#BookReview: Lake Abandon by David Six @AuthorDavidSix @booksproutapp

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#BookReview: Lake Abandon by David Six @AuthorDavidSix @booksproutapp

Hi everyone! Today, I have a book review for a dark, gritty, and gripping read from an author new to me. I discovered David Six and his book Lake Abandon via Twitter and received a free ARC from BookSprout >>>

About the Book:Three people on a collision course:
A wife and mother, teetering on the edge of sanity.
A narcissistic killer, whose brutal murders become more vicious with each victim.
A worn-out cop, trying desperately to put the pieces together.

Jody Rand is escaping her abusive husband. With seventeen-year-old daughter Beulah in tow, she flees late one New Year’s Eve into California’s snow-smothered Sierra Nevada mountains.

Eddie Swofford is a big-box home center worker who accidentally discovers he likes killing. He likes it a lot.

Harrison “HarHar” Hardy is the detective assigned to the case, which becomes more confusing with each victim found.

Jody Rand just wants to escape her old life. Eddie Swofford just wants to keep killing. Hardy just wants it to end.

Three people. One horrific evil. Who will survive?

Warning: This story examines the nature of criminal insanity, and therefore contains scenes of graphic violence that may be disturbing to some. Reader discretion advised.

My Review:

DARK, GRITTY, AND GRIPPING

Many thanks to the author, David Six, and BookSprout for a free ARC of this book. I am under no obligation to leave a review, and my opinions are entirely my own and an honest reflection of my thoughts on this novel.

I haven’t read this author before, and all I knew to expect was that this would be a very dark read, according to the author’s warning to readers. Right from the first line, this book pulled me right in. … “Jody Rand tried not to let the metronomic swish of the wiper blades distract her from the oil-slick blackness of the road ahead.” From here, the tension just kept on mounting and mounting.

This dark tale gets gory, and I would classify it both as a Thriller and as a Horror genre. There are plenty of potential trigger points for some readers, so be warned. This book contains a bit of almost everything. We have a mother and daughter on the run and battling the elements in the mountains. We have a weird guy who spirals into complete madness … I loved watching him slip and slide exponentially into a complete nutcase. That was so excellently written and portrayed. And, finally, we have a cop with issues but whom everyone loves. He’s a good guy doing a real tough job. And he will not give up.

The writing holds a few spelling mistakes, such as ‘down’ for ‘done’, lots of instances of ‘of’ for ‘have’ within narrative, and ‘site’ for ‘sight’, etc. However, the read was so compelling, it still merits 5 stars from me. The descriptive ability of this author is awe inspiring, and the world building and characterisation are excellently done. This whole thing, dark and fantastic as it is at times, is wholly believable. Here are some lines I loved …

“Beulah let out that laugh singular to teenage girls who are letting their parents know that they are hopelessly outclassed by the intelligence of a person having lived for less than two decades.”

And …

“She’d pressed her lips together like she was flattening the wrinkles out of a shirt with them.”

And …

“… face like he fell out of the ugly tree and hit every branch on the way down …”

And …

“… though he was such a bad shot, he probably couldn’t hit the lake if he was standing in it.”

I don’t usually go for reads this dark, and while some parts had me positively cringing, plenty also had me laughing out loud. There is both innocent and dark humour abounding in this story. If you love a good horror read, I would highly recommend this book, and it gets a resounding 5 stars from me. I’ll be looking out for more books from David Six.

***

NOTE ON RATINGS: I consider a 3-star rating a positive review. Picky about which books I give 5 stars to, I reserve this highest rating for the stories I find stunning and which moved me.

5 STARS: IT WAS AMAZING! I COULD NOT PUT IT DOWN! — Highly Recommended.
4 STARS: I WOULD PULL AN ALL-NIGHTER — Go read this book.
3 STARS: IT WAS GOOD! — An okay read. Didn’t love it. Didn’t hate it.
2 STARS: I MAY HAVE LIKED A FEW THINGS —Lacking in some areas: writing, characterisation, and/or problematic plot lines.
1 STAR: NOT MY CUP OF TEA —Lots of issues with this book.

I’d love to hear what you think of this review. Thanks for stopping by