Review by Booklist Review
Bottom Springs is a deeply religious town with a history of superstition and witchcraft, controlled through a mix of intimidation and fear by the town's fire-and-brimstone pastor, James Cornier. When a human skull is found in the swamp, and dark magic is suspected, the town is thrown into panic and terror over a possible killer living among them. Ruth, the preacher's daughter, and Everett, Ruth's best friend and the town outcast, find themselves unwittingly at the center of the investigation. Everyone has secrets in Bottom Springs, and figuring out the truth isn't easy. With the narrative jumping back and forth through time, readers discover that not all is as it seems. Blending gothic horror and mystery, this is a dark, twisted, and disturbing story, with enough suspense to keep readers guessing. Some of the characters are a bit over the top, and Ruth's naivete can be too much, but the story is unique and unsettling, with an ending that readers will be thinking about long after the final page.
From Booklist, Copyright (c) American Library Association. Used with permission.
Review by Publisher's Weekly Review
Winstead (The Last Housewife) serves up a sharp meditation on feminism and religious oppression in this atmospheric Louisiana-set thriller. Ruth Cornier, the independent-minded daughter of Pastor James Cornier, is the sole librarian in the small town of Bottom Springs, who takes particular pleasure in works of heretical fiction, including the Twilight novels. One afternoon, Ruth is devastated to learn that a human skull has been found in the swamp next to the library. When Ruth was 17, she was almost raped in the same swamp by itinerant worker Renard Michaels. Ruth's friend Everett, a local outcast, intervened, and Michaels was killed in the ensuing fight and his body left to sink into the swamp. When the remains are identified as those of another man, Ruth's worst fears are momentarily averted, but then a bigger problem emerges: might Bottom Springs have a killer on its hands? Alternating between past and present, Winstead movingly fleshes out Ruth and Everett's friendship without sacrificing pace or surprise as the body count rises. Evocative prose (the setting sun is described as "fighting death, reaching out with grasping fingers of orange and rose against the falling twilight") is a major plus. Fans of Michael Koryta's Southern gothic novels, including The Cypress House, will be enchanted. Agent: Melissa Edwards, Stonesong. (Oct.)
(c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved
Review by Library Journal Review
Timid Ruth Cornier grew up in the shadow of her overzealous evangelist father in middle-of-nowhere Bottom Springs, LA, where congregants and nonbelievers alike are controlled by preacher Cornier's decrees, including what books can be held in the library and school. Ruth learns to pilfer from donation boxes at the library before forbidden books can be disposed of. She rescues a copy of Twilight and keeps it close. With a teenager's naive desire for romance, she finds herself in a dangerous situation with a drifter. Beautiful Everett, son of the town drunk, rescues her, and they become inseparable. Six years later, when a skull is found in the swamp, Ruth worries. Then a second skull is found. Preacher Cornier proclaims that Everett is responsible, that he's the evil reincarnation of the Low Man, a beautiful demon based on an old superstition popular in the town. Ruth wants to clear Everett, who just wants to escape the witch hunt. VERDICT This excellent twisty thriller by Winstead (In My Dreams I Hold a Knife) is for anyone who enjoys underdog or misfit mysteries or tales of abused children seeking revenge on their abusers.--Elizabeth Masterson
(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
