Not having any luck with this book and my last. This is not my kind of book. It is like the story is never going to start. Being in 6 chapters already. Maybe giving up too early but this doesnt remind me of a Laymon book at all. Going to skip this and move to his next book ( )

Richard Laymon has always been a much revered horror author, choosing as his style to employ horror, shock effects, and sexuality in his work. Unfortunately, The Lake is not a book worth praising. Suspense is there, but it’s scarce, and frankly the reader doesn’t really care. I couldn’t get over the bizarre plot, the too unbelievable coincidences, and I could loan even less forgiveness to the hideous characterization.

It’s a rule in the publishing world that the ! sign be kept to a minimum. Also, capitalizing words or sentences to show that the character is screaming, or else is stunned, is lazy writing if overused. Here Laymon sins repeatedly, and I almost feel that the book was only published and this was overlooked simply because he had already gathered a following. His other works did not have this flaw, and one must wonder what was going on in his personal life to create such a rushed piece.

Dialogue is painfully pitiful for the most part. It’s unnatural that when characters speak to each other, they keep saying the others name in each sentence. The dream sequences used with the young girl, Deana, grows confusing, and so many times is not needed and only hurts the story. To make matters worse, the story is told through a valley girl style, with exclamations and comments capitalized by teenage slang that screams cardboard character.

The plot isn’t better. In fact, the book was hard to finish, and even harder to keep picking up. It starts promising enough, but then everything becomes so muddled it’s painful to wade through. The ending doesn’t answer all the questions, being obviously a bizarre twist just inserted to have something. Storyline isn’t consistent, and some things are rather irrelevant seeming. If he had following up with the story line the book began with, it would have been more interesting, or even the second storyline, but as it stands….well, I’m speechless.

Due to the weaker writing style, the bizarre plot that doesn’t entertain, bounces all over the place when it doesn’t need to, doesn’t make sense, and the false characters with painful internal and external monologue, The Lake isn’t a book I’d recommend. Frankly, I’m surprised it was even published. Read another Laymon book if you wish to be entertained, but stay far, far away from this one. ( )

This book had more crazy and off-beat people in it than any I've read in a long time. They weren't crazy ha-ha, they were truly psychopaths. I loved it from the get-go. While spinning one tale about Deanna and circumstances surrounding her boyfriend's death, Richard Laymon tells the story of her single mother's tragic tale when she was the same age. 'The Lake' has absolutely no slow or dull time throughout the book! Definitely recommend it to my friends that read "sick shit".
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Wow. This was a real disappointment. I certainly could not put this alongside Laymon's other great books. I was relieved to find out that it was completed after his death as the writing style is unimaginative, disjointed and unbelievable. This definitely would not be a good place to start if you were a first time Laymon reader. I was glad to finish this one and move on. ( )

obviously, i'm in the minority on this one, but it was one of the most obnoxious book i've ever read. it should have been named "Stiffening Nipples", because these two words seemed to appear very often in the text. There are alternate expressions that could have been used to imply an imminent sexual situation. ( )