult
Setting: Oregon
Characters: Harper, Evan, Beth, Gram, Chase, Bruce, Marcia, Levi, Rand, Anna, Chelle, Moonbeam, Trick, Joel, Dawn
👍 short-med chapters, gothic, twists, 80s nostalgia, min- cursing
👎 too many characters cheating on significant others

Description:
The huge Victorian house on Lake Twilight belongs to Harper Reed Prescott, as does the private island on which it sits. Harper wants little to do with either. Twenty years ago, Harper’s grandmother died suspiciously while in her care, on the same night that Harper’s boyfriend disappeared. His body was never found, and no charges were filed. But the rumors haven’t faded. There have been other deaths, other accidents. All revolving around Harper and her family.
Returning to the lake has stirred everything up again. Whispers. Memories. And the persistent feeling that, as she gazes out at the houses across the water, she’s being watched in turn.
The whole town has always thought Harper has something to hide, and they’re right. But she might have even more to fear...

My opinion:
Lisa pens a well-paced thriller with some exciting twists! The short-med length chapters make for an effortless read. I truly enjoyed the Gothicesque house, island, and overall setting. This book gave me such great nostalgia for the 80s too. The minimal amount of cursing made for a pleasant read. I was quite surprised by more than one of Jackson's exciting twists. For most of the book, I found myself thinking it was not believable how many bad events that Harper had to endure; however, the ending makes it all become clear. I did find the inordinate amount of people cheating on their significant others to be inconceivable. I was entertained by this story and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys thrillers.
#bookstagram #arcreader #booklovers  #thrillerbooks #booktok #twisty #gothic
***I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

A disappointing trip to the lake.

"It Happened on the Lake" follows Harper Reed Prescott, a woman trying to escape the haunting legacy of her family’s Victorian estate on a private island in Lake Twilight. Her mother drowned in said lake when Harper was a child, she lost her brother, and twenty years ago, Harper’s grandmother passed away on the same night Harper was supposed to be watching her - and her boyfriend Chase vanished on the lake without a trace. Though no charges were ever filed, suspicion has long clung to Harper's name. Now, she returns to the estate to claim her inheritance - only to find that the past refuses to stay buried.

As someone who’s enjoyed many of Lisa Jackson's earlier thrillers, I came into this one with high hopes. Unfortunately, it turned out to be a major disappointment: lacking the suspense or character depth I’ve come to expect from the author’s work, the novel is overly long and weighed down by repetition, grinding its pacing to a halt.

The sheer number of overlapping mysteries only adds to the problem. While they all connect to Harper and/or the lake, instead of building suspense, the tangled subplots dilute the impact of the main story. And despite all the twists, the ultimate revelations feel both over-the-top and strangely predictable. I had the central mystery figured out early on and found little satisfaction in being right. A more focused narrative would have served the thriller aspect better.

Romantic subplots also take up far too much space, feeling forced and unconvincing. Rather than adding depth, they undercut the suspense and distract from the core mystery. The same could be said for the characters’ near-constant drinking, which seemed to serve no real purpose and only made them more frustrating. Even without that, nearly everyone in the novel is unlikeable in a grating - not compelling - way. Harper, in particular, becomes hard to root for the longer the story goes on. Her obsessive spying on neighbors across the lake, complete with telescopes *and* binoculars, feels less like a Hitchcockian nod to „Rear Window“ and more like unnecessary, intrusive voyeurism. Rather than heightening suspense, it is awkward and ultimately pointless. And if I had to read one more reference to Harper’s perverted grandfather, I might’ve screamed.

Lisa Jackson still knows how to create atmosphere, and there are occasional glimpses of her signature tension, but they’re buried deep under an unfocused narrative. Overall, this story just did not work for me, and I hope her next release returns to the tighter storytelling, stronger character work and sharper suspense of her earlier thrillers.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Publishing for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

"It Happened on the Lake" is slated to be released on July 24, 2025.

Lisa Jackson has done it again with #ItHappenedontheLake. While a some parts dragged a bit, the novel was overall an intriguing and thrilling read.

The book was a bit repetitive of things that didn't need repeating. It took me a while for me to finish because it was just too long.
It did have a lot of things going on that had me questioning what was going on. It also had some surprise twists that I definitely didn't see coming.

At a crossroads in her life, Harper decides to sell the family property - with which there are many problematic associations, rumours and secrets involved - in order to move on with her life after marriage, and at a time when she is not communicating well with her daughter.

But there is more at stake than she knows, and while she is determined to keep her secrets close to her chest, she does not realise that there are others out there with their own secrets...

This is an entertaining story, with a Rear Window (Hitchcock classic) feel to it, which largely holds the reader's interest. It gets 3.5 stars.

Oh....yikes. I'm generally a fan of Lisa Jackson and her stories but this one just left a lot of be desired. It's excessively long, repetitive, and includes a romance subplot that really pulled this away from the 'thriller' genre.

This is going to be a hard pass from me.

I loved the premise of this book and initially loved the spooky, creepy vibe. If the pacing had picked up, I might have even finished it. As it is, I DNF’d at about the 20% mark because I just wasn’t connecting to the plot or characters.

Thank you to Netgalley and Kensington Publishing for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. Maybe next time…

This is a crazy-good book that follows several characters through the ages beginning with young Harper who is 9 and sees a woman on the pier fall into the lake on Halloween night. In the present she is divorced with a young daughter and is once again at the lake as she watches through a huge telescope or binoculars. There are secrets that have surfaced, old loves to be reconciled, bats, cats, drugs, and all-around terror! Loved it!
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!

Lisa Jackson has not disappointed me yet. Yes her books are long, but it didn’t feel too stretched out to me. The story was developed and I enjoyed getting to know the characters and understand their relationships. The premise of the book was intriguing, though I did think one twist was obvious, I didn’t guess the major twist. Definitely give this one a try!

Thank you to NetGalley, Lisa Jackson, and Kensington for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

A lake. A rural town. A past that won’t stay buried.
Lisa Jackson crafts a haunting atmosphere in this breath-stealing thriller, where every page pulses with quiet tension and lurking secrets. The setting is both beautiful and eerie, pulling you into a story that refuses to let go.
Perfect for fans of slow-burn suspense and isolated mysteries.
Thank you to the publisher for the ARC—an unforgettable reading experience.

The book has been told through multiple timelines. It’s atmospheric and full of unthinkable happenings. Set on an island. I felt that the characters were so intriguing and secretive. All of them knew something but concealed the truth for so long. A series of unfortunate events keeps happening and they deepens the mystery. Twenty years ago, Harper’s grandmother died and the same night, her boyfriend also disappeared. There is a woman on island who hated harper in the past timeline. There has been mysterious deaths and innumerable disappearances. No one truly knows what actually happened with people who died and people who disappeared. When she returns to Island to sell the house, the memories, mysteries, truth, secrets and unthinkable happenings begins to unfold. The book kept me on the edge. Anna’s story touched me. All the events were connected in a strange way. This is a kind of book that can’t be read in one or two sittings, you need to give it a proper time to able to understand it completely. Author could have simplified things a bit. With every chapter expect a layer of mystery with atmospheric elements deepening the plot.

Thanks to the Publisher

Thank you, NetGalley, for this ebook ARC of 'It Happened On The Lake' by Lisa Jackson - expected release date of 06/24/2025

ARC was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I hate to DNF a book, but man, I just couldn't make it through this one. I've never read Jackson before so I didn't know what to expect. I'm not sure if this is typical of her books, but this one was way too slow moving, too long, and very disjointed/choppy writing - it definitely did not seem like a seasoned author wrote this. Given that it's almost 600 pages, I knew it would take me forever to finish since I wasn't into it, so I abandoned it.

Wow!
What a twisty thriller riddled with deceit and secrets.
This one is super slow and I almost stopped reading it a few times but I’m so glad I pushed through.
The chapters are longer than I usually like and it alternates between a handful of timelines and POVs.
The rural lake community is the perfect backdrop for the “mysterious” deaths and tragedy that this books covers.
If you are into a slow burn thriller with lots of different stories all woven together than this one’s for you!

This was my first Lisa Jackson book, and it most likely won't be my last. I say "most likely" because I would need to make sure that the book I select isn't soooooo many pages.

The storyline was great, and there were some unexpected moments, but I feel as though the author could have accomplished the same thing with fewer words.

Thank you to NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion/review.

Harper Reed Prescott has inherited her grandparents huge island estate on Lake Twilight in the Pacific Northwest. Her 37th birthday made the huge Victorian home truly hers . Her recent divorce & her daughter moving to college has left her "nest" truly empty. So she packed up her car and the cat inherited from her daughter and set off for Lake Twilight to face some bad memories and deal with her inheritance.
Her family fled the island after one terrible night when she was 18. She had been tasked with caring for her beloved grandmother, when her grandma died & her boyfriend disappeared on the same night. Rumors were rampant & though she as never charged with any crime, her father & stepmother moved her to California.

Lake Twilight and her grandmother had been her sanctuary as child. Her mother died on the same lake when she was young and her brother later committed suicide. Her father had been happy to leave her with her grandmother as she matured into a teenager, returning was difficult to say the least. The old house is familiar, but right away things start to happen that are less than welcoming.

Lisa Jackson always delivers a good mystery.

Thanks to NetGalley, Jackson & Kensington Publishing for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I feel like I’ve always been a Lisa Jackson reader, sometimes I love them & sometimes I loathe them. I feel like this one was on the positive side of loving rather than loathing but not a must read in my opinion & definitely had a few gaps. Harper Prescott may be the unluckiest person ever with her mother, grandmother, & boyfriend all dying/disappearing at this lake house that seems to be more of a lake mansion. Very reminiscent of Riley Sager’s “The House Across the Lake” only set in the 80s. I did feel like I saw the ending coming but only in the last few chapters. I’d only recommend if you’re looking for a book that’s VERY slow. Thanks to NetGalley and Kensington Publishing for the ARC.

If I could give this more than 5 stars, I would. I loved this book. It had me guessing who the killer was. I'll say i was surprised. Great authors can do that well, and Lisa Jackson does it wonderfully. Hands down one of the best books I've read this year.

Thank you Kensington Publishing for providing this book for review consideration via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

The premise of this book was so promising, but both the main character, Harper, and the plot fell a little flat.

Starting off with Harper - it's unclear why everyone has the hots for her. We're told repeatedly that she's smart, but she does absolutely nothing to back this up. She often speaks to herself aloud AND internally, which is a little weird and more than a little concerning.

Second, the author builds suspense pretty well, but drags it on way too long. By around 75% I had already guessed quite a bit of what was going on. Things are unnecessarily rehashed over and over again.

Third, there are a lot of unanswered questions. They're not exactly vital to the story but really makes characters' actions seem too convenient for the plot.

Now what I did appreciate is how characters made realistic, but sometimes terrible, decisions; loyalty, saving face, easier to lie than face the truth, etc. This was a complex case of keeping secrets and the consequences of those secrets.

Overall, solid idea but execution misses the mark a bit.

Thank you to NetGalley and Kensington Publishing for this ARC!!!

I really enjoy the way this writer uses language to paint a story. I like the combination of past and present and melding them together. I think the story could have been shorter just a bit. The twists at the end were pretty good!