Back in 1998, four girls went missing from the same small North Carolina college. Many years later, a true crime podcast has revived interest in their disappearances. Some of the victim's families are happy for the renewed attention, and others don't want to keep reliving the past. A journalist comes to town determined to solve the mystery once and for all. Things really start to heat up once a body is found.

I really wanted to love this book. It kept feeling as though it was about to get really good, but for me, it never did. I figured out who was behind the disappearances way before I would have liked to. I didn't find any of the characters likable; in fact, I found a few of them incredibly unlikeable, including one of the missing girls, Jess, and her father.

The dual points-of-view were written in voices that were too similar. Lindsay and Jess are sisters, but they were virtually indistinguishable from one another, which I thought detracted from the story. Both sisters falling for the same guy many years apart had me rolling my eyes. He wasn't even worth one of them being interested in him, let alone both.

I gave the book 2.5 stars because, like I already mentioned, I really thought it had a lot of potential to be great, but in the end it fell flat.

Thank you to NetGalley, Katherine Greene, and Crooked Lane Books for an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest review.

eARC from netgalley for my honest opinion, so here goes:

[High three, rounded to four stars]

An unsolved murder mystery story, with so many twists, turns, suspects, and characters. There are so many smoke and mirror tricks, making you believe you have everything figured out - when you really DO NOT.
It definitely had all the ingredients to be a five-star read. Sadly, it just fell flat in a couple of areas that I'll discuss further on in the review.

First and foremost, I want to discuss the things that I really liked;

• From the start, I had the feeling it would really be an interesting story, it was very Holly Jackson-esque which I absolutely loved: like the love child of A Good Girls Guide to Murder and The Reappearance of Rachel Price.
Told from *mostly* two POVs and times - present day Lindsey, who's sister disappeared more than two decades prior and Jessica, in her freshman year at college, the months leading up to her disappearance in the late 90s.

• I enjoyed the dual timeline, and it really amped up the twist so much more!! I also actually enjoyed the little snippets of other POVs nearer to the end to give a more rounded view of the events surrounding the disappearance.
[I received an eProof copy, so I'm hoping this is why, but I'm hoping the formatting is a little cleaner for these little POVs and for the quick switch between POVs near the end]

• The amount and believability of the suspects: The story involves not only Jessica going missing in the late 90s but three other girls. I found the way they were all linked, and the emergence of the suspects very well done.

• The undercurrent of feminism: bringing to light the systematic abuse of power in education systems, the grooming of young students by older teachers, the way certain types of men feel entitled to young women. Daisy's character really interested me, I wish we could have seen more of her.

• The social media and podcasts between chapters, it gave it a really authentic feel, and they were very well done.

Now, onto the things that held it back from being the next perfect thriller:

• The insta lust/love between Lindsey and Ryan gave me the ick so badly. It felt rushed and a bit cheesy. I'm not sure whether this was to show the slightly sheltered, smothered person Lindsey was or whether it was supposed to be that way, but I felt like their wasn't much chemistry on page between the characters. And then it all seemed a bit fruitless in the end. The first 30% gave me the feel that we were reading a romance book rather than a thriller, and then it suddenly fizzled completely after the first twist in the plot and they just didn't seem to discuss anything ever again, which I felt was a bit strange.

• The ending: not the twist, that was very well done (I had guessed it about 5-10% previously but I'm really good at guessing twists *hello adhd* so I don't think that could be said for everyone) - it was more the lack of any conversation between any of the main characters AFTER that. We just got the last episode of a podcast? It would have been so much better if there was some conversation. We were told the repercussions for all suspects involved on the podcast... in a sentence. I was so invested in everyone's stories. An epilogue with a time jump after that would have been nice. I want to know if Lindsey's okay. Is she at peace now that she knows everything? How is she dealing with things? How's her mum? Does she still speak to anyone?

Anyway, to conclude, I'd definitely say this is a well-done and interesting book that just needs a few minor tweaks to be perfect. I'd highly recommend it to anyone who enjoys mystery, suspense, whodunnits, and especially anyone who is a Holly Jackson fan!

Lindsay Fadley has always been known for having a missing sister. Years before her sister and three others students went missing from the same college and none of their bodies have ever been found. A new podcast has reopened the case of the missing girls and sparked an interest in the case. Then a body of one of the girls is discovered in the lake and old suspects and new are being questioned. Then a journalist shows up and offers to help Lindsey find the killer of the missing girls and although she is drawn to him she's not sure she should trust him.
The story had me hooked from the start although I did find it repetitive at times it still kept me reading. There are so many twists and turns you don't know who to trust. I couldn't put it down and it didn't disappoint. Thanks to Netgalley, Crooked Lane Books and the author for an advanced copy. It was definitely worth the lost sleep to finish it.

This was such a good book I would rate it a 3/5 stars it kept me on my toes and I really enjoyed it! Thank you so much NetGalley and the publisher for the copy to read.

This book was an easy read but with many twists and turns. It kept you hooked. The story of a family looking for a missing love one does hit close to home since my sister in law and nephew have been missing since 2017 and we are still looking for their bodies and waiting on justice. So because of that I could relate to the sisters search and frustration. Even though we know who did it in our case

This book has potential, but the storyline seemed to jump at random times with no transition. I was confused at times on where we were in the story. The killer was predictable by about halfway. It was a fast thrilling story but needs a little more depth. Thank you to netgalley for the advance copy.

I received an advanced reader copy of this title from NetGalley. I enjoyed how the story revolved around 4 girls that went missing in the 90s and goes back and forth between perspectives of one of the girls that went missing as well as her younger sister that was the last person to see her before she disappeared. Initially the missing college students were not seen as connected by the police but a renewed interest in the cases from a true crime podcast bringing more information to light provided a spark to reinvestigate where the police didn’t make connections the first time around. The book kept me guessing until the end on how it all would be connected.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6343159294

Told from various points of view and through a crime podcast, this book keeps you guessing. 4 missing girls all from the same college, a fumbled initial investigation, a younger sister living in the shadow of her sister, 2 main suspects, and one huge twist!

I was really invested in this book. I could not tell who the murderer was at all which makes for a great book. I just did not get the twist though. It was a good one, don`t get me wrong. But I feel like it was missing more information or something. There was something wrong with that relationship and I think not all was told. I highly recommend this book though.

I did not enjoy this book at all, sadly. I really wanted to. But I felt like it was formulaic and didn’t really sound like an authentic podcast. The twist was good, it was just that the build up felt rushed.

Grab your rattiest flannel and Kurt Cobain tee, because we’re heading back to the 90s — 1998, to be specific, which is when we meet doomed Southern State University freshman Jessica Fadley in The Lake of Lost Girls by Katherine Greene.

Bright, pretty, and responsible, Jess is the last person anyone ever expects to get into trouble, especially her adoring little sister, Lindsay. But, just like the nearby lake Jess spent hours on with her dad every summer growing up, not everything is as calm or as perfect as it appears on the surface. She’s hiding dangerous secrets of her own, and just as she’s about to drown from the pressure of keeping them, she vanishes into thin air. Flash forward two decades: a popular true crime podcast focusing on cold cases turns its exploitative eye on Jess’s disappearance for its new season, and a now-adult Lindsay finds herself drawn into solving the mystery of what really happened to her sister on her birthday 24 years earlier, whether she wants to or not. (Happy birthday, I guess?)

The Lake of Lost Girls uses dual timelines, bouncing from Jess’s experience at school in the late 90s before disappearing in front of her childhood home one afternoon, and then back in present day with Lindsay, who is building a successful career in hospitality. Lindsay has tried to put her family tragedy behind her, and doesn’t exactly relish being tugged back to that headspace. Unfortunately her plans to float above it all go to hell when the bodies of long-missing co-eds from Southern State begin surfacing in the nearby Doll’s Eye lake — could Jessica’s corpse be next? Enter: daddy issues! Old resentments! Perverted teachers! Bad boyfriends! Irritated roommates! Commentaries on the general f*ckery of the true crime industrial complex! (Yes, obviously everyone in this book needs therapy.) (Which, same, tbh.)

If you’re a fan of true crime, this tight thriller due out in November from Katherine Greene — aka writing duo A. Meredith Walters and Claire C. Riley (The Woods Are Waiting) — should absolutely be on your radar, as it incorporates modern-day hallmarks of the genre as we know it today. There are transcripts from the podcast episodes investigating Jess’s case, which serve as a kind of framing device for the novel (I have to note that reading the “banter” between the podcast hosts was unbearable, personally, and doesn’t add any insight to the story). There are also tweets and other bits of media about Jess sprinkled throughout, plenty of unexpected twists, and more. (*Billy Mays voice* So! Much! More!)

As I sank deeper and deeper into the cold, dark depths of this story (OK fine, fine, I’ll stop with the water imagery), I appreciated the strong sense of atmosphere and suspense. Unfortunately the dialogue throughout came off as unrealistic, with stilted conversations that essentially splashed cold lake water all over any building momentum. (I couldn’t resist, but I’m done now! Promise!) I was also turned off by some of the characters, like the cloying, transparent Ryan, who I hated from the jump. And that twist? In theory, loved it — inventive and unexpected. In practice, though, I just don’t think it had enough foundation in the story leading up to it to deliver in the way it should. The big reveal glosses over some pretty major plot holes, landing with all the finesse of a drunken cannonball . . . off a raft . . . in the middle of a lake . . . that might also be hiding the bodies of a few lost girls. (Hahahah. Sorry.)

TL;DR — Although I wasn’t always a fan of some of the creative choices in this one, people who already have a love of true crime-influenced thrillers might find it worth dipping their metaphorical toes in. (Bye!!!!!)

Thank you to NetGalley and Crooked Lane Books for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Sadly, i could not get into this book. No worries, didn’t books satisfy different people! That’s the beauty of reading.

Readers are plunged deep into the Doll’s Eye Lake that’s tucked away in the small town of Mt. Randall where twenty five year old skeletal remains are finally surfacing and getting the attention they desperately deserve.

Its 1998 and women from Southern State University are disappearing without a trace and detectives never followed up on leads that were clearly right in front of their face. Jessica and her boyfriend had seen one of the professors with each of the woman that disappeared, but the college quickly swept their accusations under the rug. Jessica returns home for her little sister Lindsey’s birthday, but when she goes outside to grab her present from the trunk…she vanishes.

Its present day, a new podcast called Ten Seconds to Vanish: The Unsolved Disappearance of Jessica Fadley gives new light on the case. The podcast, and a friendly stranger have propelled Lindsey to investigate her sister’s disappearance but what she finds is devastating.

This story was unique with its features of social media posts, newspaper clippings, and podcast episodes which gave it a much more realistic perspective and I almost forgot I was reading fiction. I inhaled both of Katherine’s books back to back and have loved how she can build up her characters and keep readers on the edge of their seats. You think the story is going one way, the signs were all there, but the endings have completely blindsided me.

I can’t wait to read Katherine’s next book, I know it’ll be another five star.

Wow! This is a very twisted read. Lindsey has been in suspense for twenty four years what happened to her beloved sister, Jessica. Jess disappeared on Lindsey’s sixth birthday when she went to her car to retrieve the cake from her trunk. Strangely enough three other women also disappeared a few months prior to her sister’s disappearance. Remains are found and the police are finally digging into the disappearance of all four women. Very twisted read. I was given an advanced reader copy of this book by NetGalley and I am freely sharing my review.

The links to true crime stories and the way the articles and podcasts switched forms were both incredibly interesting to me. While I preferred Jess' point of view, the alternate timeframes actually worked incredibly well and were both plenty suspenseful on their own. I devoured this in one sitting because of the strong writing and quick pacing. In some ways, everything felt very surface-level, especially in light of Jess's point of view and what transpired there. What I wanted was a little more depth. I was hoping for a bit more blood and guts. Additionally, I believe that things became a little confusing near the conclusion. Perhaps more effort should have been spent crafting the ending rather than explaining everything at first.

The Lake of Lost Girls not only takes readers through the ride that is discovering what happened to Jessica Fadley and the three other students that went “missing” from Southern State University in North Carolina, it sheds a small light on the impact that True Crime fascination has on the people closely involved in the cases.

Although The Lake of Lost Girls started out slow, once I got the hang of the alternating timelines, I was hooked. I was drawn in through the various forms of storytelling. I thoroughly enjoyed the addition of scripts from the True Crime Podcast that attempts to sleuth their way through this cold case.

A unique prose, twisty turns, excellent pace, I highly recommend The Lake of Lost Girls for thriller and true crime fans.

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.

This was really good. Well written with good characters and strong plot twists. I very much enjoyed it!

𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐝𝐠𝐞-𝐨𝐟-𝐲𝐨𝐮𝐫-𝐬𝐞𝐚𝐭 𝐬𝐮𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐧𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐫 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐦𝐮𝐥𝐭𝐢𝐩𝐥𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐬𝐢𝐛𝐥𝐞 𝐬𝐮𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐬, 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐫𝐞 𝐢𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚 𝐫𝐢𝐝𝐞 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝑻𝒉𝒆 𝑳𝒂𝒌𝒆 𝒐𝒇 𝑳𝒐𝒔𝒕 𝑮𝒊𝒓𝒍𝒔! 𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 𝐢𝐬 𝐮𝐧𝐢𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐭𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐚𝐥𝐭𝐞𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐩𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐩𝐞𝐜𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐞𝐬, 𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐬𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐚 𝐭𝐫𝐮𝐞 𝐜𝐫𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐩𝐨𝐝𝐜𝐚𝐬𝐭, 𝐚𝐝𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚 𝐟𝐮𝐧 𝐦𝐨𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐧 𝐭𝐰𝐢𝐬𝐭. 𝐈𝐭’𝐬 𝐝𝐞𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐢𝐭𝐞𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐬 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩𝐬 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐠𝐨𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐛𝐚𝐜𝐤 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐡 𝐨𝐧 𝐰𝐡𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝’𝐯𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐞 𝐰𝐡𝐚𝐭 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐢𝐭 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐣𝐨𝐛 𝐚𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐚𝐥𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐣𝐮𝐬𝐭 𝐞𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡—𝐛𝐮𝐭 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐨𝐨 𝐦𝐮𝐜𝐡—𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐞𝐚𝐜𝐡 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐩𝐭𝐞𝐫.

𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐈 𝐝𝐢𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐝𝐢𝐜𝐭 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐲 𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐥𝐲 𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐧𝐭𝐨 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤, 𝐈 𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐥𝐥 𝐞𝐧𝐣𝐨𝐲𝐞𝐝 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝! 𝐈𝐭 𝐞𝐝𝐠𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐝𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐛𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐭 𝐛𝐞𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐰𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐦𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐥𝐲 𝐬𝐨 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐡𝐚𝐬 𝐚 𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐬𝐟𝐲𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐫𝐞𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧. 𝐖𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐛𝐚𝐛𝐥𝐲 𝐦𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐧 𝐞𝐱𝐜𝐞𝐥𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐭 𝐚𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐨𝐛𝐨𝐨𝐤—𝐈’𝐦 𝐡𝐨𝐩𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐮𝐝𝐢𝐨 𝐯𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐢𝐬 𝐫𝐞𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞𝐝!

𝒯𝒽𝒶𝓃𝓀 𝓎𝑜𝓊 𝓉𝑜 𝒦𝒶𝓉𝒽𝑒𝓇𝒾𝓃𝑒 𝒢𝓇𝑒𝑒𝓃𝑒, 𝒞𝓇𝑜𝑜𝓀𝑒𝒹 𝐿𝒶𝓃𝑒 𝐵𝑜𝑜𝓀𝓈, & 𝒩𝑒𝓉𝒢𝒶𝓁𝓁𝑒𝓎 𝒻𝑜𝓇 𝓉𝒽𝑒 𝒜𝑅𝒞! 𝒜𝓁𝓁 𝑜𝓅𝒾𝓃𝒾𝑜𝓃𝓈 𝒶𝓇𝑒 𝓂𝓎 𝑜𝓌𝓃.

Four young women disappeared from the campus of Southern State University 24 years ago. A lackluster police response lead to the case going cold but now things are coming to the surface. Told in alternating time lines this twisted tale will leave you guessing right until the very end. Peppered in are transcripts from a true crime podcast covering the cold case as it warms back up.

I ate this book up in two sittings. As a reformed true crime podcast listener I loved the podcast aspect and how the family reacted to being covered in this way. Full of red herrings and twists I couldn’t get my theory’s of whodunit straight!

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and the author for the eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Katherine Greene's novel, The Lake of Lost Girls, offers an intriguing premise and a dual storyline that holds promise. Alternating between different perspectives, the narrative provides a multifaceted view of the mystery at its core. Despite my general aversion to books featuring podcasts, I found the storylines engaging at times, even if the two girls central to the podcast subplot were somewhat grating.

The college setting, while well-rendered, skewed too young adult for my personal taste, making it harder for me to connect with the characters and their experiences. Although the writing itself was competent and the storyline had potential, it ultimately failed to sustain my interest throughout.

I would like to thank NetGalley for providing an advance copy in exchange for this honest review.