My Two Cents: THE DROWNED ONE by Desiree Horton

I fell in love with Desiree Horton's writing last year after reading "The Curse of Marystown." She has such a tremendous talent for description, and creates settings, characters, and creatures you can easily visualize in your mind. No place is this more evident than in her newest release, "The Drowned One," available July 1. Featuring stunning cover artwork by Christy Aldridge at Grim Poppy Designs, this dark tale combines elements of cosmic and body horror, and introduces a nightmarish cavalcade of monstrosities guaranteed to terrify.

In "The Drowned One," young mother Bea and her daughter, Hailey, are trying to escape the past. Fleeing from an abusive marriage, they find refuge in an isolated coastal community in Maine, and among the congregants of an enigmatic religious sect called the Cathedral by the Sea. Ránsdottr, the sect's leader, welcomes Bea and Hailey with open arms into their fold, and when Bea is nearly killed in a drowning incident, Ránsdottr likewise offers support to Bea's estranged twin brother, Finn, who rushes to Bea's side.

His sister's immersion in the church strikes Finn as out-of-character, and his suspicions are roused by their near-constant vigil at Bea's bedside as she recovers. The more he learns about the Cathedral by the Sea and the ancient sea goddess they worship, the more Finn begins to doubt their good intentions toward his sister and niece. Along the way, he meets Andromeda "Andy" Watts, a government operative sent to investigate bizarre migratory abnormalities among the area's sea creatures. Finn and Andromeda both suspect a connection to the Cathedral by the Sea. The truth, however, is darker and more horrific than either can ever imagine, and the goddess of the deep more ruthless and vengeful than even her most devoted followers could devise.

I'm not going to lie: there are parts of "The Drowned One" that still haunt me. Horton is able to capture the true essence of thalassophobia, or the fear of what's lurking unseen in deep waters, and carry that pervasive sense of dread throughout the entire book. Not only that, but the idea of being completely helpless, of having your body forcibly altered and mutilated at the whim of an ancient and omnipotent force induces its own primal terror. The creatures Horton has imagined -- and the creature that commands them -- are gloriously awful.

In short, Horton delivers a truly terrifying deity from the deep and a story that draws you in like a siren's song, weaving together chilling elements of both eldritch and body horror. Filled with wildly inventive and monstrous grotesqueries straight out of a nautical nightmare, "The Drowned One" explores just how far you might go to protect those dearest to you, and how blindly you might be willing to serve -- and suffer -- in the name of faith. Come on in, dear readers. The water is fine, and the goddess is waiting.

"The Drowned One" is available here.