Jennifer McMahon is an American author who has written numerous books. In our country, we’ll soon be able to enjoy four of these books when “The Children of the Hill” is published.
What are the reasons why The Drowning Kind gets an unqualified 5 stars from me?
Book Review: The Drowning Kind
- Author: Jennifer McMahon
- 319 pages, Hardcover
- First published April 6, 2021
The plot of “The Drowning Kind”
Behind the stunningly beautiful cover are two storylines – that of Jax, a modern woman and social worker with a troubled sister who is unexpectedly found dead in the pool of her grandmother’s house, and the story of Ethel Monroe in the 1920s, who desperately wants a child of her own and is willing to do anything to have one. I was captivated by both the turn of events and the writing style – it was all so interesting and engrossing, with a constant tension and expectation that something sinister was about to happen. And I’m not going to lie to you – a lot of creepy stuff happens. For me, it was the kind of book where you just can’t think about anything else until you’ve finished it. I loved everything about it – the two stories, the way they’re interwoven, and of course the wonderful way it was presented. The author did a brilliant job. ⠀⠀⠀
If you haven’t read anything by McMahon and are into stories that slowly but surely scare you until you start doubting your own ideas of what exactly is going on in the book (and not in reality) – well, don’t miss it. In my case, as a wonderful bonus, the power went out three times while I was reading it. Abe, that was a wonderful experience! And even though I pretty much wet my pants, I’d describe the book as tolerably scary and even recommend it to people who run away from books with horror elements like the devil from incense – it’s worth getting your adrenaline pumping a bit with this story.
When social worker Jax receives nine missed calls from her older sister, Lexie, she assumes that it’s just another one of her sister’s episodes. Manic and increasingly out of touch with reality, Lexie has pushed Jax away for over a year. But the next day, Lexie is dead: drowned in the pool at their grandmother’s estate. When Jax arrives at the house to go through her sister’s things, she learns that Lexie was researching the history of their family and the property. And as she dives deeper into the research herself, she discovers that the land holds a far darker past than she could have ever imagined.
In 1929, thirty-seven-year-old newlywed Ethel Monroe hopes desperately for a baby. In an effort to distract her, her husband whisks her away on a trip to Vermont, where a natural spring is showcased by the newest and most modern hotel in the Northeast. Once there, Ethel learns that the water is rumored to grant wishes, never suspecting that the spring takes in equal measure to what it gives.
