Hemlock Lake by Carolyn J. Rose

 

Was the attack on the construction site only a distraction for the real target....Dan Stone?  One bizarre attempt on Dan's life after another with no clues or any reason why puzzled everyone. Could the attacker be a local resident, a total stranger, someone who Dan arrested, or some unknown crazed person?  

Along with the attempts on his life and the mourning of his wife and brother, Dan had nothing but friction from everyone in Hemlock Lake...no acceptance and no help.  After being away for many years and returning to his hometown as a success definitely wasn't a good idea, but Dan Stone had been "ordered" to return to solve problems occurring in Hemlock Lake. The town was the same as when he left many years ago, and the people were just as shallow.  

Hemlock Lake was about feelings and healing.  Almost every character had a story and almost every character needed to heal from some tragedy.  Dan's tragedy was well known to everyone, and someone was trying to sabotage his investigation and at the same time make him hurt even more emotionally and to try to kill him.

There were also characters that were not in need of healing but liked to play tricks on the other characters with the intention of hurting or frightening them off.  What was going on around this town?  That question was part of the plot until the suspenseful end.

The story will hold your interest as your feelings of hatred, pity, or indifference toward the characters evolves.  This story is about a small town that never grew up.  

The story flowed well, and you will find yourself wanting to get back to reading as quickly as you can.  The author has great detail in each scene, and the ending is definitely worth the wait.  There are flashbacks to Dan's tragedy throughout the book and how he dealt with them in the present.

The book was primarily about the town, the residents, dealing with and trying to overcome tragedies, and introspection.  

I originally had a rating of 4/5 because of some of lengthy descriptions, but as the book progressed, my rating changed to a 5/5 because it truly was very well written and portrayed problems and situations we eventually face in our lives at some point....death of a loved one, forgiving ourselves, overcoming jealousy, and realizing we shouldn't and can't face tragedy alone.  Definitely a good mystery.  ENJOY!!

This book was given to me free of charge by the author in return for an honest review.