I tried several times, but I could never get into this book. Nate, an oncology surgeon, has returned home to attend the funeral of his one-time girlfriend, whose body has recently been found in the woods in the area. Years ago, the girlfriend, Lucy Bennett, disappeared under mysterious circumstances and was never heard of again. Now, with a big storm churning toward the town of Greystone Lake, New York, Nate is headed there for the funeral. Years ago, along with his friends, he was a real prankster, which obviously did not endear him to some of the towns people. Now, along with his boyhood friends, Nate visits the Night Ship, a one-time night club and the nesting place of Nate and Lucy. A lot of unanswered, eerie questions arise about the past, along with more bodies. Nate wants answers and receives some but not all. Can Nate ever find out what exactly happened and who or if he fits into it all?

As I said, I really had difficulty getting into this book. It jumped around a lot and there were many, many descriptions, which became distractions. I sometimes wondered what was going on and how things were fitting together. I never did get a good feel for things or for Nate and his questions. I have not read anything else by the author, and wonder if other books are like this one? Based on many reviews I read, I also got the idea that I was in a minority in this case, but I was not able to change my impressions. Possibly someone else will agree with the other reviewers who gave flowing reviews. I could not, as I said. I found it just too difficult to read and enjoy. I received this form NetGalley to read and review.

There's you can't go home again and there's you SHOULDN'T go home again. Unfortunately, Nate opts to return to his small hometown of Greystone Lake when the remains of his high school sweetheart Lucy are found 14 years after she went missing. He reconnects with a group of people who might have been annoyingly amusing (and destructive) when they were in high school but the stakes are higher now because, well, someone is guilty of the murder. Nate's Gram, who raised him after his parents were killed in a car accident in which Nate was also severely injured, is the most appealing person in this thriller that sometimes gets a little more complicated than is logical. There are a number of themes- a hurricane is coming, there are town legends, there's back stories- not all of which are relevant to the real issue. Frankly part way through I was looking at the page and shaking my head- Nate just go back to your wife and kid. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. This is well written and you'll like it if you like mysteries where old secrets and lies come back to haunt a community.

The Storm King is Brendan Duffy’s second novel, and while I haven’t read his first yet (House of Echoes) I feel like I can safely say I like the way he thinks. This novel explores a lot of different concepts, while also delivering a thriller that’ll keep you on your toes. Things start off with you being pretty unaware of the main character’s (Nate) past, but over time the details are slowly revealed, finally giving us the full picture.
Warnings first: Both of the warnings for this novel happen towards the back of the book. A main character is revealed to have been raped and murdered, and then later we see it happen through the killer’s eyes. It’s pretty quick, but it is brutal and will likely be upsetting to anybody that would prefer not to read something like this. Another character’s dog is murdered; you’ll get a little bit of a warning before it happens, but it isn’t terribly detailed and it doesn’t come up again (which frustrated me a little bit, to be honest).
What is a story? Is it fact? Is it truth? A blend of the two? Or is it something else entirely? These are questions raised by The Storm King. Based in a town where stories are the stuff of legends, it’s almost understandable how every major event ends up taking up a life of its own. The town is full of them, and even our main character can’t avoid getting pulled into them.
I love how the concept of a story is explored in this novel; how it can warp and change with each telling; how it has the power to ruin lives. So many different angles are studied and pointed out to us, but they’re done in subtle ways. In a way, that was the real masterpiece of this novel. The thriller element was interesting to be sure, but it was this examination that really hooked me.
Nate, the golden boy, has many secrets. Considering the worst day of his life became one of the town’s stories, I can’t really say I blame him for those secrets. The thing is though, when one keeps a secret so do the others. All of Nate’s childhood friends have secrets, and they’re haunting them still. That is how this story begins.
While this novel did drag at times, on the whole I really enjoyed it. It took me about three chapters to really become invested in what was happening, but once I did I was hooked. At first I was put off by not knowing the details of everything they were talking about, but as things got revealed that irritation faded. By the end I was practically gobbling up the pages, in order to see what happened next.
There are enough twists and turns to keep anyone’s interest, particularly once you get about a third of the way through the novel. Once you hit that point, it’s like jumping on a roller coaster. The events occur rapidly, bouncing from one to the next. Considering this, it’s really a miracle that Nate was able to put the pieces of the puzzle together at all, let alone in time (I know, I know, he sort of had some help in the end, but you get what I mean).
I loved Duffy’s writing style; it was detailed but not excessive, and while there were a few bits I feel we could have lived without (seeing the murder from the killer’s perspective really wasn’t necessary, since all the pieces had been laid out by then) I still greatly enjoyed it.

When Nate McHale was a child, he miraculously survived an auto accident that claimed the life of his parents and little brother. Nate’s arm is terribly mangled, and as the years progress it becomes his “weather beacon”. The pain increases as the rains and storms move in. Hence he’s nicknamed “The Storm King” by his group of rebel friends. Nate has become a narcissistic, spoiled, incredibly mean-streaked young boy, and leads his pack in various attacks, called Thunder Runs, on whoever in town they decide deserves some bad luck.
He’s closely monitored by the police, but since he’s the town’s golden boy, The Boy Who Fell, another grand legend from Greyston Lake, he skates just above punishment.
One of the gang is missing the morning after the big graduation party. Nate’s young love, Lucy, has left without a clue. Nate decides this is a good time to walk away from all the damage he’s done as an angry child.
Flash forward fourteen years, and Nate is a compassionate surgeon with a loving wife and child. He has managed to leave his ugly self behind, and no one is the wiser. He’s suddenly called back home though. His friend Lucy’s body has been found. Apparently, she was raped, murdered and left for dead in the marshes all those years ago.
Nate gets back in with his old crowd. As soon as he’s in town, vindictive events start happening to the people he cares about, events very similar in nature to those he brought about as an angry young boy.
The plot thickens here, and one is left to wonder, is Nate also a murderer? We don’t like the boy he was, but we feel compassion for the man he has become. Determined to figure out what’s going on, Nate digs deeper and deeper.
At the same time, Hurricane Medea is bearing down and wrecking havoc. Will karma take care of the guilty?
I recommend this book; be patient with the slow start, it gets better.
(I received an advance copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an unbiased review. Thank you to Random House Publishing Group, Ballentine and NetGalley for making it available.)

Fabulous book. Thoroughly loved. Highly recommend!

The Storm King was a decent read. It was intriguing and captivating despite the slow pace at the beginning, however it became increasingly fast paced as the suspense mounts and we get closer to learning who the killer is.

“A place like this was built of myth and varnished in legend.”

Though it wasn’t the paranormal novel I assumed it would be (from the title), the atmosphere and setting had a sinister quality to it that appealed to my love of the supernatural. Those elements, the atmosphere and setting, were my favorite things about the story and I think the story’s strength lies there. The Storm King is set in a town that lies along a large lake in the Adirondacks. In that town is a decrepit nightclub with a dark past where Nate (the protagonist) and his friends used to hang out in their teens. The combination of the lake with its veneer of calm masking the hungry current beneath and the dark nightclub that seems like a predator perched on the lake waiting to corrupt the innocent, made me think there was something supernatural going on in the book. Add to that the lashing, howling storm that rages through much of the story and I began to think that maybe something more than mere humans are the perpetrators of the crimes discussed in the novel.

The hint at legends and how much “the lake loves its stories” and that Nate is one of those stories — “the Boy Who Fell” — made me wonder if Duffy was trying to trick me, though I wasn’t sure what the trick was. Maybe Nate is the Storm King and can harness the storm to punish those who did wrong.

Nate is an intriguing character, but I didn’t like him. Actually, all the characters are unlikeable, and usually it’s hard for me to enjoy a novel whose protagonist I dislike, but such wasn’t the case here. I guess I was too interested in learning who the killer is (or rather “was” since the murder occurred in the past) and too interested in the story’s atmosphere. However, I do like how Nate develops over the course of the story. It begins with him thinking himself invincible as the Storm King and ends with him realizing he’s just as guilty and vulnerable as everyone else, and that his frightful anger was a façade for how fearful he is. The Storm King was a mask he wore in ways he wasn’t even aware of, which helped the mystery in the story.

Much as I enjoyed the story, there were a few drawbacks; but my main one was the slow pace at the beginning, which might be off-putting for some. It certainly almost made me give up on the book, but I think it’s worth it to power through those plodding moments. The slow pace is needed to give us a sense of the setting and who our protagonist, Nate, is as well as provide enough time for the story to develop — it takes place over two or three days during a storm. We get a lot of flashbacks to Nate’s past to stall the plot and give us some backstory on the people in Nate’s town.

Thanks to Netgalley and Random House/Penguin/Ballantine for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.


The Storm King was a strong sophomore run from Brendan Duffy, and was a mystery/thriller with bite. Some have been comparing his atmosphere to Stephen King, and I can totally pick up on that vibe. You've got the small town where bad stuff went down. You've got the adult coming home to said small town, years later, and meeting up with old friends and enemies. You've got flashbacks to when they were young and all the bad stuff was happening. You've got explosive climaxes and bitter but hopeful denouements in all the story threads, past and present. I can totally see King as an influence.


Overall, I really enjoyed the book. Once I got past the first bit, it really picked up and I read the last 70% or so in one sitting. Seriously, couldn't put it down. The short chapters really made that "just one more chapter" problem I have even worse. I think it was well-plotted, the solutions and storylines made complete sense and worked with the story, and the characters were deep and developed and brought to life on the page.


When it comes down to it, I have two major issues with the book. To start, the first few paragraphs almost made me put the book down. From the perspective of a teenager, it felt off-kilter and forced, with all the "big words" that teenagers (and most non-reading adults) wouldn't use, and definitely wouldn't think about while playing baseball. It's a minor issue, but it was jarring and weird and turned me off. I'm glad I pushed past it and kept reading, because if you ask those around me while I was reading it, I was complaining about it... loudly.


Secondly, I felt like the reveal of the killer and the killer's identity was kinda meh. Where it went from there was super-effing-creepy, and there were hints leading up to the reveal dropped into the characters' shared histories, but I was kind of hoping for more when I read so many jaw-dropping reviews of the novel.


When it comes down to it, the book was great, and I can't praise the atmosphere and setting that Duffy has created enough. He did an amazing job making me feel like I was there... like the Lake was a part of me, like it was a part of the characters. He developed his characters and unraveled and rewove his plot with sophistication and ease.


I'll definitely be checking out his debut, which I missed (House of Echoes), in the future, and keep an eye out for future books by the guy. Four "Just June" stars.

Intense, violent, action-packed, The Storm King recounts the past events in a small lake community that lead up to a tension-filled weekend. With a hurricane bearing down on the community and the funeral of a popular girl who had been missing for the past several years, Nate McHale returns to his childhood home to face his past.

Nate, also known by his friends as the Storm King, has a past full of bad decisions fueled by anger and vengeance. The only member of his family to survive a car accident, Nate grows to adulthood with more emotional baggage than most people.

In spite of this, Nate becomes a successful doctor, marries and has a loving family. Upon his return to his hometown, he is met with a grim reckoning. As the weather turns more violent, many secrets from the past come to light and Nate learns the repercussions of his past mistakes.

Filled with unlikable characters and disturbing behavior, this story moves along at a brisk pace. It seemed long to me because I had to stop reading at times because the story was so intense. The ending was powerful, with a lot happening at once and I could hardly read fast enough to keep up! Readers should be warned that the content is dark and violent.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group/Ballantine for allowing to read an advance copy in exchange for my honest review.

This was the first book I've read by the author, and I found it to be a strong, solid, thriller. Nate, a surgeon, husband, and father, is drawn back into his past when a body is discovered near where he grew up. As a hurricane looms, secrets from the past threaten everything that Nate holds dear.

Nate was a very interesting character, and the storyline kept me glued to the book. It has a dark tone, and the oncoming storm helps to ratchet up the tension. Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for providing a copy of the book in return for an honest review.

Never finished. May read it at another time, just couldn't get interested.

An exciting mystery/thriller that's pretty unique - at least it doesn't seem to follow a formula like so many thrillers. Nate returns to his hometown, after fourteen years away, for the funeral of his high-school girlfriend, Lucy. Lucy's had been missing since high school graduation when her body was found. Before the funeral Nate gets together with his old friends who, together with Nate used to terrorize the town by achieving vengeance against their enemies. Back then Nate was their leader and his friends called him the Storm King. The mystery of who killed Lucy needs to be solved. The town has many legends that are brought up in the story and they intermingle with current events in the lives of the townspeople and Nate and his friends. This kept me riveted throughout. Good writing and good characters make for a fine story.

Thanks to Brendan Duffy and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine through Netgalley for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

3 Stars.

Nate McHale “The Storm King” returns home to Greystone Lake after a Fourteen Year absence. If he had it his way, he would never return to this town. It has too many bad memories. Memories of his family’s death, memories of his High School girl friend Lucy’s disappearance and memories of the mean tricks he and his buddies used to play on people. Yet now he is returning for Lucy’s funeral - her body has been found and Nate is the prime suspect. His visit isn’t going to be fun and to top it off, it takes place during a Hurricane that brings Greystone Lake to its knees.

Upon his return, Nate realizes that his grandmother and all of his old friends are in danger, including “The Storm King” himself. No one in town is happy that Nate is home and people are wrecking havoc. Just like the old days, when it was Nate and his friends who were wrecking havoc on the townsfolk and those they thought deserved it. Now the tables are turned. Nate is determined to find out who is behind the pranks and is also determined to find out who killed Lucy before they strike again. In order to do so, he must return to his old haunt, the Night Ship and what he finds there will shock him to no end.

“The Storm King” started out strong but became convoluted and was way too long and drawn out to hold my interest. Parts of the story were enjoyable however and I enjoyed the intertwining relationships between Nate and his friends.

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine and Brendan Duffy for an ARC of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Published on Goodreads, Twitter and Instagram on 12.18.17.
*Will be published on Amazon on 2.6.18.

This book took me for a ride. This is a multiple time line book that solves the mystery of a young girls death. There are a lot of teenage pranks and time spent in a abandoned place.

I feel that this book would be a great movie but not the best book. I found myself re-reading paragraphs trying to keep up with what was going on. The storyline is so broad and covers so much that the pacing is full blast from the beginning. Normally I like a fast paced book but this didn't allow the reader time to process what happened. By the end it just felt weird and unfamiliar.

A good movie idea but too rushed for a book.

Whew, there was a lot going on with this one! Dragged at points, but the ending was solid.

I don't think I have every described a book as 'heavy', but that's the word that comes to mind as I try to summarize my thoughts about this one. It's a turbulent, intense, roller coaster ride. One that takes you back and forth in time, highlighting the actions of a small group of high school kids with an odd sense of justice. These high school kids are now adults, and when their fearless leader Nate (nicknamed 'The Storm King')returns home, he starts to see the consequences of their actions and how they helped shaped them as individuals, as well as the town itself.

I can't say I liked any of the characters outside of Gram, but I don't think I was supposed to. I think the author did a good job keeping me off balance as the story unfolded, not allowing me to cop to the 'kids will be kids' mentality that so often embraces these types of stories. There isn't any room for sympathy here with these characters. It's about actions and consequences, with some karma thrown in to even the score.

For those who enjoy a good atmospheric mystery, this one is for you!

ARC provided by NetGalley

3.5 stars--somewhere between liked and really liked. Warnings for violence (including sexual violence).

This book is dark, a thriller that's almost horror. It's about guilt and consequences and how the things we do can linger years after the event. I enjoyed the plot quite a bit, but it was the characters that made this stand out over most thrillers.

And Duffy is now one of my always-read authors, since I enjoyed his first book as well.

I received this review copy from the publisher on NetGalley. Thanks for the opportunity to read and review; I appreciate it!

I'm all for books with unlikable characters, but I prefer they are unlikable because they are severely flawed, not because they are straight up jerks or sociopaths. That said, I did enjoy the storyline generally, and the backstory/ history of the town. I just couldn't bring myself to care about the characters except Gram and Nate's poor wife and little girl. This seemed more like YA fiction than adult to me.

Great twists in this book. Also thoroughly enjoyed the way that the weather became a character.

An atmospheric small town mystery that flips back and forth between the past and future. The beginning is slow-paced and a bit confusing, but the pace picks up towards the end so stick with it. The plot makes it difficult to tell what is just kids having fun, and some really violent behavior.

"Because everyone is guilty of something. Everyone deserves to be punished."

Just a thought...the past is never really in the past. Actions have consequences.

Can I just say "READ IT!" and leave my review at that? No? Then read my review below:

Seriously here is the gist: The book opens after Nate has won his baseball game and he is traveling home with his family when there is a terrible accident and he is the only survivor. He is the sad boy who survived. He is raised by his Gram and has been given the nickname, "The Storm King" by his group of friends. He and his friends engage in pranks that get him on the wrong side of people growing up. He also becomes the boyfriend of Lucy, the daughter of the man accused in the death of his family members. His teenage years are turbulent and event filled. After one night of drinking and violence, he awakens to learn about the disappearance of his girlfriend. Has she run away as she once planned? Has something bad happened to her? No one knows. It is a question that he will think about often over the years.

Fast forward to the future: Nate is now a happily married man and father. He has become a respected doctor/surgeon of oncology and his life seems pretty good. That is until he has been called home to attend a funeral - the funeral for Lucy, his long lost girlfriend. Her body has been found in the woods by their hometown. Evidently she never ran away as they all believed all those years ago. As I mentioned, Nate has never stopped thinking about her. He has unanswered questions about the fate of his first love and wants answers. Nate decides to attend the funeral and hopefully get some answers about what happened to Lucy even though there is also a hurricane churning up the coast. Once he is back in his hometown, he is reunited with his high school friends and has learned that pranks are being committed all over town. Certain people are being targeted and property is being damaged. Who is behind all of this? Why do the pranks/destruction of property seem personal?

Nate and his friends also go visit the "Night Ship" which sits alongside the pier. It is the stuff of legends. Bad things happened on the night ship and Nate and his friends: Tom, Johnny, Owen and Lucy, grew up hearing the stories and singing the songs about two twin girls. The group used to hang out there and Nate and Lucy used it for their late night rendezvous.

The entire town has an eerie feel. Lucy's remains have dredged up old suspicions and thoughts about her disappearance. People look with questioning and blaming eyes. Who is to blame for her being found dead? What happened to her all of those years ago? Who is responsible for the pranks being committed around town. The pranks have become more sinister, violent and personal.

Add all of this up with a bad storm brewing and you have the recipe for the perfect setting for when the proverbial shit hits the fan. Atmospheric and dripping with the need for vengeance, this book cooks up the perfect mystery via coming of age tale. Bodies start turning up and as Nate begins to get some answers to his questions, he also learns that thee was so much more he didn't know. Can you ever really go home again? People have secrets...what happens when you learn them? When you learn the truth will it set you free or will you learn that sometimes the truth is just the truth and somethings cannot be changed?

Whew!

I received a copy of this book from Random House publishing - Ballantine Books and Netgally in exchange for an host review. My Thanks to them for giving me this opportunity.

The Storm King features Nate McHale, pediatric surgeon and family man, who returns to his hometown of Greystone Lake for the funeral of his first girlfriend. Lucy disappeared on graduation night and although many assumed she ran away, Nate never believed it.

Told in alternating timelines, the "past is prologue" to the events to come.

When Nate was fourteen, the family car went over a cliff into the lake; Nate's parents and three-year-old brother all drowned, but somehow Nate survived. The tragedy continues to influence Nate, and his high school years are full of anger at the unfairness of life.

In the wake of his miraculous survival, people--his best friends included-- view Nate differently. Nate, Tom, Jonny, Owen, and later, Lucy are a tight knit unit, and Nate, the Storm King, is the leader. Perceived injustices are righted, or more accurately, punished. Adolescent Nate is not always an admirable character.

After high school, Nate leaves Greystone Lake for college and attempts to put his high school persona behind him. He becomes a successful and empathetic pediatric surgeon with a loving wife and an adored child, but when Lucy's body turns up after all these years, Nate returns to his hometown, determined to find out what happened to her. However, his return to Greystone Lake will force him to acknowledge his own guilt and uncover some disturbing secrets.

The Storm King is not a comfortable read--as the tension ratchets up, you know that some of the mistakes in the past will have far-reaching consequences, and you wish you could step in and shake the boys. There is a callousness in the "justice" the teenagers meet out in their high school years.

What comes as a surprise is that there is a new generation of vigilantes--and their targets are Nate, Tom, Jonny, and Own. What goes around...

Read in September; blog review scheduled for Jan. 21, 2018.

NetGalley/Random House/Ballentine

Psychological Suspense/Mystery. Feb. 6, 2018. Print length: 400 pages.