An interesting book which caught me unawares. Past swimming its way to the present was the fun to read, it added to the mystery.
2 sweethearts Andi and Ian got married, their daughter Cassidy and her friend found a car in the swimming hole. It was a teacher from the time her parents attended the school. Now it was upto Cassidy and her mates to uncover the truth.
My first book by author Linda Keir, the story had dual timelines with multiple POV which took me some time to get with it. Tension built up slowly with every page. I liked the concept of daughter investigating the parents, it added to the thrill. The ending was unexpected, I wanted a great finale, it felt a little off.
Overall, it was a good family drama combined with a mystery of the past.

honestly this book had so much potential to be spectacular...
if i had to quickly describe 'drowning with others' i would say that it is a thriller told in a non-linear fashion about a dead body being uncovered in a small community, and all of the secrets that are uncovered with it. and unfortunately this is a case where the premise was just way more exciting than the story itself.
don't get me wrong - there were moments i loved and couldn't put down my kindle. i particularly loved the old diary entries from our two protagonists, andi and ian, and finding out what happened when they were at boarding school from two different biased perspectives. i loved the exploration of a teacher/student relationship and the complete power imbalance that comes with it. but everything else fell a little flat for me.
the plot itself left more to be desired, as did the side characters. at the end of the story i found that i only really cared about andi and ian and even then, i didn't care that much.
if you're after a quick, stock standard thriller, this book could be right for you, but unfortunately i was left wanting a lot more than what i got.

Drowning with Others is a well written, moderately suspenseful story written with multiple narrative shifts. The trope holds familiarity to the genre which does lead to some transparency in the plot but nothing too overt. Linda Keir presents her characters with discretion in that they are slow to develop within the storyline itself. It is not until the end that the reader can truly appreciate all that has been delivered. A good read. 4 stars. 


Thank you to #NetGalley and @LakeUnionPublishing for this ARC. It was read and reviewed voluntarily by Tarrah Marie (@wayward_readers). All thoughts and opinions are my own. 

#waywardreader #wayward_readers #lindakeir

Thanks to Net Galley and the publisher for a copy of this book to review !

Drowning With Others
by Linda Keir

***No Spoilers***
Loved It. From page one I was hooked. A decades old missing person mystery with a  new clue surfacing from the bottom of a lake.

A student dives into Lake Loomis and unexpectedly collides with something hard and sharp. Further investigation uncovers a car located at the lakes bottom. It is soon realized that the car belongs to a former writer in residence of the prestigious Glenlake Academy, a poet who suddenly disappeared over two decades ago in 1996 before the school year had ended.

The story is told using duel timelines incorporating diary entries of main characters Ian & Andi Copeland ,  high school sweethearts and students of Glenlake Academy in 1996  and in present dialog, their daughter Cassidy, who is currently a senior at the school. 

Glenlake's current writer in residence is a famous investigative journalist who assigns Cassidy's class project to investigate,  report and try to get some answers to the mysterious disappearance of 22 years ago.

From the beginning there is a feeling that the elder Copelands may have something to hide. Do Ian and Andi have a secret that needs to be protected ? Did the missing writer have someone or something he was running from?

Cassidy, determined to get to the bottom of  the mystery digs into her parents past and gets closer to the truth of what happened in 1996. 

Senses tingling, I felt that I was at the scenes past and present, feeling the crisp fall breeze coming off the lake as the autumn leaves crackled and crunched beneath my footsteps.
 
I also found it very interesting that the author, Linda Keir, is a pen name for two authors who wrote this  novel together. It makes sense with the duel timelines. I wonder if each writer assigned themselves a specific timeline, past or present? Yet another mystery and another reason to really enjoy this novel.

I had no idea before I read this book that two authors collaborated. It is a seamless well written novel that deals realistically with an ongoing problem at most private schools and universities. The book alternates between two time frames twenty years apart and links them together brilliantly. I loved it. The characters were so well drawn and believable. We all harbor secrets and this novel exemplifies all the reasons we do... and why there must still be some even after revelations.  Cassidy, the seeming heroine ,is a typical teenager who revels in her apparent journalistic coup but we know the truth and I loved that about the ending.  Parents are still smarter than our kids give us credit for... thank heaven!

Great read!  Ian and Andi Copeland met when they attended Glenlake Academy, the very school their daughter Cassidy now attends.  But when a submerged car is pulled from the lake and the body within is that of one of Ian and Andi's professors both Ian and Andi are overcome with memories of the past - and reminded of secrets that must stay buried.  There are things they never told each other - or anyone else.  Keir lets the story unwind at a leisurely pace but that doesn't keep the suspense from building.  Excellent writing, superb plotting.

This book is great.  I really enjoyed the way it went back and forth between past and present. Ian and Andi were high school sweethearts and Andi took a class in journalism in her senior year which resulted in a affair between her and the instructor who was a famous poet.  When the poet disappeared no one had any idea what happened to him until  thirty years later when his body was found in his car at the bottom of Loomis Lake.  Not to give anything away it was very interesting how the investigation into what happened to him was done.  

Thanks to Net Galley for allowing me to read this arc.

A solid 2.5-3 stars. I didnt particularly like any of the characters. The parents were dry and boring. Nothing about them was really interesting.  I liked the mystery and I liked the back and forth time perspectives, but that was about it  the first 50% or so was actually pretty boring but picked up a bit after that.

first of all thank you NetGalley and Linda Keir for the opportunity to read this book. Second of all it was perfect! This book hit on every spot, I loved how it told the story from different POVs, ad from the journal entries. I liked that it hinted at history repeating itself, but not really. I liked the little side story that it had with Simon and Biz. I couldn't believe just how many people were actually involved in the story at the end. Makes me wonder what might have happened if nothing had happened. I loved this book!

This really intrigued me and kept me hooked from the first page I just needed to know what was going to happen next! A fabulous read

In an attempt to resurrect an old tradition, I believe referred to as the "freshman plunge" at Glenlake Academy, a student uncovers  the decades old remains of former writer in residence Dallas Walker, seated in his beloved vehicle at the bottom of Lake Loomis.  How did he end up here? 

Ian Copeland and Andi Bloom met as teenagers at Glenlake Academy and apart from a brief separation senior year, have been together since.  They could not be more proud of their own daughter Cassidy who is starting her senior year at Glenlake when the story begins. The writer in residence this year is a journalist and like her mother before her, Cassidy will be taking his class.  Much to her parents dismay, the journalism class will be focusing on investigating how the former writer in residence Dallas Walker ended up at the bottom of Lake Loomis with his car.  The investigation brings up memories from 20 years earlier that both her parents and staff would have preferred to stay buried, but Cassidy keeps pushing with the investigation. Could her very own parents be involved? 

I really enjoyed this book. There is no major suspense or guessing.  It's pretty obvious what will happen next. All of that aside, it's a well written story  (particularly the journal entries) with interesting characters.

When a body is pulled from the lake at a boarding school, the journalism class investigates the death.  Ian and Andi, who were students at the time of the death, have ties to the dead man, and their daughter is one of the class investigating.  I enjoyed this, even if the ending was a little underwhelming.  It wasn't a really suspenseful one, more about the characters themselves.  3.5 stars rounded to 4.

Ian and Andi have managed to keep a secret for many years- since high school- even as they built a life together.  Things are looking really good for them and then, the last thing they could have expected happened.  Their own daughter, Cassidy, is the one who begins to begins to unwind those secrets when the body of Dallas Walker, who taught at her school when her parents attended it, is pulled up (in his car) from the bottom of the local swimming hole.  This is told in two time lines- when Andi and Ian were in school and the present.  It sags a bit in spots but on balance it's a good read.  Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC.

A good easy read about the lies we tell and the secrets we keep. 

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

I loved this book- the pacing, the plot structure, the characters. I normally prefer my mysteries to have a bit more suspense, but this was so well-written that it kept me rapt throughout. Though the book’s chapters focus on different characters at different times, each narrative was distinct enough that the chapter transitions seemed seamless. This would be a fantastic book club pick.

No one can keep secrets these days...

And so begins the exquisitely character-driven novel, Drowning with Others. I started reading this late last night, and just finished today. I could hardly put it down. While it does seem a little too drawn out, I found it to be a fun, quirky, beautifully rendered suspense.

Perhaps it was all the references to the mid to late 90s, when I was in college myself, but the book really resonated with me. I enjoyed the characters, and the mystery was unexpectedly good. I thought the book was heading one way, yet it went head-first in another direction...which I loved. Told from three points of view, those of Andi (the mother), Ian (the father), and Cassidy (their daughter), the time-frame bounces from present day (during Cassidy's senior year in high school) to the 1996-97 school year, when Ian & Andi were the senior "it" couple at Glenlake Academy...a prestigious, elite boarding school near Chicago. It also includes journal entries from each, which were probably my favorite sections.

Truly, my only gripe with this story was the Investigative Journalism class trying to solve a 20 year old crime. Not sure I really found it plausible, as they'd be interfering with an on-going investigation. Nevertheless, I think this one is well worth reading...particularly if you enjoy slow-burning mysteries with absolutely awesome red-herrings.

3.5 stars rounded up.

I love when I enjoy a book more than I expect! This was a good thriller, told in alternating timelines.  The story is set in a private school where Andi and Ian fare seniors and it also takes place in the same school as their oldest daughter is now a senior.  When the body of a missing teacher from 20 years ago is discovered, Andi and Ian are forced to reevaluate some of their truths.  I don't always love a private school, rich kids story, but this was a good mystery with a steady pace. I will be checking out more books by these authors!  Thank you netgalley for this arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

I  received an advanced reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review 

I enjoy this one a lot more than I thought I would- better than average domestic thriller despite the overdone  tropes of the fancyschmancy school and the dark shadow inside the golden ones.  Fresher than expected

Upon reinstating a banned tradition at the prestigious Glenlake Academy near Chicago, students and alumni alike  find themselves embroiled in a 20-year old mystery surrounding the disappearance of the then writer in residence. Told through multiple POVs and timelines, Ian and Andi find out the fate of Dallas Walker. 

At times, the narrative dragged and the journal entries did nothing to elevate my opinion of Andi. The ending was a bit of a surprise as there were enough motives and suspects to swing that proverbial dead cat at—but, there it is. For some inexplicable reason, one thing that stuck with me was the misuse of regional slang. Otherwise, this was a run-of-the-mill thriller.

Thank you to NetGalley, Lake Union Publishing, and Linda Keir for an ARC of 'Drowning with Others' in exchange for an honest and voluntary review.

Ian and Andi were the golden couple at Glenlake Academy. 20 years later, they are still together, living in a beautiful house, working on their own businesses and their oldest daughter is a senior at Glenlake. When a car and the body of a former teacher are found in a lake near the school, Ian and Andi are pulled back into their senior year and the few months of turmoil that only a few remember.

Drowning With Others is a wonderful character study of a family. Andi is a poet at heart and always has been. Ian is more of the brawn, with a bit of a simmering pot of rage underneath. Cassidy is a smart, funny young adult who wants to be successful and to make everyone proud.

While I could say that this is a 'thriller', I would put this more into the 'domestic fiction' category. It's more about a family, about students, about a young girl and the power of teachers - both good and bad.