Lost Lake

By Phillip Margolin

On a summer night in Portland, Oregon, violence erupts at a Little League game -- and attorney Ami Vergano watches in horror as the quiet, gentle artist she recently befriended does the unexpected and unthinkable . . .

In a cheap motel room in Washington, D.C., Vanessa Kohler -- ex-mental patient, supermarket tabloid reporter, and estranged daughter of a powerful general running for president -- views a news broadcast of the bizarre incident and believes she's found the only witness to a deadly conspiracy.

Caught between a possible madwoman and a confessed mass murderer, between reality and delusion, Ami races to unearth the terrible truth about dark events that may or may never have happened twenty years earlier in a secluded cabin on Lost Lake.

• Language: English
• Publisher: HarperCollins
• Release date: Oct 13, 2009
• ISBN: 9780061826863

Phillip Margolin

Phillip Margolin has written nineteen novels, many of them New York Times bestsellers, including his latest novels Woman with a Gun, Worthy Brown’s Daughter, Sleight of Hand, and the Washington trilogy. Each displays a unique, compelling insider’s view of criminal behavior, which comes from his long background as a criminal defense attorney who has handled thirty murder cases. Winner of the Distinguished Northwest Writer Award, he lives in Portland, Oregon.

Reviews for Lost Lake

[sunnydrk · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

A widow with a young son takes in a renter, with training unlike any other. When that training comes back, the widow is thrown in the middle of a seemingly paranoid tale of secret government military units. The characters were well done and so likeable when the should be and despised when they should be. Even the supporting characters had enough depth that I found myself wanting to know even more about them (and cheering them on).

[adriel_2 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

An over-the-top novel that gave you too much connection with the characters so you never doubted their intentions even though the rest of the world did. The story is told through many different views, probably the wrong ones.

[carl_alves_1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Lost Lake was entertaining, moved along nicely, had a strong plot and good tension. There was a lot to like about it. It's the story of a man Carl Rice, who was part of a general who is now running for president's secret army of assassins. Years later, he is arrested. A lawyer who befriended him agrees to take his case while General Wingate targets him for assassination. Although I enjoyed, there were some parts that I thought were unbelievable and brought the book down a peg. For instance, the evil General Wingate was running against the incumbent president in his party's primary and beating him. That does not happen in real life. The moment Wingate daughter started making allegations against him, he would be sunk. There's no way in hell a presidential candidate could have done all of those horrible things without it getting uncovered; ask Herman Caine, Bill Clinton and Gary Hart. Once the whole thing got uncovered Wingate's response was so utterly preposterous that it was laughable. Margolin wrote a decent story, but he needs to get a grip on reality.Carl Alves - author of Two For Eternity

[sweetoldbob · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Same as "Gone But Not Forgotten." Not much character depth, but a good read with interesting twists and turns. That's enough for Margolin

[darcia_10 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

I have been a Margolin fan for many years but, for me, this book was not among his best. The details were overly repetitive. Characters rehashed the same issues over and over and I found myself skimming multiple sections. About a third of the way through the book, we were taken to various points decades back. These sections went on with tremendous detail, making it hard to stay connected to the characters in the present story. Also, I had a problem with the timeline. One of the main characters was drafted in the Vietnam War, yet he was only in his 40s in 2005. That being said, Margolin's writing is still crisp and entertaining. While I didn't love this book, it won't deter me from reading more from Phillip Margolin.

[readingwithlynn · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Awesome work of art by Mr. Margolin! I love his work!

[echolaine · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

I discovered Mr Margolin’s work through the Jaffe series. I like his pacing, seemingly impossible situations, and smart, clean writing. I bet you will, too.

[dean · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Very gripping story, well written as all his books are, I couldn't put it down.