On Tall Pine Lake

Garlock's 50th novel is a delightful treasure set in seemingly tranquil Home, Ark., in 1980. Nona Conrad has moved her 14-year-old sister, Maggie, and her friend Mabel Rogers to Tall Pine Lake to spend the summer managing an isolated lakeside fishing camp. But as soon as sexy Simon Wright arrives and announces he's purchased the run-down camp, the sleepy outpost becomes a hotbed of thievery, kidnapping and murder. Chicago-based thugs Frank and Webb descend on the camp to retrieve a mysterious package that Nona's wayward brother mailed to her, bringing with them an overdose of violent mayhem. The husband of pregnant camper LeAnn Leasure ends up dead in the lake, two characters are kidnapped (separately), beatings are rampant and two other characters take a dirt-nap as the narrative builds to an edge-of-your-easy-chair thriller that romantic suspense junkies will not want to pass up. (Jan.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

Young woman managing a remote fishing camp encounters romance and danger after receiving a mysterious package from her estranged half brother. To sisters Nona and Maggie Conrad, the Ozark town of Home, Ark., represents a hopeful new beginning. Called upon to raise her young sister after the sudden death of their parents four years earlier, Nona recognizes that her no-account half-brother Harold, put in charge of their father's estate, can never be trusted to take care of them. That is why she jumps at an out-of-the-blue offer to leave Little Rock and manage Home's Tall Pine Camp, a lakefront collection of cabins catering to fisherman. But shortly before moving to the bucolic locale, she is surprised to receive a package from Harold, who is suspected of stealing money and jewelry from the bank where he worked. Instructed to hold onto--but not to open--the box, Nona honors his wishes, for no good reason other than a hunch that it is ill-gotten gain. Nona and 14-year-old Maggie then settle in at the dilapidated resort, with Nona taking an almost instant dislike to the camp's cocky owner Simon Wright. Nona and a smitten Simon--who seems to know an awful lot about her already--do not get to spar long, though, before Maggie is abducted by a pair of Harold's "associates" who followed the girls to Tall Pine. Convinced that Harold had contacted his family after ripping them off, the thugs menace Maggie--who Nona never told about the package--for information. The feisty teenager holds her own against the creeps, and is rescued by local youth Dusty, who lives deep in the woods with his hippie parents. Meanwhile, frantic Nona grows closer to Simon, while holding onto a suspicion that her ruggedly handsome employer might not be who he appears to be. Tame romantic adventure with some laughable gangster dialogue and clichs galore, from the prolific Garlock. Copyright ©Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.