Thank you Intrigue Ink Publishing / Netgalley, #partner, for the advanced e-copy of The Stranger at Black Lake in exchange for my honest review.
Publisher: Intrigue Ink Publishing
Published: March 19, 2024
Summary:
Secrets, murder and revenge converge in this gripping prequel to Amazon charts bestselling thriller, These Still Black Waters, about a young Jess Lambert drawn into a deadly cat-and-mouse game. Because old ghosts often have old scores to settle.
Jess Lambert and her husband, Mac, have just moved to Black Lake, looking for a quieter, more peaceful life. Until one morning Jess befriends a stranger—beautiful and glamorous Annie Parker—who’s also just moved to town.
Only a few hours later, Jess finds Annie wandering naked and in shock along the lake. And at Annie’s house she encounters a gruesome scene that shows a violent attack. But then Annie disappears.
As Jess is pulled deeper into the mystery of what happened to Annie, she learns about the house’s chilling past. And she begins to who was Annie really? Is she a witness, murderer, victim?
But it’s dangerous hunting down old ghosts. And Jess becomes increasingly unsure if she’s the hunter, or the prey. Who is the stranger at Black Lake?
My thoughts:
I loved These Still Black Waters, which was the first book in Christina McDonald’s Jess Lambert series and so I was thrilled to find out that she had written a prequel novella while we wait for the second book in the series to come out. Yes, I did read this one after reading the first book, but I really don’t think it matters – I loved finding out what it was that brought Jess to Black Lake in the first place and what leads to some decisions that play into the first book. This prequel might be short, but let me tell you, it is chock full of great character development that I find to be quite integral to Jess’s story arc and boy is it an eerie, creepy book. I found myself completely pulled in from the get-go and loved every second of it!
Whether you have read These Still Black Waters or not, this is a must-read for this series and now I am even more excited for book 2, What Lies in Darkness, which come out in July!
Books in this series:
0.5 The Stranger at Black Lake
- These Still Black Waters
- What Lies in Darkness – due out July 16th
