Lake Charles by Ed Lynskey is an entertaining thriller detailing the friendship between Brendan and Cobb in backwoods Tennessee during the 1980's. Brendan has recently been released on bail for the murder of the daughter of a wealthy influential resident and one he denies committing. Edna is the twin sister of Brendan and currently is the estranged wife of his best friend Cobb. To take their minds away from Brenden's legal troubles, the three decide to spend a day fishing at Lake Charles, a man-made lake that is slowly being reclaimed by nature.

From there, in separate bass boats, Brendan and Cobb journey out onto the lake, while Edna joins them on her jet ski. Along the way and after a spat with Cobb, Edna mysteriously disappears and the story unfolds as Brendan and Cobb try to find her in the swampy area of Lake Charles.

Eventually, Mr.Kuzawa, a mysterious war veteran and the father to Cobb, joins in the search and adds his own ambiguous witticisms of knowledge during the search.

Lynskey introduces a wide range of characters in the tale and is quite adept at describing the Tennessee backwoods in a novel that is often described as "redneck noir."

Recommended to those in search of a decent thriller and for fans of writers like Joe Lansdale and his Hap and Leonard characters.

( )

It is 1979 and Brendan Fishback isn't doing too well in the game called life. Waking up next to a dead woman can cause huge problems. The fact that she, Ashleigh Sizemore, was the daughter of the wealthy and powerfully connected, Ralph Sizemore is a huge problem. Word is old Ralph is going to be a Senator. The fact that drugs were planted in the room is a huge issue. The fact that Brendan keeps having strange dreams and visions where the dead teenage girl talks to him about her murder is a huge problem.

Despite the odds and the nice frame job against him, Brendan Fishback gets out on bail. Besides avoiding the shyster slime ball lawyer his mother, Mama Jo, hired for him Brendan plans to go fishing with his brother in law and good friend, Cobb Kuzawa. A quiet couple of days at Lake Charles, a local man-made lake created by the Tennessee Valley Authority, will be as good a break as he can get these days.

Like Brandan, the best days seem to have gone by the lake as it and the surrounding area is in bad shape. If trying to detox from all the pot he has done isn't enough, the area flat out reeks and is depressing to look at. Back in the day, it used to be a happening place. Not only is nobody apparently around, but there is the stench of rot and decay at the marina area and large sections of the lake are fouled by algae scum. Not only do they have to get the bass boats through that, Brendon has to listen to his sister Edna and Cobb bicker.

Edna invited herself along and that had not been the plan. What been initially planned as a guy trip has mutated into a cranky family outing. Edna and Cobb fight constantly and both of them are driving him nuts. Clearly, Edna should have never married Cobb and certainly she should never have come on the trip. They are driving each other nuts too and before long Edna rockets away on her jet ski towards the dam area leaving the other two behind on the lake in their boats.

And she never comes back.

The search is soon on and leads Brendan and Cobb into a violent confrontation. The first of many confrontations proving that the lake area is not at all deserted like they thought. Brendan wants his sister back, alive and in one piece, and knows too well they can't get help from the corrupt local police. The trail of the missing Edna leads back and forth across the Lake Charles area and the Tennessee Mountains while Brendan soldiers on getting the answers he seeks. Some of them won't be pretty.

The front cover has a blurb quote from author Ed Gorman, "Lake Charles is going to scorch your soul . . . I loved it." That pretty much sums up things very well for this very complicated book where everyone has a dark backstory that gradually comes out. A dark and twisted noir tale that starts with a bang and goes in many different ways by use of dreams and flashbacks and forward literary narrative before bringing the whole thing to a surprising conclusion.

Simply put, Lake Charles by Ed Lynskey is a mighty good book and one well worth your time.

Lake Charles
Ed Lynskey
Wildside Press LLC
June 2011
ISBN# 978-1-4344-3046-5
Paperback (also available as e-book)
192 Pages (includes one page of reference sources)

Material supplied by the author in exchange for my objective review.

Kevin R. Tipple ©2011, 2013 ( )

Brendan Fishback has been accused of killing local rich guy's lovely daughter Ashley. Taking a respite to do a little fishing before his murder trial begins he and his best bud and twin sister head to Lake Charles to fish. After his sister disappears he and his best friend search for her only to be assaulted by pot growers in the hills of the Tennesse mountains. Not a bad thriller and pretty decent way to spend an afternoon in the sun. ( )

LAKE CHARLES by Ed Lynskey is an interesting crime noir mystery set in 1979 Lake Charles in the Smoky Mountains of Tennessee. It is written in first person,well written with depth and details. It is passion, corruption,police fraud,mystery,a disappearance,crime,drug dealers,suspense,family,Tennessee mountain life, with vivid characters and edge of your seat terror. You won't want to miss "Lake Charles". A great summer read that is a quick read with twists and turns. This book was received for the purpose of review from the publisher.Details can be found at Wildside Press LLc and My Book Addiction Reviews. ( )

I enjoyed this story. I felt the time spent on character development was well worth the effort. Sometimes you wonder how some people can be so naive. However, when you take a step back and consider the time frame for this story; as well as the fact that in some parts of our world, these things still happen, then it makes you appreciate the author's creativity all the more.

I would definitely recommend this book to others. ( )