Something in the Water

I am so immensely thrilled that I read this book. I remember seeing the cover on my

Audible recommended for you list, and it’s been in my wish list for months. Somehow, I forgot about it.

This is the best debut novel I think I’ve ever read. I’ve been a psychological thriller junkie for a while now, I love mystery, suspense, lots of threads coming together, an experience that has me constantly guessing how everything will turn out, what will happen at the conclusion, where the story is going.

This book has one of the most intriguing openings I’ve heard (yes, I was listening on Audible in the beginning and I flipped back and forth between listening and reading this book). Catherine Steadman is an absolute dream. She narrated her own audiobook, which of course adds so much to the charm and authenticity of the novel. She’s a talented actress and it shows in the narration, but it also contributes to what I think is such a screen-adaptable narrative. You love Erin. You understand Erin. You get angry at Erin. You think she’s crazy and then a part of you thinks maybe I would do the same thing.

There are parallels between Erin’s work on her documentary screening the lives of three different prisoners on their way out of prison – I remember writing a note when Erin and Mark first start down the path toward becoming criminals themselves and the beautiful parallel to the prisoners she wanted the world to see as “ordinary people”. She keeps saying she’s a good person. She’s not a bad person. She has a reason for doing what she’s doing. She has enough will-power to stop. She can draw the line.

But she doesn’t. It is the perfect slippery slope. She is anxiety ridden but doesn’t have a perplexing, convenient and debilitating condition like so many of the unreliable narrator stories that I’ve read in the past. She’s not an unreliable narrator at all. She is a self-assured woman whose greed ruins her. Destroys her.

I’ve seen some reviews (very few) that say the hook is amazing but then the next 30% of the book is slow. I can't disagree more. This book is perfectly proportioned. It draws you in, you keep wondering how that remarkable scene will come out. Why it comes about. You learn about the characters and it feels like a lovely romance. It just the right blend of intrigue and information. These two leads are interesting enough on their own to sustain you in their “perfect life” phase. And all that information is necessary. All of that buildup. Because this is a slippery slope novel, and you need to see the climb up the slope to appreciate how far down they go.

I don’t want to ruin a single piece of this book for anyone. It’s a journey. It’s an adventure. It’s an experience. If you don’t like reading and ask me for a book recommendation, I think this is the one ill be recommending from now on. Because how can anybody not be intrigued?

It is so expertly crafted and I feel a large part of that must come from Steadman’s experience on screen- knowing full well how an intricate narrative must be woven in order to draw a reader in, in order to keep them on their toes. It didn’t drag, it didn’t feel like it should’ve ended pages and pages ago. The last page was unremarkable but it worked. Overall, a thrilling read, a must read for anyone and everyone, and if this novel doesn’t get a movie contract soon I will be thoroughly shocked. I’m a fan and I am eagerly awaiting Steadman’s next novel, whenever that might come to life.