The Drowning
A Novel
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3.4 • 8 Ratings
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- $21.99
Publisher Description
Every seven years, a boy disappears from Camp Waukeelo.
Who will be next?
It doesn't take long for a little boy to disappear. Joey Proctor can't swim, but that doesn't stop camp counselor Alex Mason from leaving him out on a raft in the middle of the lake in a fit of rage. Alex only meant to scare the kid, teach him a lesson. He didn't mean to forget about him. But now Joey is gone… and his body is never found.
More than twenty years later, Alex is a success. The proof is there for anyone to see, in the millions of dollars he makes, his lavish house, his beautiful wife and daughters. And no one knows what happened that summer at camp. At least, no one should know. But it looks like Joey Proctor may be back to take his revenge…
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
An overbearing alpha male gets his comeuppance in this smart, creepy thriller from Smith (Airtight). One summer day, when Alex Mason was an arrogant swimming counselor at Camp Waukeelo in the Berkshires, he left timid eight-year-old Joey Proctor behind on a raft in the middle of a lake. Joey inexplicably vanished, but Alex lied well enough to avoid blame. Twenty-one years later, he's a famous New York real estate developer with a lovely family and a glamorous lifestyle. Then increasingly serious intrusions from his guilty past suggest that someone or something remembers Joey's panic and wants Alex to share it. As it turns out, the immature, violent side of Alex's nature doesn't need much prodding to reveal itself. Smith nicely balances the borderline-supernatural events with Alex's mundane struggles as his blustering defenses crumble. Sharp, clear prose is a plus. This is a remarkably adept performance.)
