ON SALE: JULY 31, 2012
2013 ITW Thriller Award recipient, Best Paperback Original
2013 Nebraska Book Award Honor Book (Fiction)
“With Lake Country, Sean Doolittle has out-Fargoed Fargo. Already a master of Midwestern noir, he takes a huge, novelistic leap with his newest work, a complex, quirky, and tremendously satisfying story of revenge and redemption. If you haven’t yet read a Doolittle novel, you’ve missed the cutting edge of crime fiction today. Trust me, this guy is the future.”
—William Kent Krueger, New York Times bestselling author of Northwest Angle
SYNOPSIS:
Five years ago, successful architect Wade Benson killed a young woman when he fell asleep at the wheel. His punishment: two days in jail for every year of his probation. But for one friend of the victim’s family—an ex-marine named Darryl Potter—this punishment isn’t enough. Potter sets out to even the score by kidnapping Benson’s twenty-year-old daughter. It’s a bad, bad plan, and only Mike Barlowe, Potter’s former combat buddy, knows how to stop it. With a beautiful news reporter, the cops, and a bounty hunter on Potter’s tail, Barlowe races to head off his troubled friend before innocent people get hurt. The hunters and the hunted plunge north into Minnesota’s Lake Country, each with their own ambitions and demons, each headed for a violent collision—and for one horrifying moment of life or death.
REVIEWS:
“A fast and riveting read. . .this is top-notch hard-boiled fare with a welcome human touch.”
—Booklist
“The skillfully evoked landscape and compellingly flawed characters help make this a winner.”
—Publishers Weekly
“Sean Doolittle’s standout crime novel, Lake Country, involves a crazy chase starting in St. Paul and eventually crashing into the North Woods of Minnesota (around Brainerd) in a “Fargo”-like climax (without the wood-chipper). I don’t know why more people aren’t reading Doolittle, especially fans of Elmore Leonard or the late Donald Westlake. This guy is good.
–Minneapolis Star Tribune
(written by Carole E. Barrowman)
“Fast paced and loaded with action. . .Filled with a strong cast that runs the emotional gamut, Lake Country is a great thriller.”
—The Mystery Gazette
“An emotionally honest white-knuckler that packs a wallop.”
—Ransom Notes: The Barnes &
Noble Mystery Blog
(written by Jedidiah Ayers)
“Doolittle draws memorable, complex characters. . .Even better than his characters, however, is his superb plotting. . .it flows with a terrific combination of unexpected twists and bleak inevitability. . .Lake Country is one of the best books I’ve read in a long, long time.”
—Mysteries and Thrillers
(written by Leslie McGill Goldstein)
“[The author’s heroes] are full of faults, full of out-of-control passions, even full of themselves. But maybe that’s exactly what makes this book so special. It talks about people who could be living right next door to us, or maybe down the street. . .enjoy the ride. It may be a bleak ride in a way, but it’s a great one nevertheless.”
—CriminalElement.com
(written by Lakis Fourouklas)
“Author Doolittle offers here an intricately woven and nicely paced tale that’s full with carefully drawn characters. Lake Country is already being talked about by some critics as a Best of 2012 contender.”
—The Rap Sheet
“Pierce’s Picks”
(written by J. Kingston Pierce)
Sean Doolittle 