The Lakehouse
Author, Joe Clifford

Publisher: Polis Books
Out now! Released September 2020

The Lakehouse is being built by Todd Norman in a small town in Connecticut, where Norman returns after his wife's murder in order to finish building their dream house. After being cleared for his murder however, the residents of this small town are still not convinced. And they're even more suspicious when a woman's body washes up on the shores of the lake near his lakehouse.
Tracey Somerset, divorced mother, meets Norman spontaneously and is instantly atteacted to him. But she doesn't yet know about Norman's past. Throughout Clifford's crime mystery, we meet a widowed sherriff, a troubled psychiatrist, a radical preacher, and several other characters that all have pivotal, but not so telling roles into how this story unravels. They all seem to have a story that's been buried, kept secret, or difficult to hide any longer. I did not see the ending coming, but was satisfied with how it all came together. For a complex plot, The Lakehouse is a must read for mystery fans.

I would rate this book 2.75 out 5 stars.

This story was just... okay. The writing was okay, the plot was okay... it was all just okay...

I cannot pinpoint exactly what it was about the story I didn't love but I just did not connect to the characters or to the story itself. I also found the ending quite ambiguous.

I loved this book! At first it was slow and I would consider this a (very) slow burning novel, that gave me the creeps but honestly I couldn’t put it down. The atmosphere of a small town, the secrets & the main character kept me going.

A lot of questions were left unanswered but that’s ok. I just kept guessing until the very end and I LOVE THAT about a story. I loved this new to me author’s writing and the cover tops it off!

Thank you netgalley for this ebook in exchange for an honest review. Review to be soon posted on Bookstagram blog.

I have to say I only liked this book. I just didnt get the thrill factor or connect with any of the characters. So it was disappointing for me.. I felt it was the writing style that affected my judgement of this book.

Eerie and creepy, a chilling read that was pretty good! Not what I was expecting but I enjoyed it. Well written.

Thank you to NetGalley and Joe Clifford for an advanced copy in return for my honest review. The Lakehouse is available to read now!

Tracy Somerset is a divorced mother of one who unexpectedly connects with a stranger late one night at Walmart. Tracy comes to find that this person has a dark past and she has to decide if she wants to stand by him or listen to the rumors.

Todd Newman, is trying to escape his past – after being accused and cleared of murdering his wife, he is trying to start fresh. But the small town doesn’t forget and they don’t want Todd back in their lives. With other girls gone missing, people realize that Todd’s story might not add up – and he might not be as innocent as he claims to be.

This one was a miss for me. The storyline was alright, ending was a bit of a letdown. I feel like we spent a lot of time and energy on a mystery and the culprit wasn’t satisfying to me. I didn’t connect with any of the characters and found myself just wishing to be finished reading. I don’t think that the storyline was completely bad, I just don’t think that this was a book for me.

**I always cringe when I have to give a poor review as I know the author spends massive amounts of time creating something for the world to see. As an avid reader I have the utmost respect for authors and am grateful for the content they create for us.

Unfortunately, I took too long to read this book and so I'm not able to give a full review. The first couple of chapters that I read were engaging, but I was interrupted by moving and didn't get to finish. 3 stars for a neutral review.

Thank you NetGalley for my ARC. This was a very fast paced thriller. The plot was well crafted that held my attention until the satisfying conclusion. Although the premise isn’t extremely original, the story was told in an extremely compelling way.

This was super good! I've never read anything by this author before but this story kept me engaged and turning the pages until the end. Love it!

I went into this book with very high hopes and it started out incredibly strong. The writing is amazing and that is truly why I am giving this book the rating it has. The pacing was solid and truly kept you wanting to keep reading. Which sometimes in thrillers can fall flat, The switching POV's were a little confusing for me at times and I struggled to keep some of what was happening to each of the girls straight.

Overall, this was a solid book that was exciting and thrilling throughout, but the ending was very unsatisfyinvg and I wanted something way more.

I received a copy of the book from Netgalley to review. Thank you for the opportunity.
A dark and twisty read which becomes more and more complex and layered as it goes on.
An OK read.

3 for neutral. Was not able to get book to download long enough to read. Will update once I’ve purchased book and read it,

Synopsis: In the Lakehouse, after being cleared of his wife’s murder, Todd Norman returns to her small Connecticut hometown in order to finish building their dream house by the lake. He is eager to restart his life and cast aside any remaining suspicious...but all of that is dashed when a young woman’s body washes up on the beach next door.

Review: This was my first book with by Joe Clifford, and he left me truly impressed! I found it to be very well written, and he had me keep wanting to turn the pages. I was reading another book at the same time, but I kept wanting to read this one instead!
A great plot line full of suspense and mystery. Fantastic ending that caught me by surprise. Would highly recommend to thriller fans!

Not quite sure how to review this book. I didn't dislike it, but I didn't really like it either. I was offered the opportunity to read this one and after reading the synopsis I agreed because it actually sounds really good.

Todd Norman is acquitted of his wife's murder and returns to her hometown to build their dream lake house he was planning to build before she died. The move isn't that easy for Todd. His wife's parent's live in the town and blame him for their daughter's death, the local police think he did it, in fact everyone thinks he did it. Everyone except newly separated single-mum Tracey. She falls in love with Todd and is adamant he is innocent.

This could have been so good with it's thriller undertones but unfortunately something fell slightly flat for me. I kept waiting for this amazing story to start and it just didn't. It was almost like reading a report, just a list of facts with no life to it. Everything was too one dimensional, there was no real oomph to any of the characters. I really wanted to learn about them, what was going on behind the scenes, and why some of the characters were even there, Dr Bakshir? What was even the point of him meandering weirdly through the story-line?

Unfortunately there were just too many of these one dimensional characters and strange detours from the main story line that just didn't make any sense or add any value.

I know this sounds like I really disliked this book. I didn't, I stuck with it because the plot itself was a good one and I wanted to know what happened, I just wanted more.

A great read. Lots of twists and turns .This suspenseful novel of small-town ties and lies will keep you guessing. Did not see the end coming! Would recommend.

Todd Norman's decision to move to the small town where his wife originated from could not have been the best idea he had. He had been cleared of his wife's murder but most people in the village felt that he was guilty of the murder and he building this enormous house by the lakeside was for them, his arrogance in the face of his guilt. For Todd it was a fulfillment of his wife's dream.

Todd was fully aware of the animosity surrounding him, and when a woman's body is found very close to his house, the antipathy starts all over again with many people very angry with the police for not taking him in at once on suspicion of murder, despite the fact that he has an alibi for the night of the murder and has no connection at all to the woman who was killed.

Tracey was a neighbour, trying to get back to a normal life with her young son after her cheating husband left her/she got rid of him. She did not go actively looking for a romance but meeting Todd was somewhat different and she knew she was very atracted to him, despite the reputation.

The story mainly deals with a very insular community, a community where everyone has plenty of secrets they want to stay hidden, secrets if they come out will lead to the exoneration of an innocent man reviled by all. But they still want to only protect themselves and their loved ones so the secrets continue to stay hidden until it somehow all blows apart.

Joe Clifford’s latest novel noir is rather different from previous ones in that it delves more into character than usual, and is thereby longer. The story is based in a small New England town, more a village where one day some men fishing in the lake see a body on the shore. A nude young woman, her scratched and bloody lies stretched out on the ground.
For Sheriff Sobczak, head of the village of Covenant’s police force, dead bodies are nothing new, but they are usually the result of a motor vehicle accident , and this looks like a murder. There is a suspect. He is Todd Norman, who is building a home lakeside, and who arrived back in Covenant from New York after being acquitted of the murder of his wife, a local girl.
From this beginning the author weaves a complex story involving threads that go back to high school friendships , teenage loves , breakups and jealously. All these relationships are explored. The novel has a number of characters. Sheriff Sobczak, a widower in late fifties and very aware of his limitations as a law officer. There is the Sheriff’s daughter Amanda, married to Tom, Sobczak’s deputy, who has not been close to her father since her mother’s death. Tracy, another of the high school friends, separated from her husband, and living with her two-year old son is a important presence in the novel.As is Doctor Bakshir, a psychologist who knows many things about many people.
All this development of character takes time and some patience for the reader, but is ultimately rewarding as events race to a startling climax. Mr.Clifford is a master of depicting the dark side of rural New England. The cold winters, the empty stores and factories, and the residents bleak prospects are sprit crushing. The good guys are flawed and the villains are usually menacing. Outcomes are rarely pleasing.
I recommend The Lakehouse as an exciting crime drama that goes deep into personalities’ pasts to build suspense and whose ending proves that it isn’t over until the last bone is picked.
Cautions: Nothing offensive, as far as I recall.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

While The Lakehouse by Joe Clifford isn't necessarily a new favorite of mine, I really enjoyed my time reading it! I read it at a time when I wasn't reading much else, and I genuinely looked forward to picking it back up each night. I do think this is a book that has a lot of potential to be someone's new favorite mystery/thriller, and I look forward to reading more from this author!

Disclaimer: On Goodreads, I no longer give star ratings. However, if forced to do so, I would give The Lakehouse 3 stars, meaning it was a pretty average read for me.

Greg Newman (Goodreads states his name is Todd) was found innocent of murdering his wife, April. April grew up in a small town in Connecticut where everyone knows everybody. For some reason Greg decides to move into the town of his dead wife's family and friends and build a lake house. The residents, most of them, believe he did murder his wife and would prefer he find a different place to call home.

When a dead body of a woman is found near Greg's house everyone points at Greg for killing yet another girl. The local small town sheriff Duane Sobczak starts to investigate the murder and also starts looking at Greg as a possible suspect.

There are a lot of characters in the book, a bunch of girls who's names start with A, got a bit tedious. Again like so many other books I found the novel a bit long and a bunch of extra writing is thrown in. I believe there really is a required number of pages a novel must have to get published. But I liked the way the ending was done, it was different from most books and left me having to decide what I think happened. I found that refreshing.

This was a tough book for me. It was incredibly slow and confusing. I kept putting it down and coming back to it, but it was never able to grab my attention. The premise sounds great, but the book did not deliver.