Wolf Lake: A Dave Gurney Novel: Book 5

(Paperback)

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Could a nightmare be used as a murder weapon That's the provocative question confronting Gurney in the thrilling new installment in this series of international bestsellers. The former NYPD star homicide detective is called upon to solve a baffling puzzle: Four people who live in different parts of the country and who seem to have little in common, report having had the same dream--a terrifying nightmare involving a bloody dagger with a carved wolf's head on the handle. All four are subsequently found with their wrists cut -- apparent suicides -- and the weapon used in each case was a wolf's head dagger. Police zero in quickly on Richard Hammond, a controversial psychologist who conducts hypnotherapy sessions at a spooky old Adirondack inn called Wolf Lake Lodge. It seems that each of the victims had gone there to meet with Hammond shortly before turning up dead. Troubled by odd holes in the official approach to the case, Gurney begins his own investigation -- an action that puts him in the crosshairs of not only an icy murderer and the local police but the darkest corner of the federal government. As ruthless as the blizzard trapping him in the sinister eeriness of Wolf Lake, Gurney's enemies set out to keep him from the truth at any cost -- including an all-out assault on the sanity of his beloved wife Madeleine. With his emotional resources strained to the breaking point, Gurney must throw himself into a deadly battle of wits with the most frightening opponent he has ever faced. Wolf Lake is the page-turning new work by a writer hailed by the New York Times as "masterly" -- and it furthers the adventures of Dave Gurney, a detective reviewers have compared to Sherlock Holmes.

Reviews

"Fans of classic fair play who appreciate well-developed characterizations in their whodunits will relish Verdon's richly atmospheric fifth mystery featuring retired NYPD homicide detective Dave Gurney (after 2014's Peter Pan Must Die...) Verdon couples the continued nuanced exploration of Dave and Madeleine's relationship with one of his most sophisticated solutions yet."--Publishers Weekly, Starred and Boxed Review "At the center of the natural and emotional turbulence, Gurney remains steady, methodical, and scientific as he pulls together the case's disparate strands... [T]he notion of shared nightmares holds the reader start to finish."--Kirkus "Wolf Lake is a perfect thriller, one that revels in the darkest of places, in worlds both real and imagined. There are monsters in this book, certainly, but they live and breathe and look like us, which makes them all the more frightening. A complex, engrossing mystery, Wolf Lake will challenge what you believe to be true about the banality of evil and the lengths men will go to for the things they most want to hide." --Tod Goldberg, author of Gangsterland, Finalist for the Hammett Prize "Why isn't John Verdon huge Like household name huge... This is a storytelling romp. Verdon has a very distinctive style, one that is slightly offbeat without being off-putting... Verdon is an author deserving of your time and attention; if you love mysteries, you owe it to yourself to read Wolf Lake."--Bookreporter.com "This novel has a hook worthy of any King creation: Four unrelated individuals in different parts of the country have the same nightmare, then appear to commit suicide. How's that for attention grabbing"--Bookbub

Author Bio

John Verdon is the author of the Dave Gurney series of thrillers, international bestsellers published in more than two dozen languages -- Think of a Number, Shut Your Eyes Tight, Let the Devil Sleep, Peter Pan Must Die, and Wolf Lake. Before becoming a crime fiction writer, John had two previous careers -- as an advertising creative director and a custom furniture maker. He currently lives with his wife Naomi in the rural mountains of upstate New York -- raising chickens, tending the garden, mowing the fields, and devising the intricate plots of the Gurney novels.