Praise for The Deepest Lake
A Barnes & Noble Monthly Pick
An Amazon Editors’ Pick: Best Mystery, Thriller & Suspense
CrimeReads Best Psychological Thrillers of May
“An incisive critique of our cultural fascination with personal narrative and its concurrent demand that people — and women especially — divulge their deepest secrets for the purpose of voyeuristic entertainment. The plot keeps things moving forward at a brisk clip, but it is the deeper psychological concerns that elevate the novel.”
—Toronto Star
“As a seasoned novelist, Romano-Lax takes readers into Rose’s point of view and also that of her daughter, Jules, to get to the bottom of this great mystery, which is as deep as the lake where Jules presumably drowned.”
—Observer
“With The Deepest Lake, Andromeda Romano-Lax has crafted an unpredictable, juicy, and scandalizing thriller set in Central America; it is exactly the kind of novel that will cause you to miss your bus stop.”
—The British Columbia Review
“A piercing look at obsession and grief and a vivid portrayal of the Guatemalan landscape and the sometimes-toxic culture created by charismatic leaders.”
—Ellery Queen Mystery Magazine
“The Deepest Lake is a mesmerizing, twisty page-turner combined with a complex mother-daughter family drama. Andromeda Romano-Lax’s insightful interrogation of the confessional memoir culture and the nature of obsession will stay with you long after the novel’s last nail-biting pages. I couldn’t put it down.”
—Angie Kim, New York Times bestselling author of Miracle Creek
“Celeste Ng meets Lisa Jewell in this mesmerizing story about a writing retreat that’s as inspiring as it is insular, as alluring as it is alarming—and the mother and daughter who risk their lives to uncover the dark secrets of its leader. Chillingly atmospheric and filled with disturbing twists, The Deepest Lake will have you glued to its pages until its surprising and satisfying conclusion.”
—Megan Collins, author of Thicker Than Water and The Family Plot
“A richly evocative and suspenseful read that plumbs the depths of grief, motherhood, and the endless hunger to tell our stories—with page-turning twists you won’t see coming. Hold your breath and dive in.”
—Amy Gentry, bestselling author of Good as Gone
“Atmospheric, psychological, and surprising, The Deepest Lake mines the depths of mother-daughter relationships and the risks we take in the name of creativity. With humor and lush language, Andromeda Romano-Lax has created a taut suspense story . . . I finished this book wanting to call my mom and tell her how much I loved her.”
—Caitlin Wahrer, author of Edgar Award finalist The Damage
“At a reclusive writing retreat led by a charismatic memoirist, a mother searches for clues into her daughter’s death. From the adrenaline-spiked first words, The Deepest Lake pulls you under. What follows are twists and turns that can only be unraveled through the stories these characters tell themselves about who they are and who they want to be. Asking provocative questions about motherhood, truth, and what we’ll do to ensure our own survival, The Deepest Lake is one of the most suspenseful, thought-provoking novels of the year.”
—Erin Flanagan, Edgar-winning author of Come With Me
“A scintillating psychological thriller with deeply woven characters and a jaw-dropping twist. I absolutely loved it.”
—Cate Quinn, bestselling author of The Clinic
“The best thriller I’ve read in years! At once a heart-pounding mystery and a profound take on the dangers of our confessional age. I loved it.”
—Joanna Rakoff, author of My Salinger Year
“Pulls you into its depths from page one . . . A tense and compelling story of the bonds between women as profound as the lake at its heart.”
—Melissa Adelman, author of What the Neighbors Saw
“Immersive, atmospheric, and beautifully rendered, The Deepest Lake weaves the stories of a missing daughter and a mother driven to uncover the truth into a suspenseful, can’t-miss thriller.”
—Laura McHugh, award-winning author of What’s Done in Darkness
“Welcome to the memoir workshop from hell. In dual timelines, a young writer looks for creative inspiration in a dangerous paradise and a mother searches for answers about her daughter’s last days. I relished this insider’s look at the glittering, intimate, and sometimes toxic world of writing retreats. The Deepest Lake is a gripping yet thoughtful novel about overcoming trauma, meeting our inheritance, and what happens when we seize the power to rewrite our own stories.”
—Alison B. Hart, author of The Work Wife
“With The Deepest Lake, Andromeda Romano-Lax has crafted a suspense novel rich in emotional insight. This gripping story, set against a captivating landscape filled with unraveling secrets, is an exploration of the depths we travel and the shadowy places we confront along the way.”
—Maggie Downs, author of Braver Than You Think
“All who enjoy writer-focused thrillers will be enthralled by Romano-Lax’s morally and intellectually intricate tale, while her fans will marvel at her versatility as she shifts from complexly imagined literary fiction like Annie and the Wolves (2021), to this psychologically and culturally spiky work of suspense.”
—Booklist
“The suspenseful narrative is hardly short on surprises, but it’s the sharp characterizations that make this stand out. Romano-Lax delivers a chilling look at maternal grief and the lengths people will go to tell their own stories.”
—Publishers Weekly
“Electrifying . . . In the harrowing thriller The Deepest Lake, a strained but powerful mother-daughter bond may be the only force strong enough to defeat an opportunistic writer’s dark schemes.”
—Foreword Reviews
“As the cast of suspicious characters grows, it’s a mother’s love for her child — and that ever-present terror all mothers feel contemplating what-if —that electrifies the story.”
—BookTrib
Praise for Andromeda Romano-Lax
“Riveting.”
—People
“Will keep you mesmerized to the last page.”
—Christian Science Monitor
“Shocking and thought-provoking . . . The intimate struggles of a woman weighing her value, utility, and satisfaction both within and outside the home certainly resonate today.”
—The Boston Globe
“On its most powerful level, the book is a hyperactive psychological thriller, exploring the enduring damage done by childhood trauma and the need to mine and process it to become healthy, and the various ways in which victims do so . . . A highly imaginative and compelling read.”
—Minneapolis Star Tribune
“An engaging read which will not only entertain you but also teach you a great deal about these giants in the history of psychology, and the ethics of those times, which we now see as abhorrent.”
—Psychology Today
“When this story grabs hold of you, and it will, there will be no setting it down until you’ve finished the last page. A morally complex, genre-shattering thriller.”
—Eowyn Ivey, New York Times bestselling author of To the Bright Edge of the World
“Romano-Lax’s brilliantly conceived characters, delicate exploration of abuse and childhood trauma, and examination of vengeance and its power to heal will entrance from the very first page. Her latest is a tour de force that will appeal to a wide variety of readers.”
—Library Journal, Starred Review
“Daring and imaginative Romano-Lax puts another provocative spin on historical fiction as she has both Ruth McClintock, a struggling small-town Minnesota historian, and her obsession, sharpshooter Annie Oakley, take turns narrating in this highly original time-warping tale . . . As she illuminates Oakley’s extraordinary life, Romano-Lax conjures supernatural dimensions in pursuit of psychological revelations, grapples with the sexual predation of ‘wolves’ and the muzzle of shame, and dramatizes the slipperiness of memory and history, creating a compassionate, heady, and witty whirl of fact and insight, mesmerizing characters and suspenseful predicaments.”
—Booklist, Starred Review
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