Dead Water balances the strengths and weaknesses of its main characters to great effect, isolating them on a cursed island to battle resentments, guilt and ancient evil. The novel starts slow with a creeping sense of unease. Sig’s burden of loss and guilt has curdled her wild spirit and darkened her activities. The risk taking, which once made her feel alive, has become a game of Russian Roulette as she flirts with death.
The third-person omniscient narration is handled well, and the reader doesn’t feel the usual sense of vertigo as we shift between heads: human, dog, raven and other.
When the curse grips the island’s population, the book’s climax feels like drowning – lungs burn, limbs weaken and hope dwindles. The survivors (or last ones standing) include two physically disabled women, two recovering addicts, and a terrified hospitality worker. They need to find somewhere safe to catch their breath but find it difficult to trust the voice that tells them to deliver the curse to their pursuers then go to the boat.
This is a brilliant supernatural horror filled with fascinating characters.
Dead Water, C. A. Fletcher, Orbit Books, 2023. ISBN: 978-0-356-51384-3
I have just started How to Sell a Haunted House. Which book should I review after that? Leave your answers in the comments.
Check out The Starblood Trilogy by Carmilla Voiez. Available at Godless, Amazon and other retailers.
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