Undertow

by Kelly Cozy

Drew Finley was a crime journalist, until his mind couldn't shut out the images of blood and bodies. Alcohol made the images go away, but also ruined Drew's career and innocents' lives.

Drew's eager to make amends and he's got a story that will help him: a profile of a local celebrity who may have been framed for murder. As he digs deeper, he'll uncover secrets and grudges that will put the people he loves in danger.

270 pages, Paperback

First published November 18, 2014

About the author

Kelly Cozy became hooked on books in early infancy, when she turned one of her parents' paperbacks into a teething ring. She lives in California with her husband, son, and cats. Her hobbies include cooking, reading, watching movies, and attending nerdy conventions.

She is the author of The Day After Yesterday (contemporary fiction) and of Ashes and Reckoning (suspense series).

Visit her on Facebook

Reviews

[Lisa · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received this book for free through the Goodreads Giveaways program. I read it in 3 days. It's a good mystery. I enjoyed it a lot.

[Tricia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Drew Finley was a crime journalist, until his mind couldn't shut out the images of blood and bodies. Alcohol made the images go away, but also ruined Drew's career and innocents' lives.

Drew's eager to make amends and he's got a story that will help him: a profile of a local celebrity who may have been framed for murder. As he digs deeper, he'll uncover secrets and grudges that will put the people he loves in danger.

REVIEW:

Reviewing books by Kelly Cozy is becoming difficult. How many times can I use the words OMG, WOW, and HOLY SMOKES? But I find myself yet again at a loss for different words to review her latest book except to say WOW, she blew me away again. In most books you normally have two main characters that the book focuses around with a few others mixed in for substance. Not when Kelly Cozy writes a book. You have your main character, Drew Finley but as you read the book, character upon character is added that adds depth and intrigue to the plotline. And the attention to detail for each person, situation or scenario is remarkable. Reading a story with so much detail transports me to the places and I'm in the book as a bystander watching it all unfold like it was really happening in real life. I know I've probably said that before in a previous review but it's true. The first sentence in chapter one is "He knows who I am." If that doesn't grab your attention and keep you reading, I feel sorry for you.

Drew is a recovering alcoholic that let a crime story destroy his life. He has finally found a place to rebuild his life when he moves to Los Cielos and begins working for the Weekly. Normal is what he wants and that is what he has...for a little while. His girlfriend Evie is a little eccentric in a great way and she balances him out quite nicely. But once his attention gets focused on the local celebrity who may have been framed for murder, everything important to him gets overcome with his obsessive need to get to the truth. Jones Cavanaugh was the basketball coach that was convicted of killing one of the players. Audrey, the boss at the Weekly wants to do a piece on Cavanaugh and she assigns Drew to the story. And that is when his life is changed forever. After a meeting with Cavanaugh, Drew is beginning to think he is innocent so he digs deeper, talking to witnesses and anyone involved to get to the truth. But what he finds is not what you expect. And Drew's reaction changes many lives forever. Could I see the ending coming? NO WAY. That's the best part about reading a Kelly Cozy book, you never know what will happen and at the end you have to pick your mouth up off the floor. And then you are depressed because the book is over and you have to wait until the next one is written! That's what happens to me anyways! This book is a great read and I highly recommend it and any other book she has written.

[Diane · Rating 5 out of 5]

Drew Finley is a protagonist for the ages. We can’t help but pull for him even though he seems to be inherently a bit of a loser--but the kind of “loser” we want to make it. A recovering alcoholic, he falls off the wagon. In need of someone to hold on to, he botches the one true love he has. Perhaps most moving about this deeply drawn character is his search for the truth and an almost desperate belief that what he believes is true—is true. It’s a long way down from that kind of hope.

Cozy pushes this profoundly likeable character to the edge over and over again, testing his moral core, his sobriety, and his effectiveness as a crime journalist. Each time, with each test, Drew survives often by a hair but just enough to keep us riveted to this journey.

Juxtaposed against the drama of Drew’s life is the small Southern California town of Los Cielos where he lives and works at the weekly newspaper. It isn’t, though, the peacefulness of a beach town that preoccupies Drew. It is the nagging belief that the former coach of the women’s basketball team, Jones Cavanaugh, now in prison for the brutal murder of one of the young women on the team, now maintains his innocence. As Drew sets out to discover the truth behind Cavanaugh’s assertion he is inevitably pulled down into the darkness of his own inner self and the real nature of evil.

This is, perhaps, the best of Cozy’s novels. It is skillfully written, the tension is palpable and each scene taut with suspense. As Drew fights for the truth that he so desperately wanted, we are led into the intricacies of the human mind and soul, and the experience comes as much of a shock to the reader as it does to Drew.

This is not…not…a novel to be missed. Six Stars—but worth Ten.

[Louise · Rating 5 out of 5]

Book Synopsis:
"Drew Finley was a crime journalist, until his mind couldn't shut out the images of blood and bodies. Alcohol made the images go away, but also ruined Drew's career and innocents' lives.
Drew's eager to make amends and he's got a story that will help him: a profile of a local celebrity who may have been framed for murder. As he digs deeper, he'll uncover secrets and grudges that will put the people he loves in danger."
My Review:
I couldn't put this book down. It was suspenseful and exhilirating all at the same time. Coach Jones Cavanaugh is in prison for murdering, Marianne, one of the players on his team and one he was rumoured to be having an affair with. Did he do it? Did he belong on death row for this crime?
Drew Finley was obsessive about this case and had more than a reporter's usual curosity to find out the truth once and for all. He just HAD to know the truth about, Marianne. He went to lengths most people wouldn't bother too in order to research the case. What he found out will thrill you and excite you but you'll still be perplexed.
Kelly Cozy does a fantastic job of keeping the secret right until the very end and I'll tell you, I certainly did not see that ending coming. It literally stole my breath away!! The entire novel keep me sitting at the edge of my seat. I kept promising myself to stop reading at the end of each chapter but would begin the first few lines of the next one and off I'd go again, hour after hour until I was done. Don't miss UNDERTOW, I highly recommend it to everyone.

[Susan (The Book Bag) · Rating 5 out of 5]

I am a big fan of Kelly's and she has been such a great supporter of The Book Bag. I previously read and absolutely loved her book The Day After Yesterday. I am so excited to tell you that she has another hit on her hands!

Undertow is really quite different from The Day After Yesterday but Kelly is such a wonderful writer that they both are great stories, in their own right. Undertow has a much darker feel to it and the reader gets entrenched with Drew as he investigates a story about a coach who may or may not have committed a murder in the past. Drew pokes his head up from his self-induced hiding place to try to get to the truth of a murder sentence which may have been given to an innocent man.

'No, stop chasing it. Stop this story now. It's going to hurt you.'

I am not going to give away too much of this story except to tell you that it kept me on the edge of my seat and held my attention clear to the end. And what?? I was not expecting the story to go that way! When I got to the end of the story, I just had to sit there for a little bit to think about the story and the characters, and the way it ended. Way to go, Kelly - your wonderful story caught me by surprise!

Undertow is another one of Kelly's books that I highly recommend!

[Star]

Drew Finley was a great crime journalist until his obsession caused him to fall into a bottle. He didn’t crawl out until everything he cared for was gone: his love, his career, and his reputation. Now he works at a small paper as a copy editor, has a wonderfully eclectic girlfriend, and has been sober for a while. Until Drew’s attention is drawn to a local murder mystery. When the anniversary of a local basketball player’s death at the hands of her beloved coach arrives, Drew’s boss wants a piece written on her killer. Drew digs deeper into Jones Cavanaugh and starts to believe in innocence. As Drew follows his investigation, he becomes more and more obsessed, starting down the same pathway which destroyed his life previously. UNDERTOW is a masterpiece of mystery and obsession. The author has a gift for creating characters who get under your skin and with whom readers can instantly connect. No matter how I thought the story would go, I was constantly surprised which was beautiful. UNDERTOW will grip your imagination and the detail is absolutely amazing. If you haven’t read UNDERTOW, you’ll need to rectify this oversight soon.

[Ally Web · Rating 5 out of 5]

Andrew Finley is a copy chief of a local newspaper. It's obvious he wants something more. After years of being crime journalist, copy chief is growing old on him. That’s until he gets to do a major article tossed his way. Undertow is murder mystery that includes a coach/student sex affair. Finley decided to dig deeper, Journalist gone detective. Was Cavanaugh guilty or was it a set up? Kelly Cozy really leaves you questioning everything. You really want Cavanaugh to be guilty but you aren't quite sure. Finley's life is now spinning out of control. He had become completely obsessed with the case. The ending blew me away. I really couldn't believe what happened. I really liked the characters. All very believable. If you enjoy mystery, you would enjoy this book. I know I did. 5/5

[Kelly · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found Undertow to be engaging and suspenseful with a great twist ending. I did have one issue with the story. The main character Drew is portrayed as an alcoholic, however he is repeatedly shown as being unable to control having a first drink, but then being able to limit how many drinks he has after that. I feel that is an extremely unrealistic portrayal of alcoholism. I've spoken with many people in recovery and they all stated that once they had that first drink they couldn't stop themselves from the drinking binge that followed. That aside, it was a very enjoyable read and I look forward to reading more books by this author.

Note: I received a free copy in exchange for an honest review.

[Ciska · Rating 4 out of 5]

This books leaves me a bit troubled. I love the writing. Cozy knows how to create characters and set atmosphere.
I felt the struggle Finley was going trough but I had a really hard time understanding his decisions. Especially his attitude towards Evie disturbed me a lot. I had the feeling she was really understanding but he was not really honest. I noticed while reading the annoyance about that disturbed the experience with the rest of the story.
The plot of the story is very interesting. There are a lot of interesting factors. Abuse of young woman. A prisoner on death row. Your sense of right and wrong is tested a lot in this book.