The Drowning Kind by Jennifer McMahon
Ghost Story/Mystery/Horror
April 6, 2021 by Gallery/Scout Press
Review by Angela
This book is creepy as hell, in a good way.
The Drowning Kind is a suspenseful, haunting tale full of family secrets and past regrets. Told in alternating POVs and timelines, it first introduces Jax, a child psychologist who is estranged from her sister and just trying to keep it all together day-to-day. After one stressful evening of ignoring her sister’s frenzied calls, she wakes up to find out Lexie has drowned in the mysterious pool that played such an important role in their shared childhood. Which sends Jax back home to Sparrow Crest, and sets her on a mystery to find out just what Lexie was researching before she died.
The second timeline takes readers back to 1929 and follows the life of Ethel Monroe, the wife of a small-town doctor who desperately wants a child. A trip to Bradenburg and the new grand hotel that advertises its healing springs seems just the place to take a romantic trip. But there are warnings from locals which go unheeded and all is not what it seems. Yet Ethel makes her wish to the waters and is excited to find she is pregnant not long after she gets home. But she quickly learns, the springs give, but they always take something away as well.
This back and forth storytelling style really works for me. It kept the pacing at a steady clip and had me on the edge of my seat wondering where and how the timelines would merge. I really didn’t even start to figure it all out until about the last 25% and then kind of sat there in suspense, trying to keep myself from flipping to the end to see what the last chapter would bring. I’m glad I didn’t because the ending is chillingly perfect.
This is one of those stories that really must be experienced spoiler-free for its full effect. There are so many complicated family dynamics and twists and turns that readers really need to begin this journey with a fresh perspective. I would definitely recommend and plan on looking up this author’s backlist to see what other gems I might have missed.
Final grade- B+
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