Customer Reviews

In the Lake of the Moon

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This is an exceptional novel. The writing is amazing, the story grips you from start to finish. Lindsey does an excellent job of capturing the feel of Mexico City. Its uniqueness transcends the novel. Mexico City is the star here, her allure remains long after her beauty has faded. Stuart Haydon is Lindsey's best protagonist and he is at the top of his game here. Be forewarned this book is not for the squeemish, but none of Lindsey's books are. If you are someone who enjoys great writing and riveting suspense you will not be disappointed.

Previous reviewer lucas (uk) needs to read more often. This is an involving and satisfying read and as with all of Lindsey's works the reader gains a real feel for the characters and for the complexities of human situations...if you're willing to take the time to get involved with the lives you're being introduced to. Am really looking forward to his newest...The Color of Night.

"[T]he reality is that we can never really penetrate the truth of why some men do the strange things that they do. We can only view such men with pity and compassion, and remind ourselves that none of us are exempt from error, sometimes serious error, from playing the fool. When you look at these men try to temper your judgment with humility, with a modest nod to your own ignorance of the uncertain ways of the heart."

These words, advice long ago offered by Haydon's father, highlight, perhaps, the considered, insightful, and thoughtful prose consistenly delivered by Lindsey. In this intricate, delicately written novel, the author grants the reader a rare glimpse of Haydon's family history, as shocking and unexpected as it turns out to be.

Whether familiar with or new to Haydon, the reader will doubtless be engaged by Lindsey's tale

Houston Detective Stuart Hayden wants to know why someone has mailed him a photograph of his deceased father, taken decades earlier. Soon, photos of a mysterious women arrive, and finally a current picture of Stuart. On the picture is a detailed drawing showing his brains being blown out. Once Stuart identifies the sender as Saturnino Barcena from Mexico City, he begins a bewildering and unsettling journey to learn what Barcena's connection is to his father and the woman, and why Barcena wants him dead.

IN THE LAKE OF THE MOON is more than a family study. It's a long, painful dissection of events that happened fifty years earlier between two people. The more Stuart learns, the more his beliefs about his father are upended and exposed from differing viewpoints.

I wanted to like this book because author David L. Lindsay was highly recommended, but the more I read the less I enjoyed the novel. Revelations about the past are predictable. Perhaps the author intended predictability in order to build suspense to the final climatic confrontation, except once that scene finally came, I was so exasperated with the time it took to get there, I had no trouble putting the book down in the middle of it.

Although, Lindsay's narrative descriptions and inner monologues are beautifully written, they went on far too long, particularly during scenes in Mexcio City, where street after street, plaza after plaza, and building after building is named. I tried to keep up with directions and details, but it was completely confusing. If you enjoy slow-moving, detailed stories, then read the book. But if you prefer a fast pace and action, better skip this one.

This is one of David Linsey's earlier novels but even then (1991)his style was firm, confident, and masterful. Most of the action takes place in Mexico City and Lindsey succeeds in creating a powerful invocation of the place and its dark and mysterious Aztec past. The writing is skilful -- quite lyrical and beautiful in places -- and the plot well developed although a little thin in places. While the central character, detective Stuart Hayden, is well drawn he seems at times a little too conflicted and sensitive for someone professionally involved with the seamy realities of metropolitan police work.

That notwithstanding, Lindsey has succeeded in creating an unusual, readable, and exciting work. There are turns and twists and, as other reviewers have commented, the action drifts in and out of the bizarre, disturbing, and provocative - classic David Lindsey, in other words. A fast-paced and absorbing read.

At times the plot is rather complex and can be hard to follow. But stick with it. This is an intelligent and satisfying read. The characters were so human, disappointingly human as we all are in the end full of good, not-so-good and sometimes evil. Lindsey's novels are very unlike anything else you read out there. I didn't start out liking this one as much as the previous three I've read, but in the end I enjoyed it a lot. The author's a really good writer. The characters are never shallowly written, there's some depth to all the characters and the plots are intelligent and move in unexpected ways ... like real life might.

With its long chapters, long paragraphs and densely packed small point text, this book is neither a quick nor an easy read. You cannot simply pick up this book in a spare five minutes and expect to polish off a section of a chapter - you'd be lucky to read two pages.

The reader will have to set aside significant time, sit down (with a drink), and take time to read and understand what is going on. To this reviewer, this spoils the whole essence of reading novels.

The book starts off with chapters alternating between the two main characters, Saturnino Barcena and Stuart Haydon. Haydon is a Houston detective, albeit with an affluent background and family connections with Mexico City. His life is interrupted by the daily receipt of a photograph that seems to hint at his families' past in Mexico. When he receives a photograph of himself taken the previous week with a trajectory line of a bullet entering his head added to it, he takes some time off and goes down to Mexico to try and work out what is going on.

Unfortunately, when he reaches Mexico City, things start to become increasingly confusing, both for Haydon and for this reader. There are a lot of characters who suddenly become involved in this part of the story, all of whom have connections with all of the others. Haydon seems to spend most of his time driving between the residences of these people, which quickly became very disorientating for me, trying to keep track of who's who and where they are in relation to each other.

I read another review of this book somewhere where the reader suggested that a map of Mexico City marked with the various locations referred to in the story would have been a great help in their understanding and I fully second that particular motion. I'm not sure how much a map would contribute to my understanding of this book, but it would certainly have helped.

Don't make this the first David Lindsey book that you read, as the two other books by this author that I have read ("Mercy" and "Requiem for a Glass Heart") are much better. I hope the other half dozen are too.