Starred review from April 15, 2022
Wren Blythe grew up hearing the legend of Ava Coons, a young woman who vanished after murdering her family in a remote Wisconsin logging community. But when a young girl goes missing in the forest near the bible camp where Wren lives and works, she cannot shake the sense that something in the woods is still haunting, and hunting, them all. Wren's strained family ties escalate her paranoia, and she devolves into frenetic desperation to find the girl. But a series of mysterious messages and menacing sightings may mean that the legend of Ava Coons is not just a ghost story but part of Wren's horrifying reality. Wright (The Cliffs at Foxglove Manor, 2021) has proven time and again with her masterful storytelling in exceptionally crafted novels that she is a trailblazer extraordinaire in the niche genre combining horror, intrigue, and spirituality. The Souls of Lost Lake lures readers in with a campfire ghost story that gradually becomes intricately woven into a mind-bending psychological thriller about trauma and coping. Wright uses her signature sophistication to peel back the layers of horror on the surface to reveal the humanity brought to life in a tale of intoxicating menace, eerie elegance, and satisfying suspense.
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