A View from the Lake

By: Greg F. Gifune

Narrated by: Kitty Hendrix

Length: 5 hrs and 22 mins

Publisher's summary

With an introduction by T.M. Wright—author of A Manhattan Ghost Story and Seeds.

Hell freezes over....

The modest lakeside resort in the small town of Blissful Point, Massachusetts, once offered an alternative to the crowded beaches of Cape Cod. Tourists rented cabins, swam, relaxed, and enjoyed the miles of surrounding forest in a peaceful and safe environment. Katherine lived there for years with her husband, James, a poet, and their cat, Barney. They ran the small resort during the hectic spring and summer months, then hunkered down and endured the often brutal and desolate winters in relative isolation. Their lives were uncomplicated, happy, and quiet–or so Katherine thought–until one summer morning when the dead body of a young boy is found floating in the lake. From the moment the child accidentally drowns, Katherine watches as her husband slowly begins to lose his grip on reality, spiraling down helplessly into insanity. And then he’s gone, vanished from their home without a trace. The authorities drag the lake and search parties comb the woods, but to no avail. James is gone.

Months later, as a blizzard descends over Blissful Point, Katherine, alone at the resort, faces her final winter on the lake. But things are no longer what they seem. Perhaps they never were. Are there others out there, in the woods, in the snow, in the lake, waiting and watching and luring her toward the same madness that claimed James? Is there a lingering and primordial evil haunting the lake, bringing with it the truth behind its existence, the answer to the mystery surrounding her husband’s disappearance, and the life she thought she knew, or is her own grip on reality beginning to loosen?

©2006 Greg F. Gifune (P)2022 David N. Wilson

A View From the Lake

Greg F. Gifune has done it again! This story is very haunting, giving me chills in certain scenes while listening to it. Absolutely beautiful writing. Each character was very well-done. And what a brilliant performance from Kitty Hendrix! She really brought each character to life. I was pretty busy while listening to this story, so I went back and replayed it, to catch the things I missed. I'm glad I did! Highly recommended.

A cold weird trip

This is my third Gifune novel and it won’t be my last. I do believe it is my favorite so far, readable and a bit of a mystery. Good stuff.

Needed more

This story just didn’t feel completed to me. Characters either had no background or were all background with nothing in the present. I just couldn’t get into it

Gifune!!

I have been following Gifune for years. He is one f the best in the business when it comes to dark fiction. Dude is good. Real good!

It was ok

I actually quite enjoyed the story all the way through except I didn't care for the end section. Im not sure why. It felt to me like a bit of a misuse of a really excellent set up. But hey that's just my opinion. Still wasn't bad just wish it had gone a different way maybe. Narration was well done and and worked nicely for the story. Over all worth the listen.

Spooky Lake Tale

This is the story of Katherine who lives beside a lake with here husband, James where they own a small resort in Blissful Point, Massachusetts. Things begin to get a little strange when a little Japanese boy drowns in the lake. Katherine thinks that her husband is being moody and behaving oddly because he’s grieving for the little boy and somehow feel partly responsible but that’s not it at all. There’s so much more to this equation. We find out as the story unfolds that James is so much more than just Katherine’s husband. James is the lake.

This book is extremely well written and somewhat enigmatic as all of Mr. Gifune’s books tend to be. The creeping evil or the bogie man in his books are often unnamed and intangible. The monster is what your mind makes out of it and that will be differ from person to person. I really enjoyed this book although I found the ending too abrupt and without explanation.

The narrator, Kitty Hendrix was perfect for this book. She was able to convey through her slightly husky voice just the right amount of fear and confusion as the events of the story unraveled.

A new author for me

I've never read this author before and I wasn't used to his writing style. It was a bit too much of an artsy style for me. The plot is simple enough but it feels like the subtext is trying to be something it really isn't. Im all for literary type books but this isn't quite that. I also prefer the horror novels I read to be a little more horrific. It just feels like the author is going for that "elevated horror" nonsense that I think is pretentious. He's obviously talented, so just present things with a little more everyday charm.

This one fell short…

I love Greg Gifune’s writing style. Even with A View from the Lake, but the story itself was not my fave.
The characters weren’t interesting. The plot was… hmmm….I don’t even know. It felt repetitive, like it kept cycling in circles, leading no where. There was no build up or climate nor were there any twists or shocking moments. And the conclusion….was there one??
I don’t know. I’m so confused!
I ended up having more questions than answers.

I’m bummed that I didn’t like this one. But hey, there’s five other Gifune books I’ve read and loved, so I know there will be more in my future!

ghost story

love a good ghost story. "A View From The Lake" is an eerie ghost story about death. There are several chilling parts to this atmospheric story. Gifune pulls the reader into story where things are not as they appear.
I found the characters in this book a bit lacking. I would of liked more backstory so that I would of had a better understanding of the events that unfolded in the novel. There was a lot that occurred in this loaded story. James was a dark character and his psyche was deteriorating. In addition to James, Gifune introduces the lake which revolved around the story. People drowned in the lake. James felt guilt for the drawing of his foster brother. There was a lot going on in the story and it left me a bit confused
I continued listening because I was hoping the ending would answer Manny of my questions. It did not.
Overall, this is a interesting ghost story. Even though I did not enjoy this one as much as the first Gifune book I read. I still need to read all his books. He is a great story teller.

nope

First let me say I really suck at math and listening to this book was like me trying to figure out calculus on my own. Its like the author’s outline for a story with no real substance that trails off in different directions with no conclusions to them. No I would not recommend it