The nicest thing I can say about this book is that it makes EL James look like Ernest Hemingway in comparison. The author bought a book of "1,001 cliches" and used all of them in his novel. I got this book free with Prime Reading and still feel like I'm owed a refund. ( )

What happened at the lake? A better question would have been. what didn't happen at the lake? It started as a family get together to try and heal relationships. An outing for the family to have some fun time together. For them to catch up with each other. Oh yes...we also had stopped-up toilets....no water...a power outage...a storm...a murder.... and last but certainly not least, a rape. Sounds like a fun time to be had by all. I really liked the sheriff and his reasonable way he went about to solve this fiasco. You can't help but feel the frustrations of Alex, the guy that put this outing together and had such high hopes for all to work out. The biggest challenge I had with this story was even though the plot was interesting and well-presented...there were SOOO many characters! I honestly lost track of them and had to search back to see who some of them were and what they had to do with anything...and the answer was often "absolutely nothing". Just hanging out and watching the show, I guess. I really did like the story. There were lots of twists, especially close to the end that were a complete surprise. Fans of physiological mysteries and suspense stories will probably really like it. ( )

What Happened at the Lake was such a thrilling book! I finished this on my Kindle in two days. I couldn't stop reading it.
Alex takes his family to the lake thinking it's going to be such a fun great time. Until his whole world is turned upside down.
You will have to read to find out what happens. And it's not what you think!!!

The plot. All the twists. All the turns!!!! Thank you Phil for such a thrilling ride! ( )

I am still on the fence about this one. I loved the book cover description. It sounds exciting…completed with a murder and something perhaps a little creepy and it had an appealing cover. I really must STOP choosing books by their covers!!! The storyline is straightforward and does contain a few twists. The characters for the most part are likeable. So what was the problem? Everything was described in graphic detail and nothing was left to the reader’s imagination. That will certainly not be a problem for some readers but I like to immerse myself into the story line and form opinions and outcomes along the way. Mr. Williams left no room for that to happen. Another thing that bothered me was the treatment these people…family no less gave to one another including the family pets. Kill the family…kill the neighbor…but don’t hurt the family pet! That by itself would have given the story a zero rating. I’m trying to be fair here…it is Mr. Williams first book…but I hope he lightens up a little on the next one. ( )

Murder mystery with a great twist. I love my murder mysteries and this is a great one because the person who works out who the murderer is turns out to be the father of one of the victims. Worth a couple of reads. ( )