Book Review: Lost Lake

Reviewed By: Pat Reid - RAM

Lost Lake     Amazon US PB Amazon US HC Amazon Canada PB Amazon Canada HC
Phillip Margolin
Class/Genre:   Mystery   Thriller   Woman Main Character   Government Conspiracy   Legal Setting
HarperCollins, 2005, 321 pps.

The Portland Spring Art Fair is underway in Portland, Oregon. Ami Vergano was enjoying a beautiful spring day and the success of her booth displaying her oil paintings. She meets Dan Morelli who has a booth next to hers and when she finds out he is looking for a place to stay and some room to do his wood-working she immediately tells him about the apartment she has to rent with plenty of room for his carpentry. Little did she know that this spontaneous act would lead her on a path of intrigue that goes all the way to the President of the United States.

Ami is a widow and has a young son, Ryan. She is an attorney but her practice is just getting started and is barely enough to keep the family going. Ryan and Dan immediately hit it off. Dan attends a little league game to watch Ryan play ball and when a fight breaks out Dan defends himself in such a way that the matter hits national TV.

He is spotted on TV by Vanessa Kohler, an ex-mental patient, a reporter for Exposed, and the daughter of a man who is thinking of running for President. Vanessa recognizes Dan but she knows his name is not Dan Morelli. She immediately flies to Portland and convinces Ami to represent Dan in order that she can get in to see him.

Ami does not know whether to believe the stories she is being told by Dan and by Vanessa but soon is drawn into the web even though she has never handled a criminal case in her life.

This complicated story cannot be described in a review but it is well worth your time to read this book. There were times when I was full convinced of the truth of Vanessa story and then I would read something that would make me doubt if she was even sane. I would hope that none of the events that are detailed in this book will ever happen in our country in the future and I hope they haven’t happened in the past.

Pat Reid - RAM

Reprinted with permission. Do Not repost without permission from the author, Pat Reid - RAM