Review: The Drowning Kind by Jennifer McMahon

"There's something in the water." In Jennifer McMahon's latest novel about a hot springs that grants miracles, this is most definitely true. If you're familiar with McMahon's work, then you know she has perfected the creepy ghost story. Her novels are usually classified as mystery and sometimes get labeled as horror, but it's a very subtle sort of fear that she creates for her readers. I read The Winter People years ago and remember being unsettled down to my core after I finally finished it. I've never really been big into ghost stories, but McMahon writes in such a way that I never realize I've crossed into supernatural territory. Maybe that's what makes her stories so downright chilling.

In The Drowning Kind, people from all around the country travel to visit some mysterious springs that are said to cure ailments of every kind and grant miracles. The locals tell people to stay away and warn that the springs give, but they also take away. Readers follow the story of two women, Ethel and Jackie (aka Jax) and their experiences with the mystical water. Ethel's narrative takes place in flashbacks, back when a hotel that tried to profit from the springs met a tragic end. Ethel asked the springs to grant her deepest desire-a baby. The springs deliver on that request almost immediately, but it doesn't take long for Ethel to realize that along with every blessing, there is a curse to balance out the forces in the universe. 

Meanwhile in present day, Ethel's great-great-granddaughter Jax is mourning the death of her mentally ill sister, Lex, who drowned in the springs while living alone at the family estate. Lex had called Jax several times the night of her death, leaving manic messages for her sister about the water in the springs. Jax chose not to answer and now lives with the guilt of knowing she'll never get the chance to speak with her sister again. Her death makes no sense to Jax because Lex knew those springs like the back of her hand, having swam in them daily since she was a small child. Jax arrives to the property only to find the house in a peculiar state. All the light bulbs have been busted out of the sockets and every surface is covered with cryptic notes written in Lex's handwriting. Jars of water are scattered everywhere and upon further inspection, Jax realizes that Lex was investigating the springs when she died. Perhaps her sister had actually stumbled upon something during her investigation that could explain her untimely death? Jax decides to continue her sister's research, but it takes her down a dark road from which there may not be a way to turn back.

This was such an enjoyable book! I've been a fan of Jennifer McMahon's writing for awhile now, but even I was surprised how much I ended up liking this one. Like I said before, it didn't keep me up at night from fear, but it was scary in a much more nuanced way. I was starting to feel a little disappointed as I neared the end of the book, not really liking the way it was wrapping up and then WHAM! The story shifts just a tad and blows me away. I loved that ending! If you've ever read McMahon's other novels, you should definitely check this one out and if you haven't, then do yourself a favor and start reading one on a chilly, dark night. I guarantee you'll be spooked!

My Rating: ★★★★★ out of 5

*Thanks to the author, Gallery Books, and Netgalley for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review!  

At the time of this review, this title will be available to purchase on April 6th, 2021.

Review: Those Who Hunger by Owen Banner

I do not often read supernatural novels, but I make an exception when I find a title that seems especially original. I am drawn to stories that attempt to weave supernatural elements into well-established settings because it seems like such a difficult feat. I was blown away by the credibility of Seth Grahame-Smith's Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. Being a fan of Amish-based mysteries (like the wonderful Kate Burkholder series), I've also been curious to see how authors integrate the supernatural with the rigid social confines of an Amish community. So I didn't hesitate to snatch up Those Who Hunger: An Amish Vampire Thriller by Owen Banner as soon as it became available.

This "horror" story surrounds a series of vicious murders within an Amish community that hides a terrible secret-many of its members are vampires, cursed to hide their hunger for human blood or risk losing everything that matters to them. The Zook family knows this curse all too well. There are more vampires in their family than non-vampires. Haddie Zook is an Amish teenager who realizes she has the mark when a terrifying encounter with a predator initiates her transformation. She struggles with her new identity as she learns to keep her hunger in check. Meanwhile, Jacobo, a detective assigned to the violent murders in the community, is keeping a close eye on the Zook family, suspecting one of them is responsible for the heinous deaths of several innocent people.

It's difficult to go into much more detail than this without risking spoiling parts of the story for potential readers, so I'll jump into my review. This book was WAY TOO LONG. I've read plenty of 500+ page novels and I never shy away from a big book, but there's nothing more annoying than wasting precious reading time on something that could have easily been condensed into 300 pages. I felt like I was slogging through this and was horribly dismayed when I saw I was only 32% of the way through the story. The suspense and excitement did pick up once I got to about 80%, but I read for hours and felt like I was getting nowhere because the author spent so much time detailing random tangents that ended up having nothing to do with the main plot. (If someone else reads this, please come back and tell me what the purpose of the drug dealer scene was because I'm still annoyed by that.)

This story could have been easily streamlined if the author cut down on the number of narrators. I counted no less than a dozen different POVs within the first third of the book, some of which we only heard from the one time. This made things confusing for the reader and just added information that could have been more efficiently shared in other ways. In my opinion, the only people we needed to hear from would have mainly been the Zook family members: Haddie, Esther, Nehemiah, and maybe Roy for an outsider's perspective. Jacobo's random detective excursions were pointless and Mel's experiences, while tragic, really didn't need to be included. 

While this novel is listed as part of the "horror" genre, I would argue that it's more of a coming-of-age supernatural mystery with some gratuitous gore thrown in every now and then. Even the violent vampire attacks felt like they were over-the-top and more for shock and awe than anything else. Potential readers should also note that there are sex scenes and a few instances of animal abuse in the novel as well.

I struggled with how to rate this book. At times, I was thinking about one-star and others, I got up to a 3.5, so I'm settling on 2 because of pacing issues and how far-fetched I felt the ending was. There were too many questions left unanswered for me to be comfortable with the culprit(s) that were finally revealed. On the other hand, the writing was good and the story was detailed, even if excessively so. Fans of Amish characters and vampires will enjoy the mash-up of the two very different subjects. However, if you'd like to read about the worlds of vampires and the Amish colliding and don't want to devote your time wading through so many unnecessary pages, I'd recommend you try The Hallowed Ones series by Laura Bickle. I read these back in 2014 and remember liking them quite a bit more than Those Who Hunger.

My Rating: ★★☆☆☆

*Thanks to the author and Netgalley for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review!