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Title: The Drowning
Author: Rachel Ward
Narrator: Paul Chequer
Format: Unabridged
Length: 7 hrs and 21 mins
Language: English
Release date: 05-06-13
Publisher: Audible Studios
Ratings: 3 of 5 out of 1 votes
Genres: Fiction, Contemporary
Publisher's Summary:
What happens if you've done something terrible? But you can't remember what. And you don't know how to put it right...
When Carl opens his eyes on the banks of a lake, his brother is being zipped into a body bag. What happened in the water? He can't remember And when he glimpses a beautiful girl he thinks he recognises, she runs away.
Suddenly he knows he must find her - because together they must face the truth before it drowns them.
Members Reviews:
Prose full of stylistic risks, but not the most thrilling story
Rachel Wardâs THE DROWNING revolves around --- surprise, surprise --- a drowning, namely that of protagonist Carl Adamsâ older brother Rob. Awash with jealous rage and murderous intent, Rob lures his girlfriend Neisha Gupta to their townâs lake. But, thanks to the heroics of his younger bro, Rob, not Neisha, finishes the day belly-up.
Now, as an amnesic, Carl flounders amid the aftermath of his brotherâs sudden death. Meanwhile, Rob hatches a plan for revenge. Still eager for Neishaâs death, Robâs ghost lurks in water, transforming even the slightest bit of moisture into pulse-pounding terror for Carl. Rain, leaky faucets, black mold --- they all constitute a hideaway for Rob, and, consequently, all represent a threat to his increasingly hydrophobic victims. Will Carl defeat his brotherâs ghost, or will Robâs homicidal plot finally come to fruition?
Although THE DROWNINGâs morbid title and rather eerie cover art evoke the likes of Ira Levin, Edgar Allen Poe and Stephen King, Ward centers her novel around character relationships rather than suspense and gore. Much of the bookâs tension arises from Carlâs somewhat rocky --- but always genuine --- relationship with his mother, as well as his much less satisfying, on-again, off-again fling with Neisha.
Throughout THE DROWNING, Wardâs natural, often amusing dialogue buoys the reader through a rambling plotline, and the sweet talk exchanged between Carl and Neisha attains the perfect balance between curt and sappy. Although their romance presents the outward appearance of authenticity, however, Neishaâs passivity, vapidity and extreme mood swings fail to justify Carlâs near-obsessive interest in her. The entire novel is centered around Carlâs quest to protect Neisha, yet Neisha never really struck me as someone worth protecting. Consequently, I never became emotionally invested in Carlâs struggle against his brother.
Carl, however, manages to both charm and frustrate readers, which lends his character relatability and depth. Although Carlâs primary goal, protecting Neisha, is unarguably a noble one, he enacts a few less-than-virtuous plans while trying to secure her safety. In analyzing Carlâs character, I canât help but think of Jay Gatsby; though Gatsbyâs honorable end may not have justified his shady means, it certainly humanized them. Furthermore, while both Carl and Gatsby devote themselves wholeheartedly to Neisha and Daisy, respectively, 200-plus pages seems like an awfully long time to waste chasing such awfully superficial people. Iâm reminded of author John Greenâs assertion that, âGreat men [especially] need to be careful of what they worship.â
I do, however, applaud Ward for taking stylistic risks with her prose. Throughout THE DROWNING, she uses expected verbs in unexpected ways.
