So Cold the River - a supernatural thriller

This book came as a complete surprise to me.  It was given to me by a friend who lives in French Lick, Indiana.  At first, I turned down the offer, but she insisted, indicating the book was set in her home town, and she even drove me to see the hotel where a portion of the book takes place.  I conceded and brought the book home.  I put it up on my "to be read" shelf with the intention of never pulling it down to read.  It just is not the type of book I normally read.  Recently, though, I was trying to decide what book to read next, and I saw this massive hardcover sitting there, overpowering all of the paperback novels around it, and so I figured, "What the heck.  I'll take it down, read a couple of chapters, and tell Dina that at least I gave it a shot."  So, I opened up this 503-page story and sat down to read it.  Three days later, I finished it!

So Cold the River, written by Michael Koryta, is the story of Eric Shaw, a cinematographer with a failed Hollywood career, a failing marriage, and a dead-end job video-taping weddings and putting together video-taped collages for funerals.  An assignment to put together a video for a recently deceased woman finds him focusing on a photograph of an A-frame cottage painted deep burgundy.  No people in the photo, but something about it draws Eric, forcing him to include it in the shot film of this woman's family and children.  It seems innocuous enough; but after the wedding, he learns the photo holds some important secrets that only the deceased woman's sister knows.  A woman who then hires Eric for a job - to head out to French Lick / West Baden, Indiana to research her father-in-law's life to produce a video about his childhood and history as a gift to her husband.  You see, her father-in-law is on his death bed, and no one - not even his own children - know anything about his life.  Eric declines until the woman offers him literally thousands of dollars to do the work.  So, Eric packs up and heads to Indiana, having no idea what is in store for him there!

If you are thinking that this does not sound overly exciting at this point, guess again.  That feeling Eric has about the A-frame in the photo - well, that is more than just a feeling.  And that bottle of spring water the woman gives him - the only thing her father-in-law has from his past in Indiana - it holds some very dark secrets.  Secrets that Eric begins to learn when he takes a sip from the bottle that has been closed for more than fifty years.  And then takes another sip.  And another.  It becomes an addiction, because the more he drinks, the more he begins to see things.  Glimpses of the past.  Glimpses of Campbell Bradford, the man he was sent to research.  Glimpses of the evil surrounding this man.  It becomes clear pretty quickly this is more than just a regular thriller.  There is a supernatural side to the story that turns dark really quick.  And a book that I had no intention of reading suddenly drew me in just as quickly as that bottle of water and the secret history of West Baden / French Lick draws in Eric.  

The characters in the story are superbly fleshed out, and as a reader, you find yourself drawn to each of them.  There's Kellen, the young college student working on a thesis about his grandfather's life running a speakeasy back in the day.  And his grandfather had told him some unbelievable stories about the town and about Bradford - stories that he begins to realize may not have been the imaginations of an elderly man.  There's Annie, the old woman who has been around long enough to know pretty much everyone in the town - and who has her own stockpile of bottled spring water from back in the day that has its own secrets to tell.  There's Josiah, the descendant of Campbell Bradford who is always getting into trouble - and who might very well be Campbell's path back to the real world.  There's Danny, the dimwitted best friend of Josiah who has always been loyal to Josiah - and who begins to realize that loyalty may come with a price.  And there's Claire, the spurned wife who still loves her husband despite everything - and who comes to Indiana in hopes of saving him from himself, only to find she is the one who needs to be saved!

The book is a definite page-turner, with so much tension building and so much suspense, you won't be able to put it down.  I give Koryta credit - he writes a very powerful story that will keep even a non-interested reader like me on the edge of his seat, waiting to see what is going to happen next and how it will all turn out!

NOW - all of that being said, I will give you one warning.  If you are thinking about watching the film adaptation of this book that was released back in 2022, I've got one word for you.  DON'T!!!  Under no circumstances should you watch the film if you've read the book.  I don't know what the filmmakers were thinking, but the movie is so far removed from the book, all it will do is drive you crazy and make you wish you could get back that hour-and-a-half of time you wasted watching it.  I made the mistake of watching it on a streaming channel, and throughout the entire movie, I'm screaming, shaking my head in disgust, and complaining at how much destruction the filmmakers did to this amazing tale.  The characterization is WAY off, and the story is so butchered, it's almost unrecognizable.  So, if you are thinking about watching the film, again - DON'T!  You will regret it!

Stick with the book - it is a million times better and well worth the read!

RATING:  9 tubs of sulfur-smelling spring water out of 10 for a shockingly great thriller with some unexpected twists and backstories that will leave you breathless by the end!