Lake City

A Novel

By: Thomas Kohnstamm

Narrated by: Bronson Pinchot

The setting is Seattle's Lake City neighborhood during the 2001 holiday season. In the wake of the 9/11 tragedy and at the peak of Seattle's first wave of tech-boom gentrification - a wave that never quite made it to his neighborhood - Lane Bueche schemes how to win back his wife (and her trust fund). In his childhood bedroom in his mother's decrepit old house, the idealistic but self-serving striver Lane licks his wounds and hatches a plot.

He discovers a precarious path forward when he is contracted by a wealthy adoptive couple to seduce and sabotage a troubled birth mother from his neighborhood. Lane soon finds himself in a zero-sum game between the families as he straddles two cultures, classes, and worlds. With the well-being of the toddler at stake, Lane must choose between wanting to do the right thing (if he could only figure out what that is) and reclaiming the life of privilege he so recently had and, he feels, so richly deserves.

©2019 Thomas Kohnstamm (P)2019 Blackstone Audio, Inc.

Solid - I probably enjoyed it more because...

I have lived in the Lake City area. Shopped at that Fred Meyer. Got my gas at that Citgo. Drove by that trailer park until it was leveled for apartments. The area is not as bad as he describes in the book as the Seattle gentrification has reached. But, much of it still holds true. Made for an interesting connection.

Compelling and Honest

I really enjoyed listening to this novel that seems reminiscent of what is left of Seattle's past before it became a booming tech metropolis. The characters were authentic, honest and Lake City was a popping backdrop to how it is defined. Having commuted through Lake City and observing many of the things I've seen along the way, Kohnstamm really brought it to life and it stays with you beyond the final chapter. Lane is a captivating character always trying to do the right thing, even when everyone else fails to. He's not an anti-hero, nor is he your average hero, but he is definitely the good guy that sees beyond the situations in front of him.

change voice

I couldn't even get through it. the guys voice was putting me to sleep. I couldn't even keep up the the story because of it.