Creation Lake

A confident and assured novel that will almost certainly make it into my top ten reads for the year. This is a classic slow-burning page-turner where the intensity gradually but surely ramps up. With over three-quarters read, I still had absolutely no idea how the story would conclude. Part of the compulsion of Creation Lake is that it feels very much like a zeitgeist novel, honing in on the dissatisfaction felt towards elites, how preserving nature matters to many, and how pervasive cult narratives can come to have influence. What helps to keep Creation Lake light, however, is the attraction of the novel's narrator. She struck me as reminiscent of Killing Eve's Villanelle: cool, calm, calculated, resourceful and sexy. While she is clearly successful in completing her mission (albeit with a bit of luck), the novel gains an extra layer of depth as she walks away from her prior role as a paid infiltrator at the work's conclusion. Her motivation is partly influenced by the power of the cult leader's philosophy: life is transient, so make the most of it.

By Rachel Kushner