Lost Lake

by: Phillip Margolin

Published by: HarperTorch

Reviewed by Sharon Broom

Vanessa Kohler's life changed forever when she witnessed Congressman Eric Glass' murder by Carl Rice in the Congressman's home at Lost Lake. Against her will, Kohler was hospitalized for a year by her father, General Wingate. She has always proclaimed knowledge of a conspiracy involving her father, but her credibility has been undermined by her hospitalization.

Dan Morelli, a.k.a. Carl Rice has been on the run since the 1985 murder of Eric Glass. Events spiral out of control, and Morelli publicly surfaces when he assaults a local citizen and police officer and is shot at a Little League ballgame.

Attorney Ami Vergano meets Morelli at an art fair and invites him to rent her garage apartment. Morelli and Vergano's young son Ryan become friends and it is at Ryan's ballgame that violence erupts and Morelli finds himself the lead story on national television.

Vanessa Kohler, now a tabloid reporter who is estranged from her father, views the television story, recognizes Morelli as Carl Rice and hops a plane to Portland, Oregon where she hires Ami Vergano to represent Morelli.

Vergano is caught between a murderer and a woman who may be mad. She must find the truth of what happened at Lost Lake twenty years ago and the answers may uncover a devious plot involving a ruthless man running for president who will stop at nothing, including murder, to attain his goal.

As a fan of Margolin, I was disappointed in Lost Lake. It seemed slow to start, is generally disjointed and at times implausible. The characters are not fully developed which means we don't always care about them or their predicaments.

Armchair Interviews says: If you're a fan of Margolin, you will most certainly give him a pass on one less-than-stellar novel.