Edge of Dark Water: A NovelJoe R. Lansdale
Mulholland Books, March 2012
ISBN: 978-0316188432
Mark Twain meets classic Stephen King--a bold new direction for widely acclaimed Edgar Award winner Joe R. Lansdale.
In depression-era rural east Texas, teenagers Sue Ellen Wilson and Terry Thomas join Sue Ellen’s father and uncle as they fish on a river. Instead of fish, they pull out the body of Sue Ellen and Terry’s friend May Lynn Baxter.
May Lynn dreamed of going to Hollywood to become a movie star so Terry and Sue Ellen, along with friend Jinx, decide to make sure that she gets there. It’s well known that the victim’s late brother was a thief and was rumored to have hidden a stash of money. When the friends go to May Lynn’s house to collect her treasured movie magazines, they find a map, which leads them to the money - and into their adventure.
Any hesitation about going on the mission evaporates once they learn how many unscrupulous, violent people are after the money. Joined by Sue Ellen’s alcoholic mother, who wants to escape her abusive husband, they pack up May Lynn (whom they’ve cremated in a conveniently located brick kiln) and set off.
The journey to spread their friends ashes is more than just a trek to fulfill their friend’s dreams, but a means to escaping a less than desirable life. Sue Ellen and her mother are surrounded by abuse at the hands of the man whom Sue Ellen thought was her father. Terry questions his sexuality, taunted by others as being a sissy. Jinx is the outcast in a group, a young African American girl.
Despite the grim circumstances, Edge of Dark Water is a fun and enjoyable read. The characters and language are colorful, and the story manages to be funny and suspenseful at the same time. Reminiscent of his coming of age tales The Bottoms and A Fine Dark Line, with a darker tone, Edge of Dark Water will appeal to fans of character driven, darkly humorous stories.
JOE R. LANSDALE is the author of over thirty novels and numerous short stories. His work has appeared in national anthologies, magazines, and collections, as well as numerous foreign publications. He has written for comics, television, film, newspapers, and Internet sites. His work has been collected in eighteen short-story collections, and he has edited or co-edited over a dozen anthologies. He has received the Edgar Award, eight Bram Stoker Awards, the Horror Writers Association Lifetime Achievement Award, the British Fantasy Award, the Grinzani Cavour Prize for Literature, the Herodotus Historical Fiction Award, the Inkpot Award for Contributions to Science Fiction and Fantasy, and many others.
ISBN: 978-0316188432; ISBN10: 0316188433; Imprint: Mulholland Books; On Sale: 3/27/2012; Format: Hardcover; Pages: 304; $25.99
