Ursula Lake - by Charles Harper Webb (Paperback)

About the Book

In the fast-paced, sexy, and very scary literary thriller Ursula Lake, a husband and wife trying to save their marriage and a rock musician trying to get his career back on track find big trouble, natural and possibly supernatural, in the spellbinding wilds of British Columbia.

Book Synopsis

Former best friends Scott and Errol meet unexpectedly at Oso Lake, a remote Canadian fly-fishing paradise where, five years before, fresh out of college, they had the time of their lives. Their situations, though, have changed, their high hopes quashed by workaday realities and, in Errol's case, marriage to Claire, who has come with him trying to stave off divorce. But Oso Lake has changed. The fall before, a woman's severed head was left in a campfire pit beside the lake. The shadow cast by her murder is darkened further by a fire-scarred white truck driver who claims to be a long-dead Native shaman and has plans to eradicate not only Scott, Errol, and Claire, but all of Western civilization. The beauty of the wilderness becomes, every day, more threatening and perverse. But the worst danger the vacationers face may be themselves.

Review Quotes

"Ursula Lake is a rare novel that is equal parts lyrical and suspenseful. Charles Webb uses his poet's voice to weave a haunting tale that marries the latent horrors of the natural world to the dark hearts of the humans who inhabit it." --Ivy Pochoda, author of These Women

"Nobody handles language like a poet. So whenever I see a novel written by a poet I admire, I know I'm in for a treat. Charles Harper Webb's Ursula Lake is scary, emotionally wrenching, sexy, tender, and full of natural beauty. It's also lively, fast-paced, and fun to read as it rips into the comforting lies that prop civilization up. In this novel, Webb shows why he's won so many writing awards. Take my advice and plunge head-first into Ursula Lake." --Ron Koertge, author of Olympusville

"This thriller delivers a taut, captivating story, rich with its characters, settings and pace." --The Culture Buzz on 98.9 FM

"Some authors just seem to have a natural flair for language and the kind of narrative driven storytelling that uplifts their fiction into the kind of novel that lingers on the mind and memory long after the book itself has been finished and set back upon the shelf. With the publication of Ursula Lake, author Charles Harper Webb demonstrates that he himself is one of those impressive novelists. With a special blend of romance, friendship, and action/adventure, Ursula Lake is especially and unreservedly recommended for personal reading lists and community, college, and university library Contemporary Fiction collections."--Midwest Review of Books

"Ursula Lake is a dark, slow-burning thriller about the depths to which people can sink when they're pushed to the edge." --Foreword Reviews