Moscow is hit by a mystery virus and many people are dying. As the city is closed off from the outside Anya and Sergey, who live in their dream home outside Moscow, with Anya's son decide to leave and travel north to a holiday home on a remote lake. They are jooined by Sergey's first wife and son, by Sergey's Dad and the next door neighbour with their little girl. To get to their destination they will need to do battle with hostile looters, winter roads off the beaten track, temperatures of minus twenty, and find enough fuel en route to go the distance. Its a highly topical plot, well written (and translated). You can tell its in Russia because everybody smokes all the time, even when topping up the fuel tanks. A gripping tale and a good read.

Anya and sergey live in a beautiful house on the outskirts of Moscow. A flu pandemic is spreading across the country while the government is playing down the seriousness of it, sound familiar! Sergeys father appears one night and suggests the family pack up and head towards a secluded lake the other side of the country.

The family pack up their world into the back of their cars along with their next door neighbours and sergeys ex wife and son. This book had me on the edge of my seat. It was so atmospheric and tense. The book is about the journey which doesn’t sound the most interesting. But I found myself feeling nervous and tense every time they stopped. Worried about what might happen next. I liked the characters and really felt for Anya making the journey with her husbands ex wife. This was the perfect read for cosy autumnal evenings.

I enjoyed this a lot. It was long and complex but I couldn’t stop reading. It was well written and translated, and I enjoyed the descriptions of remote parts of Russia. The characters were rounded and the situations they found themselves in felt authentic. It had echoes of The Stand (without the supernatural elements) and The Road (burbles bleak). Recommended.

I thought this book sounded really good and was looking forward to reading it, it started well, the main character, Anya gives the narrative to the story.
There is an outbreak of a disease that is rapidly becoming out of control, can Anya, her family and friends manage to get away to the lake and safety?
It's a long journey and no one knows what lies ahead.

Unfortunately halfway through the book I started to feel like it was getting repetitive and not holding my attention although I still wanted to find out what was going to happen.

I received an advance review copy for free from Netgalley and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

It was quite scary to read about a virus that was completely out of control. This is an old school survival story which could easily be made into a film. The main characters were Anya and Sergey. Anya is the narrator and we see everyone else through her eyes. Some of the other characters hardly featured. The oppressive Russian government had its own radical solutions about how to curb the spread of the virus and this added to the severe Russian winter made for a depressing read. There is scope for a sequel to explore what happens next to the group and to this country in crisis.

I’m so glad I didn’t read this book at the height of the pandemic!
A deadly flu virus has broken out in Moscow and swiftly spreads resulting in death, societal breakdown and survival!
I liked Anya as the narrator, she’s honest but good at keeping her mouth shut, a good judge of character. (Didn’t like all the smoking - ugh!)
The story follows Anya, her husband and a mish mash of family and friends as they make their way to a far distant lake house where they believe they will be safe.
The journey is tedious and not without danger.
Sometimes translated books don’t come across well but I really enjoyed this book and will be looking for more by this author.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Swift Press for the ARC.

I was absolutely glued to this book. A virulent, killer virus is killing off cities in Russia. Perhaps this is repeated throught the world - we don't know because communications and power have all stopped. People turn on each other; everyone, everywhere could be a threat. Food, petrol and water are at a premium and people will do anything to get them. After a violent raid, our group - starting with 2 neighbouring households decide to try and get to a member's remote, far off fishing cottage by a lake in the far North of Russia, many hundreds of kilometers away.
The group expands, faces many challenges. It's a simple idea but so well written; and people's thoughts, attitudes and opinions are fascinating more perhaps, because these are such 'ordinary' people - no heroes or supermen. Atrocities, violence, collapse of civilisation and horrific 'solutions' are described and we can only be thankful that our current pandemic did not get this extreme. (We already saw signs of the breakdown of our society but at least the brawling was only over loo rolls and protests over lack of freedom - enough of us being alive to manage that!) This was a dire picture of how things could break down when whole city populations die out. A harrowing and sober warning!

To The Lake by Yana Vagner

When a virulent flu epidemic sweeps through Moscow, killing hundreds of thousands of inhabitants, Anya and her husband Sergei decide to flee to a lake in the far north of Russia.
I have read books that have been translated before and have often found that something can be lost.
Not in this book , it obviously had many similarities to what is happening in the world at the moment, but it is gripping , terrifying , and with the feeling of threat all around. I loved it.

I must admit, I keep reading books about fictional pandemics, relating to them with renewed and first hand experiences. Thankfully, the authors have had a much darker view than our reality. Although extremely serious and devastating for many, COVID is nowhere near as deadly as the imagined pandemics in the heads of these talented writers. In To The Lake, as this dreadful disease takes hold with alarming speed, Anya and her husband Sergey make the desperate decision to make the long journey to a distant lake where his family have a summer home. Joined by various family members and neighbours, this group embark on an incredibly dangerous journey through the snowy, disease ridden and increasingly remote Russian region. With dangers every step of the way, I found myself holding my breath as one frightening event after another occurred. I wondered how a journey would hold me, but it really did and although it would have been easy to become tedious for the reader, the author held my attention right to the very end. A great read and without spoliers, I’m rather hoping for a sequel.

I must admit that I am in two minds about this book there are parts that I really enjoyed but also I found it very slow and depressing. The plot was full of details of how the characters were managing to cope living in the midst of pandemic and trying to escape the looting and violence which becomes rife in the city and their subsequent decision to escape to a remote lake.
The writing of this book was excellent and the characters were well portrayed but I have to say I disliked pretty much all of them. I think for me being in the middle of a pandemic as we all are it just wasn’t the right time to read this book it’s depressing enough to deal with it in real life so reading about maybe was a bit too much.
So a three star read and an interesting one but a bit of a struggle at times.
My thanks to NetGalley and Swift Press for giving me the chance to read the ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

An okay read.

To The Lake was, apparently, a huge hit in Russia. The author published it chapter by chapter on her blog - which explains the somewhat clunky style to me as it’s not possible to go back and polish up some of the chapters as they are already out there.

Originally written in 2011 it is a pretty good take on a global pandemic .

Thanks toNetGallery for a free ARC in return for an honest review

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/12667043

3.5 rounded down

An outbreak of deadly flu occurs in Moscow and it’s a worst case scenario as it spreads like wildlife. The story is narrated by Anya who, along with her partner Sergey, Anya’s son Mishka, her father in law Boris and friends and neighbours, take the decision to leave the danger of the epidemic behind them and head for a house on the lake in the isolated north where they hope they will be safe. This is the story of their dangerous journey as they try to avoid the chaos, the sickness, roadblocks, hostility and overcome difficulties such as sourcing petrol, food, medicine and warmth.

This may seem like another Covid type novel (although it’s written several years before 2019) and I suppose to a certain extent it is. However, it examines the outbreak principally from a psychological angle especially how these disparate individuals relate to each other, to people they encounter on the journey and how they mentally cope with the dire straits they’re in. It’s brutal, it’s not an easy read by any means as at times it’s the lowest common denominator of human behaviour but it is very interesting. It feels realistic in several ways as we are living our particular world wide disaster as they are in Russia in the novel. The world they live in is very harsh and dangerous as it leads to the breakdown of society into chaos and disorder with a feral dog eat dog mentality. It has tension, malice, despair and sometimes generosity and kindness of which they are suspicious. Anya is not the most likeable of narrators as at times she can be mean spirited but she’s a survivor and she’s brutally honest and if you can’t be honest during a pandemic, when can you?? Her observations of the others seem very accurate, pertinent and I enjoy her thoughts. . I find her neighbour Marina much less likeable than Anya as she’s silly, stubborn and a drama queen who contributes as little as possible- at least Anya has gumption. Some of characters don’t like each other much, they’re all flawed and the tension between the couples and each other is done very well. In this particular patriarchal society I find it fascinating to see how the women cope though the male dominance is a tad hard to take!

The novel is well written, it’s slow to get going but does pick up pace. The journey gets very repetitious because the problems they encounter are pretty much the same in every area, hence the three stars.

Overall, though it’s worth reading for a slightly different take on a pandemic and I’m glad to have read it.

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Swift Press for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this thriller, it’s expertly written, compelling and the plot is perfect.
For fans of survivalist thrillers this is a must read. I loved it

I keep telling myself I won't read any more of these books,where a disease kills off most of the population at the drop of a hat.
But I do.
Mainly because they've been so good.
This book starts with a family of three,and soon expands to incorporate more people on a journey to the lake to safety from the spread of the disease.
It really is a roller coaster of a ride,not knowing who you will encounter on the way,what their motives are,and who ,if anyone can be trusted.
Packed full of tense moments,and a few dilemmas... its a book worth picking up for sure.

I really enjoyed this book, it was very in- depth, atmospheric and descriptive. The characters were fully formed and you really felt you knew them and could feel the strain they were under. It felt like you would imagine it would - possible danger lurking around every corner, uncertainty in weather you’re doing the right thing and ultimately totally responsible for your own survival and those of your loved ones! It would make a great film. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Expertly written. I was gripped, completely lost in the chaos'


Ladies and Gentlemen, I have a new favourite book.


Inspired by the flu epidemic in Moscow, the novel is a bestseller in Russia and has even been adapted into a hit Netflix series. The original story has now been translated into English and is ready to take the UK by storm in November, 2021.


As soon as I read the description for 'To The Lake' by Yana Vagner, I knew this would be a book I would love. So when I saw I was selected to read and review I was over the moon, I cuddled up in my bed, hot chocolate in hand and knew i was in for a long night of reading.


A couple of late nights later... and I'd finished it.


Anya & Sergey, who live close to the city of Moscow, are forced to leave their lives behind when faced with the harsh reality that Russia is on the brink of an epidemic. Faced with impossible decisions, unlikely friends and the knowledge that time is running out, the pair head to the only place they are certain is safe, to the lake.


'To The Lake' is expertly written, I was gripped, completely lost in the chaos.

Given the current global crises, books, tv shows and movies on plagues, epidemics and outbreaks have seen an upsurge in popularity. Some have been uncanny in their closeness to the current situation we find ourselves in. Others so far removed they serve as a reminder of how much worse it could be. It is human nature to want to read or view things and reassure ourselves that it could always be worse. To The Lake was inspired by a flu epidemic that happened in Moscow, Russia. The writer took this situation, and thought, what if…

The story starts with Anya and her husband Sergei sitting it out in their house, outside of the capital. But when Sergei’s father makes his way to them, he insists they are not far enough away, and they need to flee civilization, in order to survive. This sets them off on a journey that sees them navigate across Russia in the middle of winter, thrown together with neighbours they don’t particularly like, Sergei’s ex wife, and others picked up along the way. The story is told from Anya's perspective, and she is not the most likable, but the story is all the more real for it. It shows how a group of people who don’t really get along will put everything aside to survive. How they can work together, fight together, and struggle on every step of the journey to try and reach their goal.

I found this a gripping read, and when it ended, quite abruptly I was taken aback. I felt like I had journeyed along so far with the group, I need to know what happens to them next! A very good read, with a great cultural insight into how other countries approach all aspects of life.


*I received this book from NetGalley for review but all opinions are my own.

Wow what a gripping, thrilling and truly terrifying read. Imagine the pandemic we are living through only worse (yes I know it’s been bad) but as terrifying as COVID has been an authors imagination of a pandemic can install the fear of aloneness, a pack idea and fending for oneself and family and no one else. This follows a group of people, who might not get on with one another and at times hate each other, but have to live with each other or else risk falling behind, this makes the whole journey even more gripping. If you love a suspenseful and chilling novels this is one for you!!!!