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Clearwater Falls
They say no one leaves Clearwater Falls, maybe they're right.
In the autumn of 1997, a teenage pariah is found mutilated in the waters surrounding a quiet island town. With the sheriff’s department baffled, the boy’s mother missing and the town kept unaware of the looming threat, Deputy Isaac Stone is thrust into the forefront of the investigation.
Haunted by his own grievous mistakes, he is determined to bring the killer to justice. With the aid of paranormal researcher Caitlin Dell, Isaac fights to uncover the truth that birthed a monster. Together, the deputy and the outsider must not only catch a killer…but survive the maelstrom still swirling at the heart of Clearwater Falls.
In the autumn of 1997, a teenage pariah is found mutilated in the waters surrounding a quiet island town. With the sheriff’s department baffled, the boy’s mother missing and the town kept unaware of the looming threat, Deputy Isaac Stone is thrust into the forefront of the investigation.
Haunted by his own grievous mistakes, he is determined to bring the killer to justice. With the aid of paranormal researcher Caitlin Dell, Isaac fights to uncover the truth that birthed a monster. Together, the deputy and the outsider must not only catch a killer…but survive the maelstrom still swirling at the heart of Clearwater Falls.
295 pages, Kindle Edition
Published February 10, 2026
1 person is currently reading
3 people want to read
About the author
W.J. Long III
3 books30 followersW. J. Long III is a resident of rural North Carolina, living with his wife and two children.
Writing has always been a close-held passion of his, but after a life-threatening health crisis, W J turned his eye toward leaving something of note behind.
As a long-time geek culture fan (especially science fiction), W J comes to his novels from a cinematic background. Having written several screenplays, he now brings the same sense of energy, tension, and pace to his work in prose.
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Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews
Review of advance copy received from Author
I wish to thank the author for an ARC copy in exchange for an honest review!
This has been the 3rd time an author of the SPSFC contest whose book I previously judged (and second time I have read an ARC by this author) has requested me for an ARC. Things seemed to have fizzled out on the other occasions. I assume authors seemed to forget to send me a copy.
So, I was glad this author reached out to me a second time because I can be forgetful. The timeframe to review was rather short, but I did have a bit of free time to read this book on vacations and I just finished 2 days before publication.
Unlike Long's prior work, Clearwater Falls veers far away from familiar Sci-Fi Space Opera territory for a Paranormal Horror/Thriller. Changing genres so much was a surprise, although I always like it when authors take risks.
This book shares a few similarities in the vibes department with Edgehaven by Steven Smith, the desolate spooky island setting of The Erstwhile Tyler Kyle by Steve Westenra and a few sprinkles of ominous boat rides seen in Odin's Tillit by Edge O. Erin. Spooks are few and far in between, where there is a greater focus on a detective procedural focus.
Lest to say, one thing is certain, the island township of Pinehurst for unexplained reasons has a higher than average tendency of being inhabited by the ghosts of the town's deceased. A part of me would have wanted to learn if there are any factors that increase the odds for people to become ghosts. One of the book's characters suspects violent deaths occuring a minimum amount of time increases the odds, although some ghosts dying from chronic disease or old age seem to be mentioned in passing.
This oddity lured the attention of an amateur cryptid researcher from Seattle named Caitlin. Financed by some obscure supernatural Institute, she has personal reasons to live in this dusty village where almost everyone belittles her... except for one particular bereaved deputy cop.
Readers who are triggered by the violent deaths of a parent's child should be warned this is a principal theme in the book. Deputy cop Isaac not only has to continue acting normal after his daughter's accidental death and divorce, but Lorelei's ghost intermitently haunts his house. As expected, this sticky situation drives a lot of his motivations as the story progresses.
Likewise, akin to A sword of Kaigen, Clearwater Falls commences with the POV of a teenager, only to end up being replaced by a parent. I constantly harbored hopes Daniel would become an active participant in this story one way or another. I would have liked seeing more chapters taking place in Daniel's head. This is due to the spoilery AHA! moment revealed much later in the book that didn't get much of any forshadowing.
This somewhat brings me back to some issues I had with the book. I am well aware this author's personal writing style aims more for the slow burn start with high reward finale. Some readers love this writing structure, other readers itching for a book aligning better with thriller genre conventions might struggle with this book's pacing style.
I personally feel some of the pacing could have been smoothened with more forshadowing of sherrif Hank and the town's volatile missing woman named Naomi. While doing so without spoiling the AHA! might prove difficult, I believe there could have been ways to offer a few sprinkles. The book explains Hank's aloofness is due to trauma from a particularly grissly unsolved case, but if he had just been just a tad bit more in the here and now, I feel I would have connected with the book's first half much more easily.
In fact, it is Isaac who ends up grudgingly toiling his way and trying to solve the mystery alongside Caitlin because nobody else seems to care.
Even so, keeping up to the author's tradition, we get snippets of glorious quotes in this book. Here are a few I enjoyed a lot:
The sheriff had to admit the image of slapping the clown in the face with a few dollars was appealing.
Without a shadow of perfection looming over everyone, the only thing left to strive for was improvement, and it could be reached every day.
All his life Isaac understood the destructive power of words.
"The last thing we need is Roland growing a spine, or someone else stumbling on a pair of dead bodies and passing it around."
A man was always haunted by ths ghosts of what came before, be those phantoms born of choice or circumstance.
Anyhow, I am certain there are readers out there where this slow burn ghost procedural with sprinkles of romance will be mightily appealing. If you like your ghosts to write cutesy messages on the bathroom mirror in between a growing stream of brutal deaths, this book might be up your alley.
3.5 stars!
This has been the 3rd time an author of the SPSFC contest whose book I previously judged (and second time I have read an ARC by this author) has requested me for an ARC. Things seemed to have fizzled out on the other occasions. I assume authors seemed to forget to send me a copy.
So, I was glad this author reached out to me a second time because I can be forgetful. The timeframe to review was rather short, but I did have a bit of free time to read this book on vacations and I just finished 2 days before publication.
Unlike Long's prior work, Clearwater Falls veers far away from familiar Sci-Fi Space Opera territory for a Paranormal Horror/Thriller. Changing genres so much was a surprise, although I always like it when authors take risks.
This book shares a few similarities in the vibes department with Edgehaven by Steven Smith, the desolate spooky island setting of The Erstwhile Tyler Kyle by Steve Westenra and a few sprinkles of ominous boat rides seen in Odin's Tillit by Edge O. Erin. Spooks are few and far in between, where there is a greater focus on a detective procedural focus.
Lest to say, one thing is certain, the island township of Pinehurst for unexplained reasons has a higher than average tendency of being inhabited by the ghosts of the town's deceased. A part of me would have wanted to learn if there are any factors that increase the odds for people to become ghosts. One of the book's characters suspects violent deaths occuring a minimum amount of time increases the odds, although some ghosts dying from chronic disease or old age seem to be mentioned in passing.
This oddity lured the attention of an amateur cryptid researcher from Seattle named Caitlin. Financed by some obscure supernatural Institute, she has personal reasons to live in this dusty village where almost everyone belittles her... except for one particular bereaved deputy cop.
Readers who are triggered by the violent deaths of a parent's child should be warned this is a principal theme in the book. Deputy cop Isaac not only has to continue acting normal after his daughter's accidental death and divorce, but Lorelei's ghost intermitently haunts his house. As expected, this sticky situation drives a lot of his motivations as the story progresses.
Likewise, akin to A sword of Kaigen, Clearwater Falls commences with the POV of a teenager, only to end up being replaced by a parent. I constantly harbored hopes Daniel would become an active participant in this story one way or another. I would have liked seeing more chapters taking place in Daniel's head. This is due to the spoilery AHA! moment revealed much later in the book that didn't get much of any forshadowing.
This somewhat brings me back to some issues I had with the book. I am well aware this author's personal writing style aims more for the slow burn start with high reward finale. Some readers love this writing structure, other readers itching for a book aligning better with thriller genre conventions might struggle with this book's pacing style.
I personally feel some of the pacing could have been smoothened with more forshadowing of sherrif Hank and the town's volatile missing woman named Naomi. While doing so without spoiling the AHA! might prove difficult, I believe there could have been ways to offer a few sprinkles. The book explains Hank's aloofness is due to trauma from a particularly grissly unsolved case, but if he had just been just a tad bit more in the here and now, I feel I would have connected with the book's first half much more easily.
In fact, it is Isaac who ends up grudgingly toiling his way and trying to solve the mystery alongside Caitlin because nobody else seems to care.
Even so, keeping up to the author's tradition, we get snippets of glorious quotes in this book. Here are a few I enjoyed a lot:
The sheriff had to admit the image of slapping the clown in the face with a few dollars was appealing.
Without a shadow of perfection looming over everyone, the only thing left to strive for was improvement, and it could be reached every day.
All his life Isaac understood the destructive power of words.
"The last thing we need is Roland growing a spine, or someone else stumbling on a pair of dead bodies and passing it around."
A man was always haunted by ths ghosts of what came before, be those phantoms born of choice or circumstance.
Anyhow, I am certain there are readers out there where this slow burn ghost procedural with sprinkles of romance will be mightily appealing. If you like your ghosts to write cutesy messages on the bathroom mirror in between a growing stream of brutal deaths, this book might be up your alley.
3.5 stars!
December 6, 2025
Review posted on my blog The Writer's Library.
I like stories that keep me invested. If a story can keep me asking the right questions, I count that as a good thing. I enjoy asking questions when I’m engrossed in a story’s plot. Thrillers – when done well – often do just that, leaving me on the edge of my seat and itching to know what will happen next!
I was excited to get into Clearwater Falls given my past experiences with this author’s work! W.J. Long III has written stories that have connected with me in ways that have made them rather memorable, so I was ready for something new and exciting!
Before I go any further, however, I would like to discuss some general thoughts I have. Let’s get into it!
Thoughts
The ideas bringing this story together are very interesting! Learning the history of the island of Clearwater Falls and how it affects the main narrative was fascinating, and I love the mood that is set for the story! Seeing how the main characters are affected by both the island and its history ended up weaving together a plot line that made me care about the characters and what happened to them.
I also really like how the island’s paranormal characteristics are tied into the characters’ everyday lives. This created a fascinating aspect to the setting that I wanted to know more about as the plot progressed. I had so many questions come to mind as I learned more about this, and it was incredibly interesting to discover more as time went on!
Anyway, now that I’ve gotten those thoughts off my chest, let’s look at the story’s structure!
Structure
I find the way this story is built interesting, because it allows the reader to get to know quite a few characters in some depth. I enjoyed trying to piece together the information revealed in the overall story with many of these characters. I also really like that the setting feels like the kind of place where everybody knows everybody.
The community being so small allowed for the exact stakes to become clear as time went on because the story reveals what this place is like. Not only was it interesting to see, but it also fleshed out the plot in ways that I didn’t expect.
Anyway, I think that’s all I have on the structure. Let’s move on to the writing.
Writing
I have something specific to discuss concerning the writing this time around. While I still love the atmosphere the prose creates, I have an issue with it that I’ll discuss in a bit. On the positive side, there is something about the mood and tone of the story that is easy to get wrapped up in! The word choice allows for full investment and made me want to see what comes next. And when the prose needs to be tense or take on a darker tone, it does so with no issues whatsoever. The humor also works perfectly when needed, adding some levity in certain instances that made me smile.
However, though that is all fantastic, I need to discuss a specific point of view. While I was invested in this character’s arc, the writing for them is rather vague, which affected my understanding of their story. I think the writing for them needed to be more specific in a few places. Otherwise, the writing feels nebulous in places where it’s not necessary. This made it difficult for the arc to completely come full circle to me.
Well, with all that out there, I think I’ve covered everything. Let’s finish this up.
Conclusion
I see a lot of positive aspects to this story. It’s gripping, the characters have interesting stories, and the paranormal elements in the setting are easy to get invested in! At the same time, however, I think the narrative could have benefited from being more specific where appropriate because it would help to bring everything together.
I debated over the rating of this for a while. However, given that I feel that the clarity of the writing is an issue that affects the narrative in a significant way, I think it should have a bigger impact on the rating this time around. For that reason, I will be giving this story three stars.
I like stories that keep me invested. If a story can keep me asking the right questions, I count that as a good thing. I enjoy asking questions when I’m engrossed in a story’s plot. Thrillers – when done well – often do just that, leaving me on the edge of my seat and itching to know what will happen next!
I was excited to get into Clearwater Falls given my past experiences with this author’s work! W.J. Long III has written stories that have connected with me in ways that have made them rather memorable, so I was ready for something new and exciting!
Before I go any further, however, I would like to discuss some general thoughts I have. Let’s get into it!
Thoughts
The ideas bringing this story together are very interesting! Learning the history of the island of Clearwater Falls and how it affects the main narrative was fascinating, and I love the mood that is set for the story! Seeing how the main characters are affected by both the island and its history ended up weaving together a plot line that made me care about the characters and what happened to them.
I also really like how the island’s paranormal characteristics are tied into the characters’ everyday lives. This created a fascinating aspect to the setting that I wanted to know more about as the plot progressed. I had so many questions come to mind as I learned more about this, and it was incredibly interesting to discover more as time went on!
Anyway, now that I’ve gotten those thoughts off my chest, let’s look at the story’s structure!
Structure
I find the way this story is built interesting, because it allows the reader to get to know quite a few characters in some depth. I enjoyed trying to piece together the information revealed in the overall story with many of these characters. I also really like that the setting feels like the kind of place where everybody knows everybody.
The community being so small allowed for the exact stakes to become clear as time went on because the story reveals what this place is like. Not only was it interesting to see, but it also fleshed out the plot in ways that I didn’t expect.
Anyway, I think that’s all I have on the structure. Let’s move on to the writing.
Writing
I have something specific to discuss concerning the writing this time around. While I still love the atmosphere the prose creates, I have an issue with it that I’ll discuss in a bit. On the positive side, there is something about the mood and tone of the story that is easy to get wrapped up in! The word choice allows for full investment and made me want to see what comes next. And when the prose needs to be tense or take on a darker tone, it does so with no issues whatsoever. The humor also works perfectly when needed, adding some levity in certain instances that made me smile.
However, though that is all fantastic, I need to discuss a specific point of view. While I was invested in this character’s arc, the writing for them is rather vague, which affected my understanding of their story. I think the writing for them needed to be more specific in a few places. Otherwise, the writing feels nebulous in places where it’s not necessary. This made it difficult for the arc to completely come full circle to me.
Well, with all that out there, I think I’ve covered everything. Let’s finish this up.
Conclusion
I see a lot of positive aspects to this story. It’s gripping, the characters have interesting stories, and the paranormal elements in the setting are easy to get invested in! At the same time, however, I think the narrative could have benefited from being more specific where appropriate because it would help to bring everything together.
I debated over the rating of this for a while. However, given that I feel that the clarity of the writing is an issue that affects the narrative in a significant way, I think it should have a bigger impact on the rating this time around. For that reason, I will be giving this story three stars.
February 20, 2026
Part ghost story, part police investigation, part mystery, I didn’t know what I was in for when I opened this book. Well, Long doesn’t disappoint.
I’m going to add a spoiler – so if you don’t like to know anything about a book before you read it, jump to the next paragraph.
Clearwater Falls has ghosts. Lots of them. And everyone there knows.
That done with, I can move on.
What the author has crafted is a multi-layered tale with the main thread an investigation into a child’s murder. This picks away at the secrets hidden within the island cluster, both unspoken and those in plain sight, as well as delving into its history and that of its residents. It is rich, diverse, and creepy, and the story stealthily sneaks up and taps you on the shoulder towards the end and asks: ‘Did you not see?’
The book is written in a multi-POV style, and you get insights mainly through Deputy Isaac Stone, an interesting, guilt-ridden but determined figure who is as layered as the story. Alongside him is Caitlin Dell, an investigator as flawed as Isaac. But these are lives that have been led, not thrown in for convenience, and they are stronger for it. Despite the premise, this town feels real, and you are swept along as the tension and body count rise to a conclusion that the book deserves.
Long deserves a place on your shelf for his science fiction. And now, alongside those great books, he has sculpted a paranornal thriller to stand beside them. Superb.
I’m going to add a spoiler – so if you don’t like to know anything about a book before you read it, jump to the next paragraph.
Clearwater Falls has ghosts. Lots of them. And everyone there knows.
That done with, I can move on.
What the author has crafted is a multi-layered tale with the main thread an investigation into a child’s murder. This picks away at the secrets hidden within the island cluster, both unspoken and those in plain sight, as well as delving into its history and that of its residents. It is rich, diverse, and creepy, and the story stealthily sneaks up and taps you on the shoulder towards the end and asks: ‘Did you not see?’
The book is written in a multi-POV style, and you get insights mainly through Deputy Isaac Stone, an interesting, guilt-ridden but determined figure who is as layered as the story. Alongside him is Caitlin Dell, an investigator as flawed as Isaac. But these are lives that have been led, not thrown in for convenience, and they are stronger for it. Despite the premise, this town feels real, and you are swept along as the tension and body count rise to a conclusion that the book deserves.
Long deserves a place on your shelf for his science fiction. And now, alongside those great books, he has sculpted a paranornal thriller to stand beside them. Superb.
Displaying 1 - 3 of 3 reviews