The Deep Well out now from Quill Tree Books; 400 pages
Content Warning: Murder, death, violence
About the Author: “Laura Creedle is ADHD, dyslexic and neuro-divergent. She writes young adult novels and blogs at http://adhd-writer.com. She lives in Austin, Texas in an urban forest with her husband and son, a cat who thinks he’s a dog, and a tiny dog who acts like a cat. Also, a half dozen raccoons who have burrowed into her attic. Unless she plays NPR on a radio in the attic, because as everyone knows, raccoons hate low key pleasant liberalism. Like most people in Austin, Laura plays guitar. She also owns more than one pair of cowboy boots. Neither of these is a requirement, but they help. When not writing, Laura volunteers with a kindergarten pre-literacy program at a local school” (Bio from author’s Goodreads profile).
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“The closer April got to the open-pit mine, the louder the voice became. And the voice said one thing, over and over. Time to fly.”
Ever since the Ojo de Cristo mining massacre took nineteen lives, April Fischer has been Copperton’s pariah—the girl who heard a voice coming from the open-pit mine at five years old. April lost her father to this massacre, and the mining compound’s industrialist, Robert “King” Steenkampf, the man who supposedly drilled a hole to Hell, also disappeared. In the years after, April has become infamous, her traumatic past used as the source of a cheap horror flick, urban legends, and horror buff entertainment. What’s worse is that April also has to deal with the Deep Well cult, a group that believes when April turns seventeen, she’ll be the harbinger of end-times that opens a portal for Steenkampf’s return. But when April finds out her father may be alive, all she wants is to bring him back. To do so, she must uncover the truth behind the massacre, the mine, and her memories before time runs out.
Creedle’s fast-paced writing leads you down a dark pit of tension and intrigue from the very beginning. There are layers of mystery in the narrative, from the brutal mining massacre April witnessed but can’t remember, her dreams and memories bleeding together, to the fanatic cultists and their ritualistic beliefs, and the suspicious man who relentlessly follows her. People stalk her in town and on the internet, and the voice—the dark entity that started it all—wants her back, creating a claustrophobic, pleasantly disturbing feeling. Yet, the book wasn’t without humor, and I found myself savoring these moments. The sweet, sisterly love between April and Jules really connected me to these characters and their plights. Creedle also creates depth in the narrative with contemporary elements. There’s a r/truewell Reddit thread and a social media presence looming over April. Some chapters begin with faux Wikipedia articles of the massacre, cult, and the mine’s history, and even a Hellhole! (the movie based on the massacre) Rotten Tomatoes critic review. These unique choices also deepen the story’s horror, situating it more firmly in our own reality. However, there were some things I wasn’t entirely on board with. A romance begins between April and Zach, the school’s athletic star, even though they have no chemistry whatsoever. Also, while I enjoyed the ending’s reveal, the voice April and others heard from the pit remains an unresolved enigma—potentially left unanswered for another book. Still, if you want a captivating thriller, this is a must-read!
Pine Reads Review would like to thank SparkPoint Studio and Quill Tree Books for sending us an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Any quotes are taken from an advanced copy and may be subject to change before final publication.
Danielle Hartshorn, Pine Reads Review Writer and Editor