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Lights Over Cloud Lake
Gone Girl meets The X-Files in this Sci-Fi Thriller
Cloud Lake is a hotspot for UFO sightings.
Jessica Carver may have encountered one the night she disappeared.
This is her story.
Reporter Eva Heart is sent to Cloud Lake to write an exposé on flying saucer sightings, a subject she is extremely familiar with.
Nearly twenty years ago, Eva, then known as Jessica Carver, went missing, only to appear a week later, confused and frightened. A man went to jail for the crime.
Now Eva must face demons from her past as she meets both old and new friends along the way. Will her real identity be exposed? Can history truly repeat itself?
Join Jessica as she discovers the truth about her childhood in Lights Over Cloud Lake, the newest novel from the author of the best-selling Survivors series.
Cloud Lake is a hotspot for UFO sightings.
Jessica Carver may have encountered one the night she disappeared.
This is her story.
Reporter Eva Heart is sent to Cloud Lake to write an exposé on flying saucer sightings, a subject she is extremely familiar with.
Nearly twenty years ago, Eva, then known as Jessica Carver, went missing, only to appear a week later, confused and frightened. A man went to jail for the crime.
Now Eva must face demons from her past as she meets both old and new friends along the way. Will her real identity be exposed? Can history truly repeat itself?
Join Jessica as she discovers the truth about her childhood in Lights Over Cloud Lake, the newest novel from the author of the best-selling Survivors series.
293 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 22, 2019
440 people are currently reading
236 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 71 reviews
November 10, 2019
This whole story takes place within one week, but with flashbacks to instances that took place 20 years prior. In my opinion there is just not much to this story. The writer describes the every move of the main character including where she goes, who she talks to, what she eats and drinks, and moments when she just sits looking at something. The flashbacks did nothing for the book in my opinion. It would have been better if all of those had been put together for a couple opening chapters.
One thing that is hard to do in science fiction books is to stick a great ending. The ending of this book is just lame. One final word. This book is more a murder mystery than a science fiction novel; the title is deceptive.
One thing that is hard to do in science fiction books is to stick a great ending. The ending of this book is just lame. One final word. This book is more a murder mystery than a science fiction novel; the title is deceptive.
March 30, 2020
At the age of 14, Jess Carver visited Cloud Lake with her family and was abducted then returned a week later with no memory of her confinement. A local man was convicted of the kidnapping.
20 years later, she has changed her name to protect her identity and is working as a reporter for a news website. Her boss sends her back to Cloud Lake to report on a series of UFO sightings.
The story switches between past and present as we learn more about the circumstances surrounding her abduction and the similar events taking place in the current time.
For anybody worried about the Sci-Fi category of this book, it is far more mystery and thriller than anything else. With several twists along the way, the author skilfully keeps the reader guessing right to the end.
A well-written mystery-thriller.
20 years later, she has changed her name to protect her identity and is working as a reporter for a news website. Her boss sends her back to Cloud Lake to report on a series of UFO sightings.
The story switches between past and present as we learn more about the circumstances surrounding her abduction and the similar events taking place in the current time.
For anybody worried about the Sci-Fi category of this book, it is far more mystery and thriller than anything else. With several twists along the way, the author skilfully keeps the reader guessing right to the end.
A well-written mystery-thriller.
April 6, 2020
Interesting with lots of twists
Jess had undergone a missing week as a child who believed she was abducted by aliens. Off course, no one believed her and a man was falsely convicted. She suffered so much ridicule that she moved away from Cloud Lake, changed her name and became a reporter. Her boss sent her to Cloud Lake to cover the story of a missing girl. When she arrives, memories of her earlier experience start to return and a series of strange events begin to occur with lots of twists and turns. I found it to be an enjoyable read.
Jess had undergone a missing week as a child who believed she was abducted by aliens. Off course, no one believed her and a man was falsely convicted. She suffered so much ridicule that she moved away from Cloud Lake, changed her name and became a reporter. Her boss sent her to Cloud Lake to cover the story of a missing girl. When she arrives, memories of her earlier experience start to return and a series of strange events begin to occur with lots of twists and turns. I found it to be an enjoyable read.
September 8, 2020
This is not a subject matter (UFO abductions) that I usually seek out but I really enjoyed the story. It's mainly focused on the personal development and self discovery of the lead character, as she returns to the scene of a traumatic childhood incident. There are a few plot points which I guessed far earlier than I think was intended, and the ending is not really a surprise, and yet the book works very well despite that. I really zipped through it, always a sign I'm enjoying a book.
I was given an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
I was given an ARC in exchange for an honest review.
April 10, 2020
Lights Over Cloud Lake by Nathan Hystad was the story of a young girl’s disappearance near Cloud Lake and the years on emotional turmoil it caused. It’s about guilt and innocence, love lost but then found, and family relationships. A tight well-written plot zooms along with a few surprising twists, a nice cabin by the lake scenario, and great characters. This was my first Hystad novel, but it won’t be my last.
April 13, 2020
This is actually a well written book, but there were too many stumbling points in the plot for me. The main one: people disappearing doesn't warrant much attention from either families or the police force.
I have a hard time accepting a plot that relies on me accepting that more than one family would just shrug off a person going missing, or accepting that a small police department is by default inept.
The ending was not what I expected, and I like that.
I have a hard time accepting a plot that relies on me accepting that more than one family would just shrug off a person going missing, or accepting that a small police department is by default inept.
The ending was not what I expected, and I like that.
March 25, 2022
Tightly plotted and with an awesome female protagonist
I needed more memory for my Kindle and was working through the contents (ordered by Author, which Kindle makes a serious mess of) and hitting “Remove from Device” for ones already read, or ones not likely to be read. Most were free eBooks from Prolific Words or BookBub. And I was in the perfect mood to clean house.
Then I came to Nathan Hystad, and was taken aback by the fact that – taking bundles into account – I had at least 12 novels by him. I had no recollection of ever having read a book by Hystad. So with that many novels at stake, I figured I should at least read one of them, to get some kind of idea as to whether or not keeping them might be a waste of Kindle memory.
I chose Lights Over Cloud Lake. And over the course of a day, finished it. I loved it. The pacing was, by times, a bit slow, but always deliberate and never stalling. All characters well developed. Awesome female protagonist. A slightly off-key “X Files” conclusion, but Hystad was the writer and my role was to read, and it was a great way to pass a bit of free time.
Turns out my copy was not an actual purchased one – likely a downloaded mobi file – so I purchased an actual copy to get the “Verified Purchase” credit.
And matched my holdings to Hystad’s full published output, filled in a few gaps in some of the series, and took advantage of many bundles that were priced at $.99. And refilled some of that cleared memory I had worked for.
Looking forward to reading and posting reviews for an author who is new-to-me, but whom I look forward to getting to know a lot better.
I needed more memory for my Kindle and was working through the contents (ordered by Author, which Kindle makes a serious mess of) and hitting “Remove from Device” for ones already read, or ones not likely to be read. Most were free eBooks from Prolific Words or BookBub. And I was in the perfect mood to clean house.
Then I came to Nathan Hystad, and was taken aback by the fact that – taking bundles into account – I had at least 12 novels by him. I had no recollection of ever having read a book by Hystad. So with that many novels at stake, I figured I should at least read one of them, to get some kind of idea as to whether or not keeping them might be a waste of Kindle memory.
I chose Lights Over Cloud Lake. And over the course of a day, finished it. I loved it. The pacing was, by times, a bit slow, but always deliberate and never stalling. All characters well developed. Awesome female protagonist. A slightly off-key “X Files” conclusion, but Hystad was the writer and my role was to read, and it was a great way to pass a bit of free time.
Turns out my copy was not an actual purchased one – likely a downloaded mobi file – so I purchased an actual copy to get the “Verified Purchase” credit.
And matched my holdings to Hystad’s full published output, filled in a few gaps in some of the series, and took advantage of many bundles that were priced at $.99. And refilled some of that cleared memory I had worked for.
Looking forward to reading and posting reviews for an author who is new-to-me, but whom I look forward to getting to know a lot better.
May 3, 2021
I loved the premise, which is why I bought the book. The tale is interesting enough, but there's nothing in it that would really categorize it as science fiction. At best, it's a mystery, one which I had figured out about half way through the book. Dual-anything - two perspectives, two timelines, for example - is a difficult structure for any writer, and its use here just seems to make the tale longer than necessary. The writer definitely has an eye for detail, but the detail in Lights often seems onerous. I'm always suspicious of a man writing a woman's perspective, and I was especially suspicious here, given the lead character's trauma in her past. He does a good enough job, but I'd recommend this as a YA book rather than a mystery or science fiction novel. And there is much ado about the Lights Over Cloud Lake, but we are none the wiser by the end of the novel. It was pretty well written, and the characters are somewhat believable. There are some stereotypes, such as the old farmer and the inept cops, that are disappointing. It would make a good beach read.
January 7, 2023
I have a lot of books by Nathan Hystad, but this is the first one I have read - Amazon regularly has sets of his books on sale. I decided this would be a good book to start with as it is a stand alone.
It's actually hard to write a review of this without spoilers, as it is primarily a mystery, but i can say that I enjoyed it - I thought it was well-written and the characters had a reasonable amount of depth to them. A number of the plot twists weren't hard to see coming, but some came as a surprise to me.
It's actually hard to write a review of this without spoilers, as it is primarily a mystery, but i can say that I enjoyed it - I thought it was well-written and the characters had a reasonable amount of depth to them. A number of the plot twists weren't hard to see coming, but some came as a surprise to me.
March 29, 2020
Flashing lights, aliens abroad men
Jess has made a new life for herself, changing her name to Eva Heart she works in journalism. Her boss sends her to Cloud Lake a small community she knows we'll from her childhood. Supposedly covering the lights over the lake and remembering things from her childhood abduction make life difficult.
To late she discovers that everything was planned, a boy from her last wants to punish her for what happened to his family. Jess and Clark, a boy she loves as a child, and who discovers her real identity fight against the drug dealer who kills people when they get in his way.
Suddenly lights appear over them, are they aliens or not?
An excellent read for anyone who loves aliens.
Jess has made a new life for herself, changing her name to Eva Heart she works in journalism. Her boss sends her to Cloud Lake a small community she knows we'll from her childhood. Supposedly covering the lights over the lake and remembering things from her childhood abduction make life difficult.
To late she discovers that everything was planned, a boy from her last wants to punish her for what happened to his family. Jess and Clark, a boy she loves as a child, and who discovers her real identity fight against the drug dealer who kills people when they get in his way.
Suddenly lights appear over them, are they aliens or not?
An excellent read for anyone who loves aliens.
December 22, 2024
It is amazing how rumours on Area 51 and Roswell seemed to have completely fizzled out after a couple of decades. Which is probably why the events portrayed here in Lights Over Cloud Lake seemed to ring all kinds of bells for me as I read the story of Eva/Jess who got abducted by aliens as a young girl and her subsequent struggle for the next nineteen years to come to grips with what happened.
Except for one thing. At Cloud Lake things never settled down and Eva/Jess once again has to face all kinds of threats once more when assigned to investigate Cloud Lake as a journalist.
Author Nathan Hystad certainly knows how to get his readers rooting for more in a suspenseful mystery where the truth seems to be rather difficult to discern.
Enjoy.
Except for one thing. At Cloud Lake things never settled down and Eva/Jess once again has to face all kinds of threats once more when assigned to investigate Cloud Lake as a journalist.
Author Nathan Hystad certainly knows how to get his readers rooting for more in a suspenseful mystery where the truth seems to be rather difficult to discern.
Enjoy.
September 19, 2020
Lights Over Cloud Lake
I enjoyed nearly every page of this story as it unfolded. I'm just jealous that the author beat me to my own story very much like this one that I have been working on. This be has everything I like in a sci-fi story. A strong yet venerable protagonist, a plot that keeps you holding on to see what happens next, and characters that are well fleshed out and believable. It's one of those books I will read again later.
I enjoyed nearly every page of this story as it unfolded. I'm just jealous that the author beat me to my own story very much like this one that I have been working on. This be has everything I like in a sci-fi story. A strong yet venerable protagonist, a plot that keeps you holding on to see what happens next, and characters that are well fleshed out and believable. It's one of those books I will read again later.
May 18, 2021
A languid yet riveting sci-fi thriller that'll keep you guessing.
When she was fourteen, Eva's life was forever altered when she was missing for a week from the small lakeside town where her family spent the summer. Nineteen years later, her boss sends her on assignment to report on the strange goings-on in the same community.
There's a definite X-Filesness to this story. It's a tale of 'was it or wasn't it? with strong characterisations.
When she was fourteen, Eva's life was forever altered when she was missing for a week from the small lakeside town where her family spent the summer. Nineteen years later, her boss sends her on assignment to report on the strange goings-on in the same community.
There's a definite X-Filesness to this story. It's a tale of 'was it or wasn't it? with strong characterisations.
August 4, 2021
Jessica Carver is still recovering from a kidnapping incident in her childhood in Cloud Lake. She has changed her name and is working as journalist. Her editor sends her to Cloud Lake to do a story on the many UFO sightings and missing people there. Will she be able to figure out what really happened to her so long ago?
Great writing. Kept me reading. The author jumps back and forth from the childhood incident to present day. Well worth the read!!
Great writing. Kept me reading. The author jumps back and forth from the childhood incident to present day. Well worth the read!!
December 20, 2023
I am 40 percent into this book waiting for Jessica/Eva to do something that isn't predictably "female" based on a man's opinion of it. Still waiting.
Waiting.
Evidently there were UFO's over a town in Maine that plays country music, doesn't lock its doors and ... and ... and ... still waiting.
The inciting incident hasn't happened yet on page 93 and ET needs to call home in case the hunky handsome single 'carpenter' needs his dinner served.
Yawn.
Waiting.
Evidently there were UFO's over a town in Maine that plays country music, doesn't lock its doors and ... and ... and ... still waiting.
The inciting incident hasn't happened yet on page 93 and ET needs to call home in case the hunky handsome single 'carpenter' needs his dinner served.
Yawn.
July 11, 2020
Can you go home again?
The mystery of Jessica Carver's disappearance is not easily solved. The plot weaves and twists keeping the reader's interest and curiosity. The sightings of UFO's, the question of their possibility and consequences ripple through the novel and Cloud Lake in intriguing ways right until the last word.
The mystery of Jessica Carver's disappearance is not easily solved. The plot weaves and twists keeping the reader's interest and curiosity. The sightings of UFO's, the question of their possibility and consequences ripple through the novel and Cloud Lake in intriguing ways right until the last word.
October 3, 2020
This is a really satisfying read. A tiny bit of violence and a lot of interaction among the characters. There is one big twist but otherwise the plot is pretty straight forward. The relationships within the Cloud City residents are really nice reading and the Alien abductions take a back seat to the rest of the story. A nice relaxing read.
March 28, 2020
A Light Romance and Mystery
Stories about UFOs and aliens are always interesting. Throw in a good mystery and a little romance and you have Lights Over Cloud Lake. I enjoyed this novel and the characters were well developed and believable.
Stories about UFOs and aliens are always interesting. Throw in a good mystery and a little romance and you have Lights Over Cloud Lake. I enjoyed this novel and the characters were well developed and believable.
April 2, 2020
whodunit with aliens on the side
well written story of teenage angst and the scary things all teenagers seem to do. This has UFO sitings and abductions that complicate the scenario.
well written story of teenage angst and the scary things all teenagers seem to do. This has UFO sitings and abductions that complicate the scenario.
April 11, 2020
It seems pretty rare for me to give any book 5 stars these days, but I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The tale was some thing different than the usual murder mystery these days. If you’re curious about this book? Read it!
July 25, 2020
Science fiction.
A different take on UFO's. A young girl who is abducted and returned but everyone insists that it was a neighbor who took her sets off a tragic series of events. Well written.
A different take on UFO's. A young girl who is abducted and returned but everyone insists that it was a neighbor who took her sets off a tragic series of events. Well written.
November 4, 2020
This story had me guessing all throughout. The characters were quite believable - especially the main character. Her confused internal monologue and coping mechanisms were almost disturbingly realistic. It made it very easy to get into the story and begin to question what I believe could be true.
November 16, 2020
Great stuff
It's official! As much as I freaking love your sci-fi, your suspense wins! You're now one of my top authors in both genres. The ending did feel a bit rushed compared to the immense buildup. I both like and hate the ambiguity of it.
It's official! As much as I freaking love your sci-fi, your suspense wins! You're now one of my top authors in both genres. The ending did feel a bit rushed compared to the immense buildup. I both like and hate the ambiguity of it.
June 16, 2021
Jess,Zoe,and their Dad spend every summer at Cloud Lake visiting Grandma.The lake has a reputation for being friendly to aliens and in the past Jess was one of the girls who disappeared and a. Week later was returned Now it’s happened again.Is it aliens or something else?
September 26, 2021
Repressed memories
I chose this rating because the characters were amazing the plot was intriguing everything about this story keeps you wanting to turn to the next page and then when you're done you're sorry it ended
I chose this rating because the characters were amazing the plot was intriguing everything about this story keeps you wanting to turn to the next page and then when you're done you're sorry it ended
September 12, 2024
This book was a fun, quick read. I expected a sci-fi story based on the cover but was pleasantly surprised to find a captivating murder mystery instead. The plot twists and well-developed characters kept me hooked until the end!
September 26, 2024
Disappointing ending
We are constantly told everything about the different theories, everything also extremely predictable, and then in the end the author tries for "I'm not saying it was aliens, but it was aliens" kinda vibe by not being specific. Not a fan.
We are constantly told everything about the different theories, everything also extremely predictable, and then in the end the author tries for "I'm not saying it was aliens, but it was aliens" kinda vibe by not being specific. Not a fan.
Want to read
March 25, 2020EReaderNews
April 1, 2020
More mystery than Sci-fi
This book is a good read for mystery affectionados. Ufologists may also enjoy it. It was worth it's price and the time to read it.
This book is a good read for mystery affectionados. Ufologists may also enjoy it. It was worth it's price and the time to read it.
April 3, 2020
Action packed thriller
This book will keep you in the edge of your.seat. Well written and thought out. Definitely a page Turner from start to.finish.
This book will keep you in the edge of your.seat. Well written and thought out. Definitely a page Turner from start to.finish.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 71 reviews