Wolf Lake A novel

In Verdon's richly atmospheric fifth mystery featuring retired NYPD homicide detective Dave Gurney, a former police colleague brings Dave back into his previous life by involving him in a baffling case. Ethan Gall, the owner of Wolf Lake Lodge in the Adirondacks, hired renowned psychologist Richard Hammond to provide on-site hypnotic therapy at the lodge. After four of Hammond's patients, including Gall, commit suicide, the New York state police start to suspect the doctor is talking patients into killing themselves. Despite the seriousness of his situation, Hammond refuses to hire an attorney or seek any other help. His sister, Jane, however, asks Dave to work for her to clear her brother's name. Both the police and Hammond are uncooperative. Complicating Gurney's sleuthing is his wife, the usually stalwart Madeleine, who is haunted by the memory of a personal tragedy that occurred in the area years ago. In reading this suspenseful and witty novel, Lane conveys the perfect mixture of strength and irony. Early on, he presents the conversations of Dave and Madeleine in an amusing, bantering Thin Man-like mood. But as Madeline's past grows more disturbing, Lane smartly adds a chill to their terse communication. His take on other characters is equally effective, particularly Gurney's partner, Jack Hardwick, whose comments, croaky and gruff, are full of cynical hard-boiled humor. A Counterpoint hardcover. (July) © Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Standard isolated-inn thriller with notes of horror and hints of the supernatural. The biggest and ultimately unsolved mystery at the core of the latest in Verdon's Dave Gurney thriller series is why anyone would pay $1,000 a night to stay at Wolf Lake Lodge, where the plot plays out. Shortly after this place in the remote Adirondacks became an inn in the early 1900s, wolves devoured its founder on the property. Raving about a hawk that knows evil, a grizzled man with an ax now roams the grounds, which stand in the shadow of two mountains, Devil's Fang and Cemetery Ridge. Cellphones fade, wolves howl, and up in the attic there's a terrifying tableau. All this, plus the threat of "a real road closer" storm, cannot deter Gurney, a retired NYPD homicide detective, from pursuing a case at the lodge. No wonder. The crimes are unusual indeed: four men, from different parts of the country, allegedly committed suicide after experiencing the same harrowing nightmare involving the ubiquitous wolves. (As one character acknowledges, the idea of a shared nightmare also occurs in Richard Condon's thriller The Manchurian Candidate). Is it possible that the hypnotist who treated all four men is responsible for planting the dreams? Or were the deaths really murders disguised as suicides? As his case quickly expands, Gurney uncovers clues that suggest the deaths may be linked to terrorist activity. It also turns out that three of the victims were virulent homophobes who, years ago, had bullied a gay youth at summer camp. As hallways creak and sleet lashes at the windows, Gurney's wife, who accompanies him on the trip, shrieks when she sees in the hotel bathtub the body of a young love who years ago drowned in the lake. At the center of the natural and emotional turbulence, Gurney remains steady, methodical, and scientific as he pulls together the case's disparate strands.The case is a bit cluttered, Gurney's drawn-out ratiocinations slow the pace at the end, and Verdon's straightforward prose doesn't effectively evoke the tale's dark setting. Still, the notion of shared nightmares holds the reader start to finish. Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.