It Happened On the Lake alternates from past to current. The current prospective unravels the tragic disappearance of what happened in the past. The plot twist had me shocked! The narrator’s kept me engaged! This was the perfect eerie summer thriller!

I really enjoyed this book! It was a thriller/suspense that had me guessing at the end. I thought I knew who the bad person was, but I was completely wrong!
I thought the premise for this book sets us up for a great atomospheric thriller.
A big mansion alone on an island. It has fallen into disrepair and needs quite a bit a work.
Harper, our FMC, returns to the mansion (home) after being gone for many years, as she has inherited her Grandmother's estate.
Harper is a divorcee with a daughter, Dawn, who is now in college. So she is also an empty nester. Her past is littered with dark tragedy. She lost her Borther, her Mother, her boyfriend, and then last but not least, her person - Grandmother. All lost tragically.
This is one of those "going home" books. Harper's old friends are around now as adults and all seem to want a piece of her and her story.
The mansion is also the perfect place to look at everyone else's life across the lake from her island, as it is full of high class telescopes that her Grandfather left behind. Harper becomes a bit of a voyer so to speak, but thankfully she sees enough to protect herself!
Lots of crazy things happen and Harper finds herself in danger.
Thankfully a few people from her past show up that try to help her.
It is hard to decide who exactly to trust throughout the book!
The plot is well structured. There are dual timelines, but Lisa Jackson did that very well in this book. It was easy to stay engaged and understand where you were in history as you read the book.
The characters are well developed. I was able to stay engaged with them.
There are some trigger warnings to consider - suicide, pet death, lots of family death to name a few.
I highly recommend this for your summer TBR!
Thank you to NetGalley, Lisa Jackson, and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this ARC!
Happy Reading!

It Happened on the Lake by Lisa Jackson was great from start to finish! I went in expecting a good mystery, but this book totally sucked me in. The story follows Harper, who has the worst luck ever when it comes to her family and relationships. Her grandmother died under suspicious circumstances, her boyfriend disappeared without a trace, and now she’s back in her eerie old house on Lake Twilight. As soon as she returns, all the old rumors and whispers come rushing back. The mystery itself kept me guessing, and there were definitely a few surprises I didn’t see coming. The suspense builds in a way that you just have to know what happens next. The narrator was great and made the book enjoyable!

This one had everything I love in a twisty thriller—creepy dolls tucked in corners, a haunted Victorian house on a private island (yes, inherited, of course), and old secrets bubbling up like something sinister in the lake. Harper’s return to Lake Twilight stirs up more than just bad memories—it unleashes a whole storm of suspicion, tragedy, and buried truths. Lisa Jackson nails the eerie, slow-burn suspense, and the atmosphere is pure chills. If you’re into gothic vibes, small-town whispers, and a sense that something is always just out of sight... dive in.

Thank you Lisa Jackson, Brilliance, and Netgalley for the advanced copy!

#ithappenedonthelake #netgalleyarc #netgalleyreview #netgalley #arcreview #arc #arcreader #review #somanybookssolittletime

3.25⭐️ Well, this wasn’t for me. I struggled with my rating as I received both the physical book as well as the audiobook and the audio itself did a great job. Narrator Elisabeth Ashby deserves all the praise for voicing this book seamlessly with several different characters. She spoke at a decent rate that was on the slower side of typical speech but still pleasant to listen to. Speeding it up made it even better. I give her a lot of credit to stay consistent for over 18 hours of recorded material.

Then there is the book itself. It’s is ridiculously long. And yes, Lisa Jackson’s books are on the longer side for mystery/ thrillers but this just wasn’t necessary. It was repetitive and had so many side storylines that the reader doesn’t care about. It also meanders a bit as there is just no reason for all the information offered. The timeline also jumps around a fair bit but it’s disjointed and jarring.

So this one just didn’t hit the spot unfortunately. But dans of hers may love it so if you want to give this 600 page time a try it comes out June 24th 2025.

I am thankful to have gotten a complimentary audio ALC from Brilliance Publishing through NetGalley and the physical ARC from Kensington Publishing to read which gave me the opportunity to voluntarily leave a review.

My rating system since GoodReads doesn’t have partial stars

⭐️ Hated it
⭐️⭐️ Had a lot of trouble, prose issues, really not my cup of tea (potentially DNF’d or thought about it)
⭐️⭐️⭐️ Meh, it was an ok read but nothing special
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Really enjoyed it! Would recommend to others
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Outstanding! Will circle back and read again

I loved the premise of this book and was excited to check it out. I’m sorry to say it didn’t quite hit the mark for me.

I felt that the writing was well done but that the book lagged, was a bit too long and at times repetitive.

With that said, I did enjoy it overall and will read this author again.

I loved the audiobook narration which kept the story alive for me.

My thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.