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| Plot Summary of Still Lake |
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"
Mira, Jul 2002, 6.50, 384 pp.
ISBN: 1551669080
Deciding she needed a change from her complex Manhattan lifestyle, advice newspaper columnist Sophie Davis relocates to Colby, Vermont where she plans to run an inn. The poor man's Martha Stewart takes her seemingly senile mother and her raging hormonal teenage half sister with her.
To Sophie's chagrin, as she wants no nearby neighbors, John Smith moves into a nearby cabin that has not been used in six years. John is actually Thomas Griffin who was convicted of murdering three teenage girls twenty years ago, but was freed five years later on a technicality. Thomas has come back to Colby to learn what really happened on that night in which he remembers nothing. As John and Sophie begin to fall in love, an eerily similar homicide similar to those of past occurs just two weeks before the grand opening of Stonegate Farm.
STILL LAKE is an exciting romantic suspense novel starring intriguing lead characters struggling with problems that leave both not welcoming love into their respective lives. Though Sophie is a bit too responsible, she represents the sandwich generation with troubles from her senior and her younger that surround her. Thomas is a wonderfully bewildered protagonist who does not know if he committed those murders. The support cast provides depth by enabling the audience to better understand what makes Thomas and Sophie tick as well as adding suspense to Anne Stuart's fine contemporary tale.
Harriet Klausner
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Harriet Klausner, Resident Scholar
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"When Sophia buys a rundown inn, she moves her overly rebellious 19 year old half-sister and her mother, starting to lose control of her memory, into what she hopes it to be the answer to her problems and an island of peace. But that peaceful dream is shattered by echoes of murders committed 20 years ago. A man has rented the cabin across the lake, John Smith, and from the start, Sophia resents his presence, resents his virile attraction and would like him to leave.
The tension builds as we are told he was convicted of the death of the three girls who were murdered two decades ago, though released from prison after only 5 years. We learn John has few memories of that night and recalls nothing until he awoke covered in blood in the cabin.
John feels it is time to stir the embers of the past, find out who really committed those murders - even if it was himself, and finally put the past to rest once and for all.
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DeborahAnne MacGillivray, Resident Scholar
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| Review Analysis of Still Lake |
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Our unique search engine provides a wealth of detail about books by breaking them down into many different literary elements, all of which are searchable (click here).
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Ratings are on a 1-10 scale (Low to High)
Plot
Time/era of story
- Present (2000-2010)
Action/suspense subplot?
Yes
Action:
- chased by/chasing kidnapper/killer
Hidden Identity/Secret Motive
Yes
Is really...
- a criminal (possibly)
Main Male Character
Profession/status:
- small businessman
- accused criminal
Age/status:
- 20's-30's
- 40's-50's
How sexual is this person?
- very picky
- "zip'm down, zip'm up. Next!"
How romantic is this person?
- somewhat romantic
- sly seducer
Sex makes him
- confused
- more bitchy/arrogant
- angry
- scared
- guilty
Sex has good effect on him
Yes
Sex makes him
- sensitive
- a better lover
Sex has bad effect on him
Yes
How sensitive is this character?
- sensitive to others' feelings
- mean, arrogant
Sense of humor
- Strong but gentle sense of humor
- Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- very athletic
Main Female Character
Age/status:
- 20's-30's
Profession/status:
- small businessman
How sexual is this person?
- very picky
How romantic is this person?
- somewhat romantic
effect of sexing
- confused
- angry
- unhappy for sexing the guy
- scared
- guilty
Sex has bad effect on her
Yes
Sex has good effect on her
Yes
Effect of sexing
- confident
- a better lover
- blissful
- mature
How sensitive is this character?
- soggy whimpering jelly muffin
- sensitive to others' feelings
Sense of humor
- Strong but gentle sense of humor
- Cynical sense of humor
Intelligence
- Smarter than most other characters
Physique
- very athletic
- average physique
Setting
United States
Yes
The US:
- Northeast
Mountains/Cliffs
Yes
Small town?
Yes
Misc setting
- resort/hotel
Style
Person
- mostly 3rd
Accounts of torture and death?
- generic/vague references to death/punishment
- explicit references to deaths
What % of story is romance related?
- 60%
Sex in book?
Yes
What kind of sex:
- descript of kissing
- touching of anatomy
- actual description of sex
- descript. of female anatomy (the big B's)
- descript. of female anatomy (the big V)
- descript. of male nudity (the big P)
Focus of story
- equally on him and her
How much dialog
- significantly more dialog than descript
- significantly more descript than dialog
How much sexing?
- 1-2 sex acts
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Note: the views expressed here are only those of the reviewer(s). | |
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