THE LAKE OF LOST GIRLS uses a mix of dual viewpoints, dual timelines, podcast episodes, social media posts, and news articles to immerse readers in the reopening of a cold case in a small North Carolina town after human remains are found.
Lindsey Fadley always knew this day would come. Her sister, Jessica Fadley, went missing twenty-four years ago while visiting home for Lindsey’s birthday party. Jessica was a student at nearby Southern State University and became the fourth missing young woman with ties to the university in 1998. The cases were never solved, and now the human remains in the lake turn out to be one of the other missing girls. This reignites Lindsey’s drive to find out what happened to her sister. Her search is fueled by a true crime podcast, a new detective on the case, and a young journalist aggressively pursuing the truth for his own reasons. Lindsey thought she knew her fun, vivacious sister, but did she ever really know her? In an alternate timeline, Jessica Fadley lives the final days of her life—a life unraveling at warp speed with a predatory professor, a high-strung boyfriend, and a concerned father. When another body emerges from the lake in the present day, Lindsey realizes that what she uncovers may leave devastation in its wake.
THE LAKE OF LOST GIRLS is a chilling and haunting tale of one sister trying to find the truth behind the disappearance of the other. The small North Carolina town, Southern State University, and Doll’s Eye Lake paint a picture of tranquility and peace, but underneath lies secrets, predatory behavior, and the unsolved disappearance of young women. With psychological suspense fueled by manipulative and deceitful characters, the plot twists and turns and teeters on the truth. The true-crime podcast scripts show how this new media is a double-edged sword—interfering with investigations, allowing unvetted witness accounts, and spreading inaccurate information—but also bringing attention to unsolved cases and developing new leads. From hidden pictures, a vintage car, a missing ID, and a familiar blanket, the clues point to a shocking conclusion that will leave readers gasping. Well-written, nicely structured, and nuanced, THE LAKE OF LOST GIRLS is one of the best thrillers this reviewer has read this year.
Told in alternating timelines, The Lake of Lost Girls is a haunting novel that will thrill fans of All Good People Here and We Are All the Same in the Dark.Using suspenseful podcast clips to weave a twisty tale of a missing student and her sister who is desperate for answers, The Lake of Lost Girls is perfect for fans of I Have Some Questions for You.It’s 1998, and female students are going missing at Southern State University in North Carolina, but freshman Jessica Fadley, once a bright and responsible student, is going through her own struggles. Just as her life seems to be careening dangerously out of control, she suddenly disappears.Twenty-four years later, Jessica’s sister Lindsey is desperately searching for answers and uses the momentum of a new chart-topping true crime podcast that focuses on the cold cases, to guide her own investigation. Soon, interest reaches fever pitch when the bodies of the long-missing women begin turning up at a local lake, which leads Lindsey down a disturbing road of discovery.In the present, one sister searches to untangle a complicated web of lies.In the past, the other descends ever deeper into a darkness that will lead to her ultimate fate.This propulsive and chilling suspense is a sharp examination of sisterhood and the culture of true crime.
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