Wolf Lake: A Novel

by John Verdon Narrated by Christopher Lane

Overview

Could a nightmare be used as a murder weapon? That's the provocative question confronting Gurney in the thrilling new installment in this series of international bestsellers. The former NYPD star homicide detective is called upon to solve a baffling puzzle: Four people who live in different parts of the country and who seem to have little in common, report having had the same dream-a terrifying nightmare involving a bloody dagger with a carved wolf's head on the handle. All four are subsequently found with their wrists cut-apparent suicides-and the weapon used in each case was a wolf's head dagger.

Police zero in quickly on Richard Hammond, a controversial psychologist who conducts hypnotherapy sessions at a spooky old Adirondack inn called Wolf Lake Lodge. It seems that each of the victims had gone there to meet with Hammond shortly before turning up dead.

Troubled by odd holes in the official approach to the case, Gurney begins his own investigation-an action that puts him in the crosshairs of not only an icy murderer and the local police but the darkest corner of the federal government. As ruthless as the blizzard trapping him in the sinister eeriness of Wolf Lake, Gurney's enemies set out to keep him from the truth at any cost-including an all-out assault on the sanity of his beloved wife Madeleine.

With his emotional resources strained to the breaking point, Gurney must throw himself into a deadly battle of wits with the most frightening opponent he has ever faced.

Wolf Lake is the new work by a writer hailed by the New York Times as “masterly”-and it furthers the adventures of Dave Gurney, a detective reviewers have compared to Sherlock Holmes.

Editorial Reviews

SEPTEMBER 2016 - AudioFile

WOLF LAKE is an entertainingly gothic audiobook about a series of suspicious deaths and an isolated Adirondack estate. Legend says that the robber baron founder of the place dreamed a terrible dream about his own death, then died in the manner he had dreamed of. Now more creepy deaths are happening, all preceded by horrible haunting dreams. Dave Gurney, the retired police detective who is drawn into the case, has a wife who—surprise!—has her own dark connection to the place and is soon in jeopardy as well. Christopher Lane does a fine job in his slightly graveled voice of developing personalities, creating suspense, and keeping up the pace with a straight face as each dastardly turn of events thickens the plot. B.G. © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine

Publishers Weekly

★ 05/02/2016
Fans of classic fair play who appreciate well-developed characterizations in their whodunits will relish Verdon’s richly atmospheric fifth mystery featuring retired NYPD homicide detective Dave Gurney (after 2014’s Peter Pan Must Die). A former police colleague brings Dave back into his previous life by involving him in a bizarre and baffling case. Ethan Gall, the owner of Wolf Lake Lodge in the Adirondacks, hired renowned psychologist Richard Hammond to provide on-site hypnotic therapy at the lodge. After four of Hammond’s patients, including Gall, committed suicide, the doctor was dubbed the “death whisperer” by the press and suspected, by the public and the New York state police, of talking patients into killing themselves. Despite the seriousness of his situation, Hammond refuses to hire an attorney or seek any other help. His sister, Jane, however, asks Dave to work for her to clear her brother’s name. To the detective’s surprise, his wife, Madeleine, who has been ambivalent about his continuing to sleuth, agrees that he should take on the case. Verdon couples the continued nuanced exploration of Dave and Madeleine’s relationship with one of his most sophisticated solutions yet. Agent: Molly Friedrich, Friedrich Agency. (July)

From the Publisher

“Fans of classic fair play who appreciate well-developed characterizations in their whodunits will relish Verdon’s richly atmospheric fifth mystery featuring retired NYPD homicide detective Dave Gurney (after 2014’s Peter Pan Must Die…) Verdon couples the continued nuanced exploration of Dave and Madeleine’s relationship with one of his most sophisticated solutions yet."—Publishers Weekly, Starred and Boxed Review

“At the center of the natural and emotional turbulence, Gurney remains steady, methodical, and scientific as he pulls together the case's disparate strands… [T]he notion of shared nightmares holds the reader start to finish.”—Kirkus

“Wolf Lake is a perfect thriller, one that revels in the darkest of places, in worlds both real and imagined. There are monsters in this book, certainly, but they live and breathe and look like us, which makes them all the more frightening. A complex, engrossing mystery, Wolf Lake will challenge what you believe to be true about the banality of evil and the lengths men will go to for the things they most want to hide.” —Tod Goldberg, author of Gangsterland, Finalist for the Hammett Prize

“Why isn’t John Verdon huge? Like household name huge?... This is a storytelling romp. Verdon has a very distinctive style, one that is slightly offbeat without being off-putting… Verdon is an author deserving of your time and attention; if you love mysteries, you owe it to yourself to read Wolf Lake.”—Bookreporter.com

“This novel has a hook worthy of any King creation: Four unrelated individuals in different parts of the country have the same nightmare, then appear to commit suicide. How’s that for attention grabbing?”—Bookbub

SEPTEMBER 2016 - AudioFile

WOLF LAKE is an entertainingly gothic audiobook about a series of suspicious deaths and an isolated Adirondack estate. Legend says that the robber baron founder of the place dreamed a terrible dream about his own death, then died in the manner he had dreamed of. Now more creepy deaths are happening, all preceded by horrible haunting dreams. Dave Gurney, the retired police detective who is drawn into the case, has a wife who—surprise!—has her own dark connection to the place and is soon in jeopardy as well. Christopher Lane does a fine job in his slightly graveled voice of developing personalities, creating suspense, and keeping up the pace with a straight face as each dastardly turn of events thickens the plot. B.G. © AudioFile 2016, Portland, Maine

Kirkus Reviews

2016-04-13
Standard isolated-inn thriller with notes of horror and hints of the supernatural. The biggest and ultimately unsolved mystery at the core of the latest in Verdon's Dave Gurney thriller series is why anyone would pay $1,000 a night to stay at Wolf Lake Lodge, where the plot plays out. Shortly after this place in the remote Adirondacks became an inn in the early 1900s, wolves devoured its founder on the property. Raving about a hawk that knows evil, a grizzled man with an ax now roams the grounds, which stand in the shadow of two mountains, Devil's Fang and Cemetery Ridge. Cellphones fade, wolves howl, and up in the attic there's a terrifying tableau. All this, plus the threat of "a real road closer" storm, cannot deter Gurney, a retired NYPD homicide detective, from pursuing a case at the lodge. No wonder. The crimes are unusual indeed: four men, from different parts of the country, allegedly committed suicide after experiencing the same harrowing nightmare involving the ubiquitous wolves. (As one character acknowledges, the idea of a shared nightmare also occurs in Richard Condon's thriller The Manchurian Candidate). Is it possible that the hypnotist who treated all four men is responsible for planting the dreams? Or were the deaths really murders disguised as suicides? As his case quickly expands, Gurney uncovers clues that suggest the deaths may be linked to terrorist activity. It also turns out that three of the victims were virulent homophobes who, years ago, had bullied a gay youth at summer camp. As hallways creak and sleet lashes at the windows, Gurney's wife, who accompanies him on the trip, shrieks when she sees in the hotel bathtub the body of a young love who years ago drowned in the lake. At the center of the natural and emotional turbulence, Gurney remains steady, methodical, and scientific as he pulls together the case's disparate strands.The case is a bit cluttered, Gurney's drawn-out ratiocinations slow the pace at the end, and Verdon's straightforward prose doesn't effectively evoke the tale's dark setting. Still, the notion of shared nightmares holds the reader start to finish.

Product Details

BN ID:	2940173498618
Publisher:	Brilliance Audio
Publication date:	07/12/2016
Edition description:	Unabridged
Sales rank:	1,236,366

Videos