My Two Cents: IT SLEEPS BELOW by William F. Gray

Things are not always what they seem. That's a central theme in William F. Gray's new release, "It Sleeps Below," and it's a lesson the book's main character, Samantha, learns the hard way more than once. The story opens with Sam receiving a strange phone call from her girlfriend, Ellie, in which something seems off. Ellie doesn't sound like herself, and when Sam learns she killed herself in a car crash before the call even came through, she begins to suspect that it hadn't really been Ellie on the phone at all.

A trail of similar enigmatic breadcrumbs, combined with fragmented memories of a near-drowning experience from her past, soon leads Sam back to her childhood home along the shores of Dale County Lake. The area, once lined with vacation homes, has fallen into disuse, its cozy cabins abandoned, and lakefront vistas overgrown and weed-choked. Only Sam's father remains, and while he's glad to see her again after a prolonged estrangement, the feeling isn't exactly mutual. Sam's mother had disappeared years earlier after a mental health crisis, and in the aftermath, Sam's father fell into alcoholism. Even though his drinking is now under control, Sam isn't sure whether or not to trust him, and despite medications to combat the same mental illness her mother suffered, Sam also isn't sure if she can trust herself.

In trying to face the ghosts of her past, including the day she'd nearly drowned, Sam slowly discovers an awful truth hidden beneath the deceptively tranquil surface of Dale County Lake, a terrible secret that's been eagerly awaiting her inevitable return.

There's a lot of grief and anger in this book, and Gray presents both through an unflinching (and sometimes unflattering) lens. A heartbroken Sam doesn't always deal with Ellie's death with grace, instead lashing out at everyone around her, even friends and family trying to offer her comfort. She's angry at them for her loss, and with herself, as she begins to consider all the signs she'd been oblivious to, hints that Ellie might have been unhappy and considering suicide in the days and weeks leading up to her crash. She's also furious with herself for not seeing the same hints of mental instability in her mother years earlier, and her father for failing to recognize them, too.

There's also a lot of healing in the story. As Sam unravels the supernatural mystery that binds her to the lake, she also begins to make peace with Ellie and her parents -- and herself -- and rediscover reasons to look to the future again, rather than dwell on the past. The past, unfortunately, isn't quite as willing to let her go.

Sam is a great character, and her emotional growth and development keep the story anchored even as the more horrific elements come more into play. The reader empathizes with her struggles, both of the real and supernatural varieties, and we want to see her come out on the other side. Even when Gray seems determined to keep knocking her down with one new plot twist after another, Sam gets back up. It's like that Pink song says: "We're not broken, just bent," and no matter how many times Sam gets bent a little closer to her mental breaking point, she manages to soldier on. She's a heroine worth rooting for, and she gives it all she's got.

Gray is a terrific storyteller, his descriptive narrative painting clear pictures in the reader's mind of the people and places Sam encounters along the way. Although we never get more than glimpses of the "Senex Deus," or "old god" lurking within the depths of Dale County Lake, Sam's encounters with it are unforgettable, thanks to Gray. From the first passages of the book's prologue, in which Sam recalls seeing an unfamiliar, bright blue sun on the day she nearly drowned, Gray leaves us with the sense that whatever it is, this entity is ancient, omnipotent, omnipresent, and sinister.

"It Sleeps Below" is a dark parable about overcoming personal demons. Whether it's mental illness, addiction, or literally a cosmic entity that wants to swallow your soul, Gray's story reminds us that no matter the odds, or how desperate the fight, by holding fast to the people we love -- and who love us in return -- we can survive. We might be battered and bruised in the aftermath, but even so, we'll carry on, and in that lesson, there's a glimmer of hope to be found for us all.

"It Sleeps Below" is available here.