Reviews

Starvation Lake by Bryan Gruley

mikig's review

3.0

Good attempt at a first novel.

bunnieslikediamonds's review

3.0

I'm a sucker for small town mysteries and sleuthing reporters, and this one gratifyingly has both. There's something about sneaking around archives and digging through council records I find irresistable. Gus, our main guy, does a lot of that. He's back in his home town after getting sacked from his Detroit paper, and feeling like a failure. Don't feel sorry for Gus, though, he's just being annoying. People whose biggest failure is almost but not quite winning the Pulitzer should not be humoured. Oh, and he once lost a hockey game which nobody will ever forget, so there's that too. I didnt pay a lot of attention to the plentiful hockey stuff. (Whenever people talk sports, my mind starts drifting, my eyes glaze over and I go to my happy place. Reading about sports is even worse, my brain just shuts down, like a defense mechanism). His old hockey coach, presumed to have drowned years ago, turns out to have been murdered, and boom, the sleuthing begins. The story takes a very dark turn and my sympathies for Gus increased once the townsfolk show their true, horrible selves. It's a good read, if not memorable, and I wouldn't mind reading another one in this series, as long as there's plenty of archival action and manila envelopes.

jtrigger's review

4.0

Just finished this one... a well-written page-turner that takes a little bit to get going but about 1/4 the way in, the hook is set. There is some content contained within which some my find a bit difficult to get through but it is socially relevant and brings to light just how perverse a situation some people are willing to turn a blind eye to in the name of winning. Suggest any parents of teenagers give the book a read for themselves prior to turning their teens loose with the book... if you so choose to let your teen read the book afterwards, you will need to prepare yourself to deal with some "tough questions," which I think is great. No sense burying your head in the sand... there are perverted people out there and open dialogue with your teen is a much better way to deal with (and prepare your teens to deal with) such issues which face society as a whole.

I like that Bryan Gurley hails from Metro Detroit originally and I enjoy reading books which take place in a Michigan setting. I look forward to reading the next two books in the series.

gastonjr45's review

4.0

I couldn't put it down. Love the characters and description of small town. A lot about hockey game but not too much. Great mystery and newspaper editor setting. Will definitely read the next two in the series.

dave37's review

4.0

Solid work here. The combination of mystery, hockey & northern Michigan works for me. Would have liked a few more sub-plots fleshed out, but that's more a credit to how interesting they were than a real criticism.

cook_memorial_public_library's review

4.0

Gripping story with compelling characters and interesting small-town Michigan setting. First in the Starvation Lake Trilogy.

Recommended by Jo

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loranmar000's review

dark mysterious sad medium-paced

4.0

appalonia's review

4.0

Gus Carpenter grew up in Starvation, a little town in Michigan. He eventually left town to became a reporter with the Detroit Times. The story that almost won him the Pulitzer Prize also lost him his job and his reputation. He returned to Starvation and the only job he could secure, as editor of the small town local paper working for his old boss. The townspeople haven't forgotten that Gus was the boy who allowed the winning goal that lost the local hockey team the state championship. His old coach drowned after his snowmobile fell through the ice of a local lake. But when pieces of the same snowmobile show up in another lake Gus starts to investigate what really happened, and finds more than he bargained for. This was a fantastic small town mystery story with interesting characters and a compelling story. I'll be looking forward to the next story Gruley writes.

bookrec's review

4.0

A good mystery, especially if you're a hockey fan. Kept my interest

cmaranski's review

3.0

I loved the setting, love the style of writing but... am I just a jaded person? I figured out what the coach was doing WAY early in the book. But the protagonists seemed to take FOREVER to put things together. I was fine with a little build up but it took most of the book for the big reveal (which was slightly worse then what I thought). And then ending then felt a bit rushed...

Still a fun book to read.