Blackwater, Part II: The Levee

Time to delve back into the world of Perdido, Alabama and the Caskey family with the second book in the Blackwater series. Author Michael McDowell continues the drama (and slow torture) of the Caskey family as the small town decides to move forward with the building of the levee, to help prevent there from being another flood like the one that devastated the town in the first book (and from which the first book garnered its name). Now, in The Levee, the town sees the construction of the one thing they think will protect them from another flood, totally unaware that within the Caskey family, there are much greater dangers that are building to a boiling point...

The Levee sees the war between Mary-Love Caskey and her daugher-in-law, Elinor, reach new levels, as each seeks greater control over their loved ones. This second part of the saga spans a number of years, and it certainly reveals more into the character of each of the Caskeys and their supporting cast.  Like the first book, it definitely reads like a Southern soap opera, with Mary-Love desperately trying to keep control over her family, working doubly hard to punish Elinor for intruding into her family and seemingly taking her perceived power away; Sister deciding that she does not want to be left behind, always under the thumb of her mother; Oscar trying to make sense of everything and keep the peace, all the while unaware that even he is being manipulated by his wife into asserting himself and taking some of that power away from his mother and uncle; and good, old Elinor, who sits calmly on the porch of her house (still technically owned by her mother-in-law), pulling the strings of everyone around her without them even realizing it...

It's nice to see Sister finally stand up for herself, and when she decides that she wants to get married and out from under her mother, she chooses the easiest option available - Early Haskew, the engineer that Mary-Love brings to town and insists live with her and her daughter while he is designing and overseeing the building of the new levee that will protect the town of Perdido from future floods (a levee that Mary-Love knows Elinor does not want, and a man that Mary-Love knows Elinor despises).  But, instead of just using her womanly wiles, Sister's actions to get her husband remind readers that this is not just a soap opera - it is a supernatural tale of horror. Sister has the family's cook engage in a rather odd, almost voodoo-like ceremony to ensure that Early will fall in love with her and ask her to marry him (which he eventually does, and, in true soap fashion, they wait until the family Christmas dinner to spring the surprise announcement on everyone!).

Oh, and speaking of family, James Caskey's past comes back to haunt the family in the form of his rather rotund and anything-but-upper-class sister-in-law shows up with her two rowdy children in tow and connives her way into having James support her and her children.  Mary-Love is appalled and blames James from bringing them into their lives by marrying Genevieve (who readers may recall died rather nastily in the last book...).  Queenie (the sister-in-law - gotta love these character names) quickly makes friends with Elinor, sensing the tension between Mary-Love and the other woman.

And, of course, one cannot forget Elinor.  The family may not know it, but readers are fully aware that this woman is not at all what she appears to be.  And this second book definitely proves that with the birth of Elinor's second child.  Poor Zadie (the young black girl who helps maintain Elinor's house) is witness to a horrific baptizing of the child in the Perdido River, and later, one of the characters in the book is sacrificed in the most horrific way in order for Elinor to preserve her control over everything that happens with the rivers and the levee.  In fact, Elinor's true nature can be summed up with the statement she makes at the end of the second chapter in this book:

"But Zadie, when I am dead--whether there's a levee here or not--this town and everybody in it will be washed off the face of the earth..."

McDowell increases the tension in this book, almost to a point where the reader can actually feel it as he or she reads the words on the page.  While there is the subtle terror that permeates the tale as a whole, the scenes of graphic horror in this book are a clear reminder of just what type of story this is, and likely acts as a precursor to the more horrifying days ahead for the Caskeys and the people of Perdido...

RATING:  9 small closets of fear out of 10 for building the terror, upping the tension, and weaving the nasty little web that will lead to the ultimate climax of this six-book story!