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Mailboat I: The End of the Pier
Bailey Johnson landed the coolest summer job ever: mail jumper on the historic Lake Geneva Mailboat. Falling into the lake is pretty much a hazard of the job. Finding a dead body underwater is pretty much not. One mistimed jump restarts a manhunt, unsolved since before she was born, and reopens old wounds that were only half healed. As if that weren’t bad enough, she’s stuck in the most epically abysmal foster home ever, since she first entered “the system” eleven years ago. Abuse at home, bullets flying in the street … and she thought prom was bad. All she wants is a family of her own. Is that so much to ask for? A forever family–provided she survives the summer.
239 pages, Paperback
Published August 1, 2016
369 people are currently reading
571 people want to read
About the author
Danielle Lincoln Hanna
15 books66 followersDanielle Lincoln Hanna is the author of the Mailboat Suspense Series, set in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. While she now lives in the Rocky Mountains of Montana, her first love is still the Great Plains of North Dakota where she was born. When she’s not writing, you can find her hiking with her boyfriend Charles, adventuring with her puppy Angel, and avoiding surprise attacks from her cat Fergus.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 88 reviews
March 24, 2022
Annoyed.
This book is well written. The characters and the descriptions are rich. The problem? Its bait. Oh, you thought you were reading a complete story? Surprise! You’ll have to tune in to in to the next installment. I would have given this a resounding five stars and glowing review had it actually concluded. instead, I’m annoyed and will not be suckered into another unsatisfying conclusion. I got all the answers I needed without pursuing the real killer.
This book is well written. The characters and the descriptions are rich. The problem? Its bait. Oh, you thought you were reading a complete story? Surprise! You’ll have to tune in to in to the next installment. I would have given this a resounding five stars and glowing review had it actually concluded. instead, I’m annoyed and will not be suckered into another unsatisfying conclusion. I got all the answers I needed without pursuing the real killer.
August 14, 2016
I greatly enjoyed the first book in the Mailboat series. Miss Hanna left me hanging on the edge of my seat for book two. The development of the characters was wonderful and the story was intense without being too violent or graphic. Not only am I anxiously awaiting book two but now I also want to go to Lake Geneva and take a cruise on the Mailboat.
January 21, 2022
A mostly competent mix of thriller and YA soap opera that relies on a few too many contrived connections and ends on a cliff hanger that requires buying another book (or 2 or 3) to find out what happens. For me the most enjoyable part, and the reason I bought the book, was its Lake Geneva, WI setting — especially the Mail Boat. I took a tour on it last summer. Great way to experience the area.
September 16, 2022
I was on my vacation in Lake Geneva and walked into a little bookstore. In the entrance was an author sitting with her books at the ready for book signing. I never heard of this author or her books. That is when I was introduced to Danielle Lincoln Hanna. I purchased the first book in this series. I loved it. It is a true page turning thriller. Set in the heart of Lake Geneva a body is found and a tragedy that happened years ago is now coming back to haunt all who were involved. Hanna leaves you hanging at the end and I am ready to read book 2!!
September 13, 2020
What a cliff hanger ending! It did entice me on to book 2 immediately, then I see a book 3 is out and 4 is coming in 2021. I'll continue with the series but hope the conclusion does not drag on any further.
Note there is child abuse, not graphic or detailed, but I'm beginning to question why this continues being a subject matter in so many books.
Note there is child abuse, not graphic or detailed, but I'm beginning to question why this continues being a subject matter in so many books.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 11, 2022
The book ends mid-story. No resolution. Apparently the subsequent books are actually to complete the one story arc. This is a YA soap that is a quick and easy read and has likable characters. Perhaps ending the book midway through the story is typical of the genre, which I am not familiar with, and do not care for.
August 4, 2025
Fun to read about a place you've just been to- Lake Geneva, WI. Next visit I'm doing the mailboat tour!
July 27, 2025
This is a bus read, able to be put down and picked up again with little fanfare or fuss.
I read most of it during two bus commutes recently after purchasing a signed copy from the author at the Kenosha Book Festival a few months ago.
It is a handsomely presented book with a local flair.
I liked the premise of involving the Lake Geneva mailboat in the mystery and I liked the character of teenage girl mailjumper Bailey Johnson whose viewpoint is integral to the story.
I liked the quick and easy chapters.
I was open to the melodramatic story arc.
I like that it attempts a Wisconsin-based setting as integral into the story (could have used more of the local setting as character).
I did not care for the point-of-view pivots into first-person narration for each chapter, which effectively undercut the argument for this being a suspenseful novel. The mystery is largely told to the reader and given away ahead of the characters finding out. It might be suspenseful to the characters who do not happen to be the point-of-view narrators that particular chapter, but it is not very suspenseful to the effectively omniscient reader. In this way, the book underperforms.
I also did not care for it ending without the resolution that is essentially promised one when acquiring a book. This is really a first serial installment, and I do not intend to purchase the next installments.
At points, the story also feels heavy on police procedural, likely due to the author's direct research, which itself is commendable, but the reader is then presented with many details that do not really serve the story itself. A cop flying to California to interview a suspect. Understanding of the dispatch system. Reassurance about Kevlar vests. What we gain in verisimilitude, we lose by focusing on some less meaningful touchpoints.
The same argument goes for roughly half of the dialogue. The characters talk out the plot and their own actions rather than the author showing us in -- for me -- too many cases. This is a very light read and very little is subtle.
The story itself is propulsive, however, and there is a fair amount of melodramatic action throughout. It is not a slow book, and it does advance a small-town universe of interrelated characters on the order of a Twin Peaks scenario (though nothing in the Mailboat universe is David Lynch weird). Everything here is happening at the surface of the text. It feels like reading a soap opera.
Everything placed in this story is doing just its part and nothing more. We have a stock fatherless daughter being sexually abused by her criminal sleaze of a foster father who runs a local diner. We have a pair of cops once married now separated and thrust back together on assignments that let their tortured hearts simmer. We have an aging man whose son turned to crime and who cannot open his heart to those near him. We have a corrupt police chief who seems to be masterminding some kind of decades-old financial chicanery that is never explained but we can rest assured will be in a future installment (or else is a reader-faith-undercutting MacGuffin, only to be revealed if we buy more books in the series). We have a prodigal cop-killing son returning who suddenly learns he fathered a daughter with his now-dead coked-up ex-girlfriend who is unable to find reconciliation for past wrongs and gives his life for his long-lost daughter to keep the plot alive for another book. Everything feels just-so in this novel, and that is why I do not rank it higher than 3 on Goodreads. And once you are locked in to presenting a story with alternating first-person chapter narrators, there is not really any going back from this approach, and so this reader felt stuck. The book is like a bunny-hill roller coaster you only ride once.
I believe that more could be done with this promising premise if there were greater subtlety in plot, greater character nuance, and greater trust for the author's own narratorial voice that could restructure the first-person chapters into either third-person-limited pov chapters or some variety of third-person omniscient throughout. Or, the bolder choice -- if first-person is preferred -- would be to pick one character and present the entire story from that character's perspective. Let the reader figure out and fill in the surrounding details and give the reader more internal perspective of that point-of-view character. Give us everything through their eyes, ears, and heart, etc. If there were one character to pick, I would recommend Bailey, because the reader would sympathize and associate with her; the other characters she interacts with could be presented from her experience of them and the reader left to interpret the arcs that in this incarnation are presented directly. That would have been my choice if choosing to revise this novel.
Alternatively, the story could be meaningfully adapted into a screen- or teleplay because the first-person, stock-character, just-so-ness is more conducive to the screen than the page.
That said, the book is billed as "suspense" rather than "mystery" which apparently is how the author is signaling a different set of expectations. So, if that kind of very light read is what a reader wants, it's all there. Readers who want a bit more may wish to look elsewhere.
I read most of it during two bus commutes recently after purchasing a signed copy from the author at the Kenosha Book Festival a few months ago.
It is a handsomely presented book with a local flair.
I liked the premise of involving the Lake Geneva mailboat in the mystery and I liked the character of teenage girl mailjumper Bailey Johnson whose viewpoint is integral to the story.
I liked the quick and easy chapters.
I was open to the melodramatic story arc.
I like that it attempts a Wisconsin-based setting as integral into the story (could have used more of the local setting as character).
I did not care for the point-of-view pivots into first-person narration for each chapter, which effectively undercut the argument for this being a suspenseful novel. The mystery is largely told to the reader and given away ahead of the characters finding out. It might be suspenseful to the characters who do not happen to be the point-of-view narrators that particular chapter, but it is not very suspenseful to the effectively omniscient reader. In this way, the book underperforms.
I also did not care for it ending without the resolution that is essentially promised one when acquiring a book. This is really a first serial installment, and I do not intend to purchase the next installments.
At points, the story also feels heavy on police procedural, likely due to the author's direct research, which itself is commendable, but the reader is then presented with many details that do not really serve the story itself. A cop flying to California to interview a suspect. Understanding of the dispatch system. Reassurance about Kevlar vests. What we gain in verisimilitude, we lose by focusing on some less meaningful touchpoints.
The same argument goes for roughly half of the dialogue. The characters talk out the plot and their own actions rather than the author showing us in -- for me -- too many cases. This is a very light read and very little is subtle.
The story itself is propulsive, however, and there is a fair amount of melodramatic action throughout. It is not a slow book, and it does advance a small-town universe of interrelated characters on the order of a Twin Peaks scenario (though nothing in the Mailboat universe is David Lynch weird). Everything here is happening at the surface of the text. It feels like reading a soap opera.
Everything placed in this story is doing just its part and nothing more. We have a stock fatherless daughter being sexually abused by her criminal sleaze of a foster father who runs a local diner. We have a pair of cops once married now separated and thrust back together on assignments that let their tortured hearts simmer. We have an aging man whose son turned to crime and who cannot open his heart to those near him. We have a corrupt police chief who seems to be masterminding some kind of decades-old financial chicanery that is never explained but we can rest assured will be in a future installment (or else is a reader-faith-undercutting MacGuffin, only to be revealed if we buy more books in the series). We have a prodigal cop-killing son returning who suddenly learns he fathered a daughter with his now-dead coked-up ex-girlfriend who is unable to find reconciliation for past wrongs and gives his life for his long-lost daughter to keep the plot alive for another book. Everything feels just-so in this novel, and that is why I do not rank it higher than 3 on Goodreads. And once you are locked in to presenting a story with alternating first-person chapter narrators, there is not really any going back from this approach, and so this reader felt stuck. The book is like a bunny-hill roller coaster you only ride once.
I believe that more could be done with this promising premise if there were greater subtlety in plot, greater character nuance, and greater trust for the author's own narratorial voice that could restructure the first-person chapters into either third-person-limited pov chapters or some variety of third-person omniscient throughout. Or, the bolder choice -- if first-person is preferred -- would be to pick one character and present the entire story from that character's perspective. Let the reader figure out and fill in the surrounding details and give the reader more internal perspective of that point-of-view character. Give us everything through their eyes, ears, and heart, etc. If there were one character to pick, I would recommend Bailey, because the reader would sympathize and associate with her; the other characters she interacts with could be presented from her experience of them and the reader left to interpret the arcs that in this incarnation are presented directly. That would have been my choice if choosing to revise this novel.
Alternatively, the story could be meaningfully adapted into a screen- or teleplay because the first-person, stock-character, just-so-ness is more conducive to the screen than the page.
That said, the book is billed as "suspense" rather than "mystery" which apparently is how the author is signaling a different set of expectations. So, if that kind of very light read is what a reader wants, it's all there. Readers who want a bit more may wish to look elsewhere.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Read
August 12, 2016Enjoyed the book immensely, especially after recently taking the tour on the Mailboat with my grandchildren. An easy read, don't want to put down kind of book. Can't wait for Book 2.
February 11, 2017
I felt cheated.
The book abruptly ended, so now I'll have to pay to find out what happens with the plot and the characters.
The book abruptly ended, so now I'll have to pay to find out what happens with the plot and the characters.
May 16, 2021
Great Wisconsin setting and fun that I have been on the Lake Geneva mailboat. Good mystery, I would like to read more in this series. Recommended!
December 4, 2021
I feel cheated. This book ends abruptly. You need to get the next book to find out what happens.
July 26, 2017
From the opening pages to the cliffhanger ending, Ms. Hanna takes her readers on a rollercoaster ride through the sleepy town of Lake Geneva after a body is found under a dock along the lakeshore.
Unfortunately, the person who finds the stiff is a fifteen-year-old mail jumper, Bailey, after she tumbles into the chilly lake water. Her discovery begins to uncork a bottle where the genie of the town’s past tragedy is about to rear its ugly head and open doors they thought locked tight.
The book is written in a shifting first-person point of view, with a few minor character’s POV told in third-person. This is a bit unsettling at first, but the author quickly proves that she is comfortable with the style and builds interesting characters across the board. A few of the characters, such as police detective Monica, and temporary summer patrolman Ryan indicate a promise of further development as the promised multi-book story arc unfolds.
Bailey’s story is at the heart of the book, but isn’t the mystery of the book (so far). She is however in the center of an unfolding storm that looks to be growing to hurricane proportions. The author begins to develop the tempest with the first chapter. By the time you reach the end of book 1, the hurricane of suspense and action is buffeting Bailey and all of Lake Geneva.
Ms. Hanna’s style is both introspective, and fast paced where the action needs to flow quickly. She rarely fills a scene with details a reader doesn’t need, or are not a promise of further plot or character complications to come.
Unfortunately, the person who finds the stiff is a fifteen-year-old mail jumper, Bailey, after she tumbles into the chilly lake water. Her discovery begins to uncork a bottle where the genie of the town’s past tragedy is about to rear its ugly head and open doors they thought locked tight.
The book is written in a shifting first-person point of view, with a few minor character’s POV told in third-person. This is a bit unsettling at first, but the author quickly proves that she is comfortable with the style and builds interesting characters across the board. A few of the characters, such as police detective Monica, and temporary summer patrolman Ryan indicate a promise of further development as the promised multi-book story arc unfolds.
Bailey’s story is at the heart of the book, but isn’t the mystery of the book (so far). She is however in the center of an unfolding storm that looks to be growing to hurricane proportions. The author begins to develop the tempest with the first chapter. By the time you reach the end of book 1, the hurricane of suspense and action is buffeting Bailey and all of Lake Geneva.
Ms. Hanna’s style is both introspective, and fast paced where the action needs to flow quickly. She rarely fills a scene with details a reader doesn’t need, or are not a promise of further plot or character complications to come.
January 26, 2025
I was on vacation in Lake Geneva WI just going through the shops. I went into a bookstore and saw this book written by a local author.
The story centers around Bailey Johnson, a seventeen-year-old foster kid with a troubled past. Bailey works as a mail jumper on Lake Geneva, delivering mail to the yachts and houses dotting the shoreline. Her life takes a dramatic turn when she discovers a body tied to a pier, setting off a chain of events that unravels long-buried secrets and dangers lurking beneath the surface of the idyllic lakeside community.
I thought it was well written, and a good story by Danielle Lincoln Hanna. Very easy read.
Bad news is, it’s another series and it ends in a cliff hanger. Ugh! Kind of a one and done story person. (except for Harry Bosch and Mickey Holler and a few other.)
Solid three stars. Just because of the cliff hanger. The series I do read usually the story ends, then the next book is a new story. It is good enough that I will start the book two, just don’t know when.
The story centers around Bailey Johnson, a seventeen-year-old foster kid with a troubled past. Bailey works as a mail jumper on Lake Geneva, delivering mail to the yachts and houses dotting the shoreline. Her life takes a dramatic turn when she discovers a body tied to a pier, setting off a chain of events that unravels long-buried secrets and dangers lurking beneath the surface of the idyllic lakeside community.
I thought it was well written, and a good story by Danielle Lincoln Hanna. Very easy read.
Bad news is, it’s another series and it ends in a cliff hanger. Ugh! Kind of a one and done story person. (except for Harry Bosch and Mickey Holler and a few other.)
Solid three stars. Just because of the cliff hanger. The series I do read usually the story ends, then the next book is a new story. It is good enough that I will start the book two, just don’t know when.
February 26, 2018
I absolutely loved reading this book! I powered through it in all in one sitting this evening and just became completely engrossed in the book. Danielle does a fantastic job of characterization. I particularly loved Bailey, Tommy, Ryan and Jason. I find that in so many books, it is difficult to find likeable main characters that are female. If they are filled with anger, they are written in almost a 'bitchy' manner. If they are sullen or upset, they are seen as 'emotional.' Danielle has written a complex and likeable young female character with Bailey and I am so intrigued as to where her journey goes. Also.....Jason! He was so darn likeable and man...the end of the book had me in such suspense. Can't wait to read the next book in the series!
September 30, 2024
Bailey is 16 and for 11 of those years she has been in the foster system, moving is not something she wants to do, she’s learned to keep quiet. Tommy runs the mailboat and this is Bailey’s second year delivering the mail. It’s a tricky job, job from the boat deck without falling and with the mailbox in position, take the outgoing mail from the box, put the mail in the box, run down the dock and back to the boat deck and don’t miss or you fall in the water and the boat must return for you and may end up iff schedule.
One day Bailey does miss and her life changes forever as the dirty history of the quiet town of Lake Geneva is the news of the day.
This is a sequel series that ends as a cliffhanger….
One day Bailey does miss and her life changes forever as the dirty history of the quiet town of Lake Geneva is the news of the day.
This is a sequel series that ends as a cliffhanger….
August 31, 2024
I loved the descriptions of Lake Geneva, the town and the mailboat. Bailey is a teen in foster care, she works as on the mailboat and also for her foster dad at the restaurant. She loves her job on the mailboat. She know that missing the dock or the boat will result in a dip in the lake. One day she misses and spys a dead body.
The man is one of the back robbing crew from 17 years ago. Lots of action, suspense and some ugly spots, but an entertaining story.
The ending is a great cliff hanger. I have already purchased the second in the series and can't wait to see what mysteries are solved and what else happens
The man is one of the back robbing crew from 17 years ago. Lots of action, suspense and some ugly spots, but an entertaining story.
The ending is a great cliff hanger. I have already purchased the second in the series and can't wait to see what mysteries are solved and what else happens
June 12, 2017
Better than what I expected
When I read the description for this book, I thought maybe it was a teen mystery. When I started reading ,I found I was wrong. This book had me from the beginning. The characters, Bailey. Tommy, and all the rest come alive in the story. I highly recommend this book. The short, but well written chapters will keep you reading. The ending was great and quite surprising. I can't wait for book 2.
When I read the description for this book, I thought maybe it was a teen mystery. When I started reading ,I found I was wrong. This book had me from the beginning. The characters, Bailey. Tommy, and all the rest come alive in the story. I highly recommend this book. The short, but well written chapters will keep you reading. The ending was great and quite surprising. I can't wait for book 2.
August 28, 2018
I thought this was a good book...I would get a little confused with all the relationships and all the characters from time to time. I loved the fact that the setting was my town in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin. It made the story interesting as I knew the landmarks where events took place in the book. It made the story seem more real. I loved the cliff hanger ending and anticipate reading book #2 in the series!
October 27, 2023
The story was good, and had good characters but this isn't a book- it's an installment. It doesn't just end with a cliffhanger, it ends in the middle of the freakin' story. While I liked it, not enough to invest weeks or longer tracking down and reading more books to find out what happens. I'll use my own imagination. If you're ok with this type of ending, it's a good read, though there is child abuse- physical and sexual, and a brutal killing of a mouse.
July 24, 2024
I thought some of the descriptive writing was overdone and unnecessary at the beginning. Once I got into t.he book though I was really enjoying it. I did not like that the author left you hanging at the end and you were forced to read the second book in order to know how things turn out otherwise I would have given it 4*. If you don't mind reading an entire series to get closure I would recommend it. On to Book II.
June 5, 2019
Fun mystery/thriller that takes place in Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, a place I know well. My familiarity with the setting made reading the book even more enjoyable. Short chapters told in multiple points of view make the story's pace fast and suspenseful. I'm looking forward to getting the second in the series.
June 17, 2019
Lake Geneva town + murder mystery... surely a great read! ...and it was a great read, though I didn’t expect it to have a cliff hanger ending... or a second, third, and fourth book coming to continue the story. A riveting, well written, but unsatisfying beach read.
I’ll read the second book for sure, but hope the mystery will not carry on for too long.
I’ll read the second book for sure, but hope the mystery will not carry on for too long.
April 25, 2023
A small town with a big secret
A man is found dead tied to the piling on the pier. This man is someone who had disappeared 17 years ago. Why was he here?
This is the beginning of a really good story. I loved how the story unfolded. Excellent writing. I gave it a four because the book ended with a cliffhanger.
A man is found dead tied to the piling on the pier. This man is someone who had disappeared 17 years ago. Why was he here?
This is the beginning of a really good story. I loved how the story unfolded. Excellent writing. I gave it a four because the book ended with a cliffhanger.
June 18, 2023
This book went right into my top ten and it is everything I dislike in a read! Congratulations, Ms. Hanna. It's a rare book, one that tie up six stories and shatter them in one page. SPOILER! I write cliff-hangers and never saw this one coming. I backed up three times to see what I missed. Purpose served - I'm hooked. Not sure I'll read a third, but definitely in for two.
February 17, 2024
Read the prequel and assumed I would find the ending in this book. It also ended abruptly so on to the next and then I assume to all the others. I found the plot to be good and the characters intriguing. However, this is a frustrating way for the author to sell books. Once you start the series, prepare for a larger investment!
April 4, 2024
Great book for this new author! The characters are real and mysterious. The sites are well described; like you're standing on the shore staring at them. The story introduces you to the characters, throws in a couple of murders, and gets you set for the next book in the series which I ordered soon after I finished it!
May 8, 2017
If you have grown up going to Lake Geneva, as I have, you will love this book. The writing could have been better but I felt the story was engaging and entertaining. I will 100% be buying her next book.
January 9, 2018
Don't Miss the Boat!
As someone e who visits Lake Geneva as often as possible and have since I was little, this book was fantastic! I have gone on the mail boat many times as well. Great story. Kept my attention throughout! Definitely recommend!!
As someone e who visits Lake Geneva as often as possible and have since I was little, this book was fantastic! I have gone on the mail boat many times as well. Great story. Kept my attention throughout! Definitely recommend!!
January 13, 2019
Three things I like about this book: Setting is Wisconsin - Mailboat jumpers are awesome - fast paced story that didn't waste a lot of space with details. Just the kind of book I was wanting at the time.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 88 reviews