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Publisher: Ballantine Books/Random House Audio
Release Date: February 6, 2018
Format: MP3 Download
Pages: Hardcover: 400 | Audio Length: 12 hours 57 mins
Narrator: Jon Lindstrom
Source: Audiobook Publisher
Genre: Mystery, Thriller
Rating: 2 bookmarks
Synopsis: Nate McHale has assembled the kind of life most people would envy. After a tumultuous youth marked by his inexplicable survival of a devastating tragedy, Nate left his Adirondack hometown of Greystone Lake and never looked back. Fourteen years later, he's become a respected New York City surgeon, devoted husband, and loving father.
Then a body is discovered deep in the forests that surround Greystone Lake.
This disturbing news finally draws Nate home. While navigating a tense landscape of secrets and suspicion, resentments and guilt, Nate reconnects with estranged friends and old enemies, and encounters strangers who seem to know impossible things about him. Haunting every moment is the Lake's sinister history and the memory of wild, beautiful Lucy Bennett, with whom Nate is forever linked by shattering loss and youthful passion.
As a massive hurricane bears down on the Northeast, the air becomes electric, the clouds grow dark, and escalating acts of violence echo events from Nate's own past. Without a doubt, a reckoning is coming--one that will lay bare the lies that lifelong friends have told themselves and unleash a vengeance that may consume them all.
*This audiobook was provided by the publisher in exchange for a honest review..
Release Date: February 6, 2018
Format: MP3 Download
Pages: Hardcover: 400 | Audio Length: 12 hours 57 mins
Narrator: Jon Lindstrom
Source: Audiobook Publisher
Genre: Mystery, Thriller
Rating: 2 bookmarks
Synopsis: Nate McHale has assembled the kind of life most people would envy. After a tumultuous youth marked by his inexplicable survival of a devastating tragedy, Nate left his Adirondack hometown of Greystone Lake and never looked back. Fourteen years later, he's become a respected New York City surgeon, devoted husband, and loving father.
Then a body is discovered deep in the forests that surround Greystone Lake.
This disturbing news finally draws Nate home. While navigating a tense landscape of secrets and suspicion, resentments and guilt, Nate reconnects with estranged friends and old enemies, and encounters strangers who seem to know impossible things about him. Haunting every moment is the Lake's sinister history and the memory of wild, beautiful Lucy Bennett, with whom Nate is forever linked by shattering loss and youthful passion.
As a massive hurricane bears down on the Northeast, the air becomes electric, the clouds grow dark, and escalating acts of violence echo events from Nate's own past. Without a doubt, a reckoning is coming--one that will lay bare the lies that lifelong friends have told themselves and unleash a vengeance that may consume them all.
*This audiobook was provided by the publisher in exchange for a honest review..
The story begins with Nate McHale, aka “The Storm King”, taking the bus back home to Greystone Lake after being away for fourteen years. He is taking the bus because hurricane Medea is making her way toward his boyhood home and riding the bus is safer than flying. We learn that during his absence he has become an oncologist, a husband and father. He is weary about returning, but there are some questions he needs answered. The town and the lake hold terrible memories from his youth and Nate is unsure about what will be revealed during this reunion. Nate’s parents and baby brother drowned in the lake when their car was hit by another driver and Nate was the sole survivor. The lake is also the keeper of fond memories, secrets and tragedy that he once shared with his high school buddies and his first love, Lucy Bennett.
It took some time before it was revealed why Nate would travel through a terrible hurricane to return home, but we find out that the body of his ex-girlfriend, Lucy Bennett, was discovered in the woods near the lake. All those years ago, it was suspected that Lucy had ran away according to a note she left behind. Nate wants to find out what really happened to her and who did it.
Nate earned the name “The Storm King” because he led his group of friends during the darkness of the storms on excursions to wreak havoc on the lives of the townspeople he deemed punishable. He believed “…everyone is guilty of something. Everyone needs to be punished.” The storms muffled their mayhem and disguised their appearances. He even encouraged “punishing” the parents of his best friends if they believed they were wronged by them.
At a graduation party Lucy disappears, but no one is quite clear what happened because the night was filled with pill popping and drinking alcohol. Lucy becomes upset with Nate and leaves the party and is later seen with her ex-boyfriend, Adam. A fight breaks out and Lucy runs off. They try searching for her and decide she will show up the next morning, but she doesn’t. She is missing.
There are A LOT of characters in this story.I would say there are two to three main characters and at least five supporting characters and then some. Nate is the fearless leader among his high school friends. Lucy is Nate’s girlfriend and also the daughter of the drunk driver that killed Nate’s family. And each one of Nate’s best friends have some family issues and seem depressed which make it easy for Nate to convince them to punish people.
I did not like any of the characters, well maybe Gram (Nate’s grandma). Everyone seemed mean-spirited and had no redeeming quality until the very end which I guess counts, but it took so long to want to like them. Nate and Lucy’s characters were well developed, but I wanted and would have appreciated more backstory on Nate’s friends, Tom, Johnny and Owen. They are so integral to the story and we (the reader) were only given tidbits. It may have helped me understand some things that left me perplexed.
Duffy does a fantastic job creating a haunting and sinister feel to the lake and the hurricane, but in other areas he was almost too descriptive. There was a disconnect somewhere. I cannot put my finger on it, but I felt like I was missing a piece to a puzzle. I’m not sure if it was the flashbacks or the elaborate descriptions but I could not visualize parts of the story. He would eloquently describe the Night Ship, an abandoned ship that Nate and his friends used as their hangout and I could not visualize this ship no matter how Duffy described it. Some of the story lines were long and drawn out without resolution. And the phrase “The lake returns what it takes” was well-worn by the end of the story. I also did not enjoy the pace of the story. It seemed stagnant and never picked up.
Actor Jon Lindstrom, Dr. Kevin Collins on General Hospital, narrated this book. He started off strong, but as time went on you could tell he could not consistently stay in the voice of his character. There were times when I could not tell the difference between Tom, Johnny and Owen and some other male voices unless it was stated “said Owen.” And his female voices were a little rough around the edges, but they grew on me.
I love a good mystery, suspense or thriller. And I will go wherever the story takes me if it does it an enjoyable and exciting manner and “The Storm King” did not do either of these things. I struggled with the flashbacks, which usually aren’t an issue, and the different story lines. There was definitely a disconnect for me.Unfortunately, I do not recommend this book.
Nate earned the name “The Storm King” because he led his group of friends during the darkness of the storms on excursions to wreak havoc on the lives of the townspeople he deemed punishable. He believed “…everyone is guilty of something. Everyone needs to be punished.” The storms muffled their mayhem and disguised their appearances. He even encouraged “punishing” the parents of his best friends if they believed they were wronged by them.
At a graduation party Lucy disappears, but no one is quite clear what happened because the night was filled with pill popping and drinking alcohol. Lucy becomes upset with Nate and leaves the party and is later seen with her ex-boyfriend, Adam. A fight breaks out and Lucy runs off. They try searching for her and decide she will show up the next morning, but she doesn’t. She is missing.
There are A LOT of characters in this story.I would say there are two to three main characters and at least five supporting characters and then some. Nate is the fearless leader among his high school friends. Lucy is Nate’s girlfriend and also the daughter of the drunk driver that killed Nate’s family. And each one of Nate’s best friends have some family issues and seem depressed which make it easy for Nate to convince them to punish people.
I did not like any of the characters, well maybe Gram (Nate’s grandma). Everyone seemed mean-spirited and had no redeeming quality until the very end which I guess counts, but it took so long to want to like them. Nate and Lucy’s characters were well developed, but I wanted and would have appreciated more backstory on Nate’s friends, Tom, Johnny and Owen. They are so integral to the story and we (the reader) were only given tidbits. It may have helped me understand some things that left me perplexed.
Duffy does a fantastic job creating a haunting and sinister feel to the lake and the hurricane, but in other areas he was almost too descriptive. There was a disconnect somewhere. I cannot put my finger on it, but I felt like I was missing a piece to a puzzle. I’m not sure if it was the flashbacks or the elaborate descriptions but I could not visualize parts of the story. He would eloquently describe the Night Ship, an abandoned ship that Nate and his friends used as their hangout and I could not visualize this ship no matter how Duffy described it. Some of the story lines were long and drawn out without resolution. And the phrase “The lake returns what it takes” was well-worn by the end of the story. I also did not enjoy the pace of the story. It seemed stagnant and never picked up.
Actor Jon Lindstrom, Dr. Kevin Collins on General Hospital, narrated this book. He started off strong, but as time went on you could tell he could not consistently stay in the voice of his character. There were times when I could not tell the difference between Tom, Johnny and Owen and some other male voices unless it was stated “said Owen.” And his female voices were a little rough around the edges, but they grew on me.
I love a good mystery, suspense or thriller. And I will go wherever the story takes me if it does it an enjoyable and exciting manner and “The Storm King” did not do either of these things. I struggled with the flashbacks, which usually aren’t an issue, and the different story lines. There was definitely a disconnect for me.Unfortunately, I do not recommend this book.
