Story drew me in

I loved the slow start and then it got quicker and quicker!
The narrator does her best to distinguish between characters.

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The Lake by Richard Laymon

This is the first book i have listen to by this author i was not disappointed it was a creepy tale lots of
twists came out of this book a very easy listen keeps you guessing

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great story, great performance!

great story great performance kept me on the edge of my seat have already ordered my next book!

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a bit long winded but an OK read would recommend t

it was OK prefer come out tonight it was a lot better and more gripping love this author

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1 person found this helpful

A chilling but lighthearted story.

The story is well written and you are immersed in the characters lives immediately. I listened to this on the way to work and thourally enjoyed the book. The only negative would be the naration as the reader has a hard time doing male voices so they all sound the same.

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Not one of Laymon’s best. Very unbelievable plot. Good performance though.

Richard Laymon is my all time favourite horror author (RIP) and I’ve loved 90% of his books but this one is very weak. It has some good moments but then they’re always spoilt by bordering on the ridiculous story arcs and character decisions. I’d try one of his other books like Travelling Vampire Show which is excellent. Narrator was good though but wasn’t working with the best material

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Badly Written or Narrated?

I have read Richard Laymon before and have enjoyed his work. He is a very good ?horror? writer. But unfortunately, this book falls down. A mixture of flashbacks and dream sequences that, whether this is due to the narration or not, don?t seem to fit together.

The story appears unfinished, with characters being introduced and then being forgotten about. For example a character?s background would be described, thus making it appear that the author intended to introduce these characters into the main narrative. But then nothing more is said about them it appears that the author decided against it.

As far as the story goes, it is gory (which is a good thing in a horror novel) and occasionally suspenseful (again, a plus). But the various plots unravel quickly when many events are happening at once and then drag on mundane irrelevant aspects. This gets confusing and towards the end of the book, annoying.

I have subsequently read that the author died before the release of this book and it would appear that this is actually an unfinished novel. This rings true with the above comments.
I have been listening to audio books for many years and am accustomed to listening to the various narrators? respective vocal abilities when reading. Unfortunately, Stephanie Brush was not able to vocally distinguish between the two main characters well. This meant that occasionally it was difficult to recognise who was meant to be speaking. Her increased speed of reading meant that it was difficult to keep track of the narrative. This could be down to poor editing, but it occasionally meant that spoken conversation was mixed up with the narrative, and resulted in difficulty in keeping up with events.

All in all, this doesn?t seem to be one of the author?s best novels and unfortunately has been made worse by the narrator.

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5 people found this helpful