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    Wilde Lake: A Novel
    Wilde Lake: A Novel
    Wilde Lake: A Novel
    Audiobook10 hours

    Wilde Lake: A Novel

    Written by Laura Lippman

    Narrated by Kathleen McInerney and Nicole Poole

    4/5

    ()

    About this audiobook

    An African-American man accused of rape by a humiliated girl.  A vengeful father.  A courageous attorney.  A worshipful daughter.  Think you know this story?  Think again. 

    Laura Lippman, the “extravagantly gifted” (Chicago Tribune) New York Times bestselling author, delivers “one of her best novels ” (Washington Post)—a modern twist on To Kill a Mockingbird. Scott Turow writes in the New York Times, “Wilde Lake is a real success.”

    Luisa “Lu” Brant is the newly elected state’s attorney representing suburban Maryland—including the famous planned community of Columbia, created to be a utopia of racial and economic equality. Prosecuting a controversial case involving a disturbed drifter accused of beating a woman to death, the fiercely ambitious Lu is determined to avoid the traps that have destroyed other competitive, successful women. She’s going to play it smart to win this case—and win big—cementing her political future. 

    But her intensive preparation for trial unexpectedly dredges up painful recollections of another crime—the night when her brother, AJ, saved his best friend at the cost of another man’s life. Only eighteen, AJ was cleared by a grand jury. Justice was done. Or was it? Did the events of 1980 happen as she remembers them? She was only a child then. What details didn’t she know? 

    As she plunges deeper into the past, Lu is forced to face a troubling reality. The legal system, the bedrock of her entire life, does not have all the answers. But what happens when she realizes that, for the first time, she doesn’t want to know the whole truth?

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperAudio
    Release dateMay 3, 2016
    ISBN9780062466648
    Wilde Lake: A Novel
    Author

    Laura Lippman

    Laura Lippman was a reporter for twenty years, including twelve years at the Baltimore Sun. Her novels have won almost every prize given for crime fiction in the United States, including the Edgar, Anthony, Nero Wolfe and Agatha awards. She lives in Baltimore with her husband, the writer David Simon who created hit TV series The Wire and Homicide: Life on the Street.

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    Reviews for Wilde Lake

    4/5

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    • 4/5
      Wilde Lake is a story that will haunt you after you finish the last page. The Brandt family is wealthy and successful. Lu is now the first female attorney general of their county, a position her father held earlier in his career. Now she is prosecuting a murder case and the defendant is known to her brother's friends from high school. Through flashbacks, we see Lu growing up, motherless, tagging after her big brother and his friends. We see major events that shaped their lives and send strands through the current events. A fascinating story and sad, I will be reading more books by Laura Lippman.
    • 5/5
      I was fully engrossed in this book. Great writing and EXCELLENT character development. There was a plot twist I didn’t see coming. I will say that the story did labor on when I was about 2 hours into finishing it but that doesn’t necessarily detract from how well written and entertaining the story is. Definitely one to download & enjoy.
    • 5/5
      This is a wonderful story with an elegant style of writing. I'd never read Laura Lippman before and am happy to add her to my list of favorite authors. The style of this book reminds me of Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee (only better). As the book opens, Lu Brant is elected to State's Attorney, Howard County, MD. In alternating chapters of the present and her youth, she sees how a current murder prosecution causes her to question her beliefs about a life altering event years ago. She questions what she remembers, was told, believed to be true. There are wonderful unexpected twists and turns that kept me reading
    • 4/5
      Wilde Lake by Laura Lippman is a 2016 William Morrow publication. One- part family saga, one- part mystery- Luisa “Lu” Brant, a newly elected state’s attorney is drawn into a case that on the surface isn’t all that sexy. A homeless man kills a woman, but the case suddenly thrusts Lu back in time- to 1980- when an incident at Wilde Lake, involving her brother, one that may have come back to haunt them all. This story leans more towards buried secrets, family entanglements, and relationships, than on the murder mystery at the center of it all. There is a nostalgic mood interwoven with a feeling of dread, as the past catches up with the present. The writing is exceptional, hypnotic almost, and I found myself deeply involved in the story, especially the parts where Lu discusses her childhood and her relationship with her father and brother. Lu’s narrative is absorbing, to say the least, but occasionally, I was able to shake free from her spell long enough to question why Lippman was spending so much time in Lu's past when she should be connecting the dots of the murder case. But I was so caught up in the tale, the emphasis on the past didn't really try my patience; however, even if the mystery is a slow burn, the payoff is well worth it in the end. I got a little more than I bargained for with this one. It is more literary in nature than the standard mystery or Legal Thriller, and it certainly kept me rooted to the pages from beginning to end! A solid effort by this veteran author! 4 stars
    • 2/5
      I didn't love this story, which was strangely derivative of To Kill a Mockingbird, but with less likeable characters. The main character,Luisa, (Lu) Brant is narrating from childhood memory, like Scout, and is also a motherless tomboy enamored with an older brother AJ who breaks his arm in high school, like Jem, during a crime in which he was a victim. His best friend Davey (black) was accused of raping a white (trash) girl and her brothers were seeking retribution. The attacker fell on his knife and died. Their state's attorney father, Andrew Brant helped justice prevail. That was the past. In the present, Lu is the state's attorney, first woman in the position with a lot to prove. She is also the widowed mother of 2 young girls and lives back home with her father, and their long-time housekeeper, Tiny. A rape-murder case comes in and Lu is determined to prove her worth. It seems to be a pretty clear case that a homeless man is the culprit and the only witness turns out to be the grown-up girl (woman) who was the rape victim in Wilde Lake 20 years ago. Past meets present. The two actually alternate throughout the story and in confronting this crime, Lu must confront some things about her own family and childhood -- about her mother, her brother and her idyllic upbringing with disastrous results. "The truth is not a finite commodity that can be contained within identifiable borders. The truth is messy, riotous, overrunning everything. You can never know the whole truth of anything. And if you could, you would wish you didn't."
    • 3/5
      I enjoy Laura Lippman's books, and this one was just as enjoyable as others. While the plot was not terribly creative, I didn't see the twist coming and I liked how Lippman handled the back and forth of past and present.
    • 5/5
      amazing. All the lies we grow up on, laid bare. Seems like every family has them, some worse than others. Loved how it plays out generationally. For our own good. Or own good.
    • 4/5
      Laura Lippman’s “Wilde Lake” (2016) is a novel that starts small and stays that way for a long time until eventually stray pieces come together in surprising ways that may leave readers gasping.In alternating chapters Lippman tells of Lu Brant, newly elected state attorney, preparing to prosecute her first murder case and of her girlhood as the daughter of another state attorney and a brother, A.J., several years older.The murder case seems like a slam dunk. The defendant’s DNA was found at the scene. The most interesting aspect of the case to her is that he is being defended by the man she defeated in the recent election.As for her memories of her youth, they mostly center on her brother and his friends, one of whom, all these years later, is now her secret lover — secret because he’s married and she certainly doesn’t need a scandal.Even though not much of note happens during most of this novel, Lippman is a skilled writer who knows how to keep her readers hooked even when the hook is small. Not until the final chapters do readers, along with Lu herself, discover how the two threads of the story — her murder case and her family history — tie together. Then a tame, if interesting story, becomes riveting.
    • 4/5
      This is the first Laura Lippman book I have read and I reallly enjoyed it. It is hard to describe what genre this book belongs to. There is a crime/legal story line but there is also a huge dramatic aspect with family and small town relationships being a huge part of the story.

      The Brant family have moved to the small designed community of Columbia in Howard County Maryland. The kids go to Wilde Lake high school and it is a close knit community. Lu Brant has married and moved away, but came back home when her husband died. She ran for and was elected State's Attorney for the county. While investigating for an upcoming murder trial she begins to uncover information about a murder from 35 years earlier that her brother was involved in. Lu is a tenacious lawyer and investigator and can not let it go. She continues to ask questions and investigate even when it is no longer important for the trial. She is a somewhat unlikable character due to her competitive nature and rather brusque personality, but she does what she feels she needs to to. This story explores family relationships, community relationships involving childhood friends, lies of omission, what people will do to protect one another and the legal system itself. It is told from Lu's point of view in both the past and the present. Even though it kept going back and forth in time, I had no problem following the story. The characters were very well fleshed out. You got to know them and their motivations. I really enjoyed this story and recommend it to anyone who enjoys legal dramas and family relationship stories.
    • 3/5
      I think the reason that I "liked" this book was due to the familiarity of the locations. Although I don't live in Howard County, I am familiar with Columbia as well as the Northern Baltimore and Baltimore City landmarks referenced in the book. I wasn't crazy about the characters, and find it hard to believe that the events that happened in 1977 would come around to relate to the present day. I also didn't like the behavior of the characters in the book. I have tried numerous Laura Lippman books and I just haven't clicked with them. I did think it was an interesting technique to go back and forth from present day to years ago to tell the story.
    • 3/5
      I didn't enjoy this as much as previous Lippman books I had read, including And When She Was Bad and Sunburn. Those novels had grittier main characters, who were trying to claw their way out of a truly bad past. Lu, the protagonist of this novel, had a much more privileged upbringing, while also having a great deal of tragedy in her life. The book felt too much like rich people behaving badly for me to love it.
    • 4/5
      Interesting, and sometimes even compelling, but ultimately a bit unsatisfying... Lippman tells a good story, and creates interesting characters and a good mystery. But the ending left me a bit 'meh'. And honestly, her character's tossed-off comment about how she's so competitive that she'd be easily "beating" all those "girls at Bryn Mawr" rubbed me the wrong way. She obviously did not attend Bryn Mawr or she'd realize very quickly that Bryn Mawr students would never characterize themselves as "girls" nor are they slackers / easy to "beat" at anything. Otherwise, an enjoyable quick read though...
    • 5/5
      If I ever forget why Laura Lippman is one of my favorite authors, I just have to pick up any of her novels to be swiftly reminded. Her characters are so rich, so vivid, they practically leap off the page to share their stories with you. Among those characters, Lippman has an especially deft hand with children and adolescents, capturing their voices; their hopes and fears; their innocence, and that dark, cruel streak that children can have and that we all would rather forget. In Wilde Lake, Lippman gives us insight into protagonist Lu as both a child and as an adult and it's very easy to see how the former informs the latter. Lu as a child was lonely and always on the outside looking in. She worshiped her brother and his friends and that hero worship is still affecting her life as an adult.

      And, f**k. I'm not doing Ms. Lippman or this book any justice by continuing to try to "review" it. Just read Laura Lippman, whether Wilde Lake or any--or preferably all--of her other novels. You won't regret it. In fact, you'll thank me for recommending you do so and, more importantly, you'll thank Lippman for being a writer and sharing these characters and stories with the world.
    • 3/5
      Lu Brant has just been elected as the first female state's attorney in Howard County, Maryland. It is a position her father had held previously when he was considered a legend. She lives with her father and two children in the family home while her brother AJ lives nearby. A murder case comes across Lu's desk that dredges up a lot of family history and secrets, some leading to even more tragedies. Sometime the whole truth is more than one needs to know to survive.
    • 4/5
      Intricately intertwined. Nice read.
    • 5/5
      Laura Lippman writes the Tess Monaghan series but Wlilde Lake is an unrelated stand alone novel about new state’s attorney Lu Brandt. When a woman is found beaten to death in her apartment, Lu takes the case on herself, her first homicide case in her new position. She thinks she knows who the killer is and the greater question is what was his motivation? In flashbacks, Lu tells the reader about her childhood when her father was the state’s attorney.Lippman uses first person narration when Lu is telling the reader about her childhood. However, present day events are told in third person. I liked this technique. It allowed foreshadowing and a great build up in suspense because first person Lu already knows what will happen to third person present day Lu. When we read what is happening with Lu in the present day, she has no knowledge of where her actions will eventually lead her.Fans of Lippman’s should know that this book isn’t a typical crime novel or thriller like most of her other books. There is a murder but the book is about more than that so it doesn’t have the fast pace like you might expect. I think most of the critical reviews I’ve read of this book are because the reader’s expectations were not met. However, the pace quickens to a breakneck speed in the last few chapters and then there are so many surprise twists that my head was spinning. I enjoyed the slow burn of Wilde Lake. Lu was a well-developed, complex character and the story was layered as well. Nothing was as it seems. Highly recommended.
    • 3/5
      Pretty well-written story; this is the first book by Laura Lippman that I finished; and it was good enough to motivate me to read some of her other stuff. There was as bit too 'much going on' in this book; but it was OK
    • 2/5
      Boring, emotionless murder mysteries - one in the past and one in the present - inhabited by totally unlikable characters.
    • 3/5
      Another entertaining domestic suspense story from Lippmann set in the planned would-be utopia of Columbia, Maryland. This one is about Lu Brant, daughter of a famous lawyer and recently elected state's attorney, who takes on the case of a homeless man suspected of murder. The story alternates between the present criminal case and Lu's nice suburban past, which, once the lies are peeled away, wasn't so nice. It was a typical Lippmann page turner featuring an interesting, flawed female protagonist. The story unraveled a little at the end, with too much happening too fast. That leeched a little credibility out of the story, but it was still a fun read.
    • 3/5
      I would really give this book 3.5 stars if I could. It was a good summer read but nothing I will come back to. As many others have mentioned, there were lots of parallels with To Kill a Mockingbird.
    • 4/5
      I enjoy her books that aren't part of a series.
    • 4/5
      Luisa 'Lu' Brant is the newly elected state's attorney for suburban Baltimore, including the planned community of Columbia, Maryland. Her father, now retired, held that post for many years, and Lu, recently widowed, and her twins, live with him in their childhood home. Columbia was intended to be a model community, allowing for the peaceful mingling of races and social classes, but we soon learn it was anything but that. The central mystery explored is what actually happened on a night in 1980 when her brother, AJ, and his friends were involved in an incident which resulted in the death of one young man and the paralysis of another. But the central theme of this well written novel is how different the world looks from the vantage point of adulthood, and the effects of secrets kept hidden and revealed.
    • 5/5
      Oh, the tales we weave when we practice to deceive. And so goes Laura Lippman's latest release, Wilde Lake. Lie after lie built on a layer of lies, it's impossible to know who's telling the truth. Or if there is one clear truth at all. In this beautifully written story of murder and betrayal, there is a current of love and loyalty that seems shocking. Lippman builds characters so well that every detail of their personality directly contributes to the story. It's a glorious balance of past and present and when good people do bad things. Wilde Lake takes quite a few trips into the past and then back into the present, that it can be difficult to keep the whole story straight at times. But in the end, with some incredibly enticing twists, the truth comes out. As much of the truth as there is to know, at least. It's magnificently mysterious. There's also a wonderful little synopsis in the end where the reader learns what has become of the protagonist, and while it seems to wrap the story up quite nicely (despite the disturbing - yet fantastic - conclusion), more questions will float around the reader's mind, unanswered. And that is Laura Lippman's real gift, showcased perfectly in this novel. Wilde Lake. A fictitious place with an arduous past, but one worth visiting.
    • 3/5
      I enjoy Laura Lippman's stand-alone crime novels. They're set in Maryland and often concern how the past influences the present, but are varied and imaginative. The protagonists vary widely, and the plots are never predictable. So after a spate of more serious reading, I picked up a copy of Wilde Lake knowing that I'd enjoy reading it. [Wilde Lake] moves back and forth between Lu Brant's present as a widow, mother and first female state's attorney of Howard County, as she prepares for her first trial since the election, the murder of an older single woman by a homeless man; and her childhood in the same county, where she followed her older brother around and idolized her father, who also served as state's attorney.The story was fine, and I enjoyed reading it. There was a stretch were the story seemed to be going in a troubling direction, but having faith in an author meant I could enjoy seeing how Lippman would turn things around. All in all, though, this is not one of her stronger efforts. If you already enjoy her novels, you'll enjoy this one, but if you've never read anything by Laura Lippman, I'd begin somewhere else.
    • 5/5
      Laura Lippman just keeps getting better. This book has everything I want in a novel - compelling, complicated characters, a strong sense of place and a plot that kept me fascinated without a bunch of silly, contrived cliffhangers. It moves nimbly from Lu Brant's childhood to the present, when she's just been elected the county's top prosecutor - a position once held by her father. Naturally the first murder case that comes up also dredges up some terrible secrets from her family's past. But none that you can see coming. Tess Monaghan fans may want her to keep on going with that series but I hope she continues in this vein of standalones that also provide a rich socioeconomic portrait of Maryland (After I'm Gone was another excellent read).
    • 4/5
      Wilde Lake – Two Stories Collide In to OneWilde Lake is the twenty-second novel from one of America’s most successful suspense writers, and once again Laura Lippman is at the top of her game. Wilde Lake is a stunning psychological thriller that while being complex is moving always delivering real emotional characters for the reader to get behind.Luisa ‘Lu’ Brant is the newly elected state’s attorney of Howard County, in Maryland, a job in which her father once served and still revered in the county. Lu Brant has moved back ‘home’ after the death of her husband and had moved in with her father in her childhood home with her twin children.When a straight forward murder crosses her desk she takes it up in the hope that it will cement her reputation in the country as an excellent prosecutor. Lu Brant is a fiercely intelligent always ambitious person, a woman that always finds it hard to back down, and trying Rudy Drysdale will bring her up against the person she beat in the election, Fred Hollister.As Lu starts to dig deeper for her preparation for the up-coming trial, it starts to dredge up painful memories when her beloved big brother AJ was a senior at High School and graduating, when he saved a life but cost another person their life. AJ was only 18 at the time in 1980, when he had appeared in front of a Grand Jury along with his friends and no charges were brought.The more that Lu digs in to the current case the more she starts to wonder what was actually withheld from the original 1980 investigation. For this she will need to dig deep and be aware of the sores that she is about to scratch with her brother and some of his friends. The more that she investigates the past, the more questions that arise and that the legal system she has always set her stall by, may not actually have all the required answers.Lippman tells the story of the current case in one font and the voices of Lu past in another, so that we can see that there are two clear stories. She is rapidly learning that somethings that lie in the past are sometimes best left there undisturbed as they have unforeseen consequences and not just for her.By running the two stories side by side in alternate chapters we can see how the past has influenced the current times and that she cannot get away from either. The two stories may eventually collide but without either story the suspense would not be so well built up. Laura Lippman is a master of suspense writing and with Wilde Lake, she once again succeeds at writing a brilliant psychological suspense thriller, that will keep you hooked from beginning to end. Wilde Lake is a brilliant standalone novel that readers will enjoy and will recommend to all those who love this genre of book. Laura Lippman is back, brilliant as ever.
    • 3/5
      Listened to this one and was actually quite disappointed. Not an author I normally go to but thought I would give it a try. I did not really find it suspenseful and I was not all that engaged with the characters. The detectives name (Mike Hunt) was a total disaster for me. Like an old joke told one too many times. Sorry to say,not sure I will be giving Ms. Lippman another try.
    • 4/5
      I always enjoy Laura Lippman, and this was no exception. It did not have the excitement of some of the other books, but I was invested in the characters, and interested in what happened to them. A perfect light summer thriller.
    • 4/5
      Have to admit I was pretty disappointed in this novel, which is unusual because I love Laura Lippman. I found the story unengaging and the main characters mostly flawed beyond likeability. Where some readers may see a strong, educated, female main character, i found a petty, cheating, and seriously flawed main character. The writing is strong, which helps, but I get waiting for some -- redemption. And then there is the last chapter, which drops a bit too much on the reader at the end of the book.
    • 5/5
      I picked this book up thinking it was another Tess Monaghan mystery, but this wasn’t your ordinary detective novel. This is a story with the same message as To Kill a Mockingbird. A determined woman follows in the steps of her father as a U.S. Prosecuting Attorney, only to uncover some very uncomfortable facts about her brother and father. The story moves back and forth between first person, Lu’s life at present and third person, Lu’s childhood memories. This delineation in the telling of the story helps as her memories collide with her childhood view of her older brother and father as heroes, and the uncomfortable truths she discovers about things they covered up years ago.