Wolf Lake

A Novel (Dave Gurney, Book 5)

By: John Verdon

Narrated by: Christopher Lane

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.

©2016 John Verdon (P)2016 Brilliance Audio, all rights reserved.

My least favorite of his books…

Scott Brick is my fav narrator, so tried not to judge this new narrator, it was really hard! Story line not bad but the characters weren’t the same without Scott Brick. Sorry :)

John Verdon is back!

Loved the first two in this series but had been a tad disappointed with the last one (Peter Pan). So glad to see Mr. Verdon is back in this one. With clever explanations that you simply didn't see coming (but could have), tons of interesting (if improbable) characters, and fun dialogue. Highly entertaining. And the reader is pretty good as well.

I am enjoying the adventures of mr Gerney!

The narrator is excellent and the story line is a little ‘out there’. However the sincerity of the narrator seems to reel you into believing! I love the way Gerny shows a living deference towards his wife!! Well done!

Christopher Lane is great addition

I’ve very much enjoyed this series and this story is the best yet. But the narrator was beyond wonderful and I hope John Verdon uses him again and again.

A good entry, but with some Scooby-Doo twists

What did you love best about Wolf Lake?

The setting/atmosphere. I really like the remote, isolated location. It's sort of a new take on the "murder mystery in a mansion" story line.

Would you listen to another book narrated by Christopher Lane?

I'm not a big fan of this narrator. I also listened to his rendition of 'The Last Ship' and sometimes a narrator just bugs you for no good reason.

Any additional comments?

Overall I enjoyed Wolf Lake. It's not the strongest entry in the Dave Gurney series. First, the hypnotism-as-weapon angle, I feel, has been done before. Granted, this was a new take on it and the resolution does make it much easier to digest...but I guess I just am not a big fan of any story line involving hypnotism and trances as a major plot device. Second, some of the antagonist elements in the novel are frankly too much to buy. Without giving it away, some of the actions they take and devices they use feel a bit too "Scooby Doo"...more fantastic than realistic. I suppose I feel like half of the opposition was almost completely unnecessary to the story. The primary antagonist was all we really needed.

Another Goodie

John Verdon might be my newest favorite author. The man can weave and unravel a tangled web of suspense like none other. Wolf Lake is such a tale, suspenseful and intriguing, keeping the reader guessing. So, why not five stars? I listened to the audible version and, frankly, it requires more than casual attention to detail. If you, dear reader, are one who dissects every detail , then go for it. If, on the other hand, you have the slightest ADD syndrome, you might find yourself confused by the plot, the characters, etc. Be that as it may, the work is solid and entertaining.

My first listen to Verdon.

Pretty good story. I'll check out another in the series. Hard to beat Christopher Lane"s narration.

I'd rather see the movie

There is no movie but I think it would have made a good one. It's a true detective drama that get has a deep focus on the steps of the trade. The narrator was fantastic. I really like his voice as Gurney. The challenge was keeping up with all of the details while listening as I work and the long wait for action. However all the details can be visualized in the read and the watching of the movie. Listening to it leaves a lot of gaps in my imagination of the story.

interesting and unpredictable

story was hard to piece together until the main character revealed it. good story but far fetched.

I have really enjoyed this series

The writing is good. The characters and the stories are complex. The main character is frequently engaged in self examination, but not in a pedantic or self pitying way. He's an introvert and he knows it. He is obviously intelligent and the author lets us follow his train of thought as the clues come in. He's flawed and he gets reminded of it in various ways throughout the books because what he does places him in danger. But ultimately he views his purpose in life is to solve puzzling crimes and goes ahead anyway because that's who he is. The characters around him, especially his wife, come to accept his way of being slowly.