As the dark and menacing waters of the local river submerge Perdido, a small town in the south of Alabama, the Caskeys - a family of rich landowners - must confront the tide of damage caused by the flood. Led by Mary-Love, the powerful matriarch, and by Oscar, her devoted son, the family must pick itself back up. But what they haven't anticipated is the sudden appearance of Elinor Dammert - a mysterious but seductive young woman with a troubling past. Her sole ambition appears to be to infiltrate the very heart of the Caskey clan... Wow
the entire time i was reading it (i WHIPPED through it in roughly 4 hours) my heart was pounding and i had so many theories and questions. if you love insanely well written and fast paced books

Thank you for letting me review this title.

This was my first horror read. I liked how it was set in the 1950's and definitely gave that eerie creepy vibe with the writing style.
While reading I had to keep in mind that this book was first written in the 1980's and it is wonderful to see how storytelling has evolved since then. The plot was a little slow but it also helped set the scene for the era it was set in.
My favourite characters were Bray, Grace, and Zaddie.
I would have liked to see a bit more of Elinor's monster side as that was were I felt the horror of the story, especially in the beginning.
I also liked how Oscar shows that men are not really as in control as they think and that women really do have a lot of sway behind the scenes.
Genevieve was my least favourite character, but you must read this book to find out why.

I will be posting my review to TikTok a bit later this week.

For some reasons the beginning was a bit confusing to me, I couldn't keep up, it felt like the storyline was skipping some very important steps and the chapters were disjoint.
However, towards the end of the book, I got captured in and I HAD to know how it ended and I definitely want to carry on with the saga.

Thanks to NetGalley for the opportunity of reading this.

I was so excited to hear that this marvellous horror series was to be reissued in six books in the UK with truly phenomenal artwork gracing the book jackets. Well, to be honest, I have already practically inhaled the first three instalments, and waiting excitedly for the next three. I love this slowly unfolding family saga, punctuated by almost incidental moments of terror, and am fully immersed in the world that the late McDowell created. His projects and links to Stephen and Tabitha King come shining through in the way he structures this story, and I would definitely recommend them to horror fans.