Advanced reading copy signed fine

First edition signed as new with remainder mark

A ghost story hiding as a mystery, but it was still a good book. I'll try some more of him... ( )

Lots of plot twists in this one, however, the ghost story line was not entertaining at all. The story would have done quite well on its own without that. The backwoods incest, inbreeding was a novel idea, however, the way it advanced was somewhat disconcerting and the relationship between two major characters was disturbing as the story clarified. At that point the use of that particular incest device seemed nothing more than gratuitous. I usually enjoy each of Woods' tales thoroughly but did not think this was up to his typical high bar story.... ( )

It's a quick read and the story is fairly interesting but I wouldn't say it was a great book. A former journalist is hired to ghost write the autobiography of a chicken restaurant entrepreneur (a la Colonel Saunders). He heads to his brother-in-law's cabin in a remote part of Georgia to work on it. The cabin is on the edge of a lake created when a dam was built by a local businessman to provide hydro-electricity. The valley flooded by the dam was once home to a small group of Irish families who, obviously, lost their farms "under the lake". They were compensated quite well for their land but one family held out until the waters were starting to rise. The businessman believes the journalist is there to investigate and he is agitated because he has something to hide. He wants the sheriff to keep tabs on the journalist and make sure nothing gets out. There actually is a journalist working undercover in the sheriff's office but she is investigating the sheriff who may be involved in drug smuggling.

There's mystery, intrigue, crime, psychic phenomena, faith healing and sex so it's got something for everyone. I just found the ending too pat and some of the circumstances quite hackneyed for my taste which is the reason for the average rating. ( )