Backwater

by Tom Deady

Tim Douglas returns to his home town of Edgewater to bury his mother wanting nothing more than to get back to his retirement in Arizona. A strange sequence of events compels him to attend his 40th high school reunion where the past encroaches on the present, and Tim realizes that the ghosts of his youth must also be laid to rest.There’s nothing like exploring an abandoned building to bring history back to life. So when Stan Powalski and his urban explorer friends learn that Edgewater’s Grand Hotel is slated for demolition, they can’t wait to get inside. None more than Stan, who has been raised on his grandmother’s stories of the majestic building, the site of his parents’ wedding. What Stan doesn’t know is the Grand holds its own memories, and history has a long reach.Welcome to Edgewater, Massachusetts. You’ve driven through towns like it; quiet tree-lined streets, a gazebo on the town common where band concerts are held in the summer, maybe an ice-cream truck surrounded by children. But haven’t you wondered what secrets lie hidden behind the elegant brickwork or buried in the postcard-pretty hills and forests? In Edgewater, nothing is as it seems.

Genres: Horror, Thriller

174 pages, Paperback

Published September 5, 2018

About the author

Tom Deady's first novel, HAVEN, won the 2016 Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a First Novel. He has since published several novels and novellas. He has a Master's Degree in English and Creative Writing and is a member of both the Horror Writers Association and the New England Horror Writers Association. He resides in Arizona where he is working on his next novel.
Be sure to follow Tom on BookBub for the latest on sales: https://www.bookbub.com/profile/tom-d...

Reviews

[Marie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Well......what to say about this book. I will try to give some minor thoughts on it.

I thought going into it that the whole book was one story but it is two separate stories.

First story - small backstory:

Tim Douglas goes home to take care of funeral arrangements for his mother and while he is there it just so happens that his 40th high school reunion is happening at the same time which he attends and one thing leads to another with that story ending in a twist.

Thoughts: I wasn't too impressed with the first story as most of it is with the character Tim being at his high school reunion and seeing old friends. I was thinking the story was going to be "horror" but I am not sure exactly what you would call it - maybe more of a mystery, but I wasn't expecting it to be boring which that is what it turned out to be.

Second story - small backstory:

Stan Powalski and some friends like to explore old buildings but when they decide to explore the Grand Hotel which is like the cream of the crop for urban explorers they get more than they bargained for as they find out that not everything is truly "abandoned".

Thoughts: This story was horror and I found myself getting caught up in the storyline along with feeling that I was right there with the characters. Lots of creepy heebie-jeebies with this story and there were plenty of twists to keep me on the edge of my seat. Loved this story better than the first story.

All in all giving this book three "Spooked-Out" stars.

[Sally · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 rounded up. I liked this, I found that I enjoyed Deady's writing style very much. This was made up of 2 novellas that were separate but had a bit of overlap. One a mystery thriller and the other more of a psychological horror. Both were very interesting and kind of twisty. Definitely recommend and I liked the writing so much I will sure check out more by this author.

[Netanella · Rating 3 out of 5]

For an author who writes dark fiction, having "deady" as a last name is surely fitting. Even if it's not pronounced that way.

This book is actually two stories in one, two novellas set in the town of Edgewater, "Class Reunion" and "One Night at the Grand." Of the two, I preferred the last story, which had a much darker feel to it. Overall, you can't go wrong with a Deady book!

[Frank Errington · Rating 5 out of 5]

Review copy

Tom Deady (pronounced dee-dee) is one of a few new writers I must read as soon as they release something fresh. The only work I haven't gotten around to is Eternal Darkness and I hope to correct that before year's end. Yeah, he's that good. The two novellas in this collection further solidify his standing as a talent to take note of.

First up, is Class Reunion. When Tim Douglas returns to Edgewater for his mother's funeral, he decides to attend his fortieth Class Reunion. The event brings back a lot of memories. Many of them not good at all. Especially as he recalls the deaths of Anna Koslovsky, Mary Frazier, & Judith O'Shea.

Then there was the music, forty years ago and disco was big. Not my favorite genre, but I admit I often supplemented my meager income as a radio DJ by working in area clubs playing the stuff people wanted to dance to, and this part of the story did bring back a few fond memories for me.

While parts of Class Reunion were charmingly refreshing there was a bittersweet taste to the tale as Tim and a classmate unravel a forty-year-old mystery. The overall effect made for a stellar read.

Novella, number two also takes place around Edgewater during the same time period and shares some of the same locations which made for a nice touch.

One Night at the Grand is about a group of friends who often enter abandoned buildings without permission, just to explore and take photographs.

Word on the street is the old Grand Hotel is about to be torn down and when the opportunity to check it out before its demise came about, Brian, Jay, Katy, and their unofficial leader, Stanley Polwalski just had to get inside.

Deady paints a dark cloud over the excursion from the very beginning and you just know things are going to go very wrong.

Along the way, the author makes this wonderful observation...

"Life really does go by fast. We retain bits and pieces, but much of it goes by like scenery on a well-traveled commute. Invisible."

One Night at the Grand is definitely the darker of the two tales, even though they both have their moments.

Reading a Deady story gives me a level of comfort I don't get with many writers. More a feeling like we're just hanging out and Tom is relating a story rather than being in a lecture hall somewhere being forced to take notes. Very casual, informal. Makes for a good read.

If you haven't read Tom Deady's work before, Backwater is an excellent starting point and if you enjoy what you find, pick up his debut novel, Haven. You can thank me later.

Published by Omnium Gatherum Media, Backwater is available now for the Kindle. If you subscribe to Kindle Unlimited you can read it at no additional charge. Also, if you are an Amazon Prime member you can read it for FREE using the Kindle Owners Lending Library.

From the author's bio - Tom Deady is the Bram Stoker Award-winning author of Haven, Eternal Darkness, and Weekend Getaway. He holds a Master’s Degree in English and teaches Creative Writing at Southern New Hampshire University. He is also an Active member of the Horror Writers Association and a member of the New England Horror Writers.

[joyce g · Rating 4 out of 5]

Author Tom Deady is one fine story teller!

[Reeda Booke · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was one was a bit more predictable, but still well written. 3 stars.
Tom Deady is an author to look out for...he is going places!

[Steven · Rating 4 out of 5]

While this title was very entertaining, it had me break off and listen to some older music for a while, and made me take trips down memory lane a few times. After reading this, I will now have to add Tom Deady to authors I will follow and put in my favorites list.

[Bandit · Rating 3 out of 5]

With the last name like Deady (sure it’s pronounce deedee, but we’re readers, all that matters is how it reads) the man is practically destined to write dark fiction. This book proves the case. Backwater here is Edgewater, a small town where nothing is as it seems. Most authors create towns like that, something where quaint alternates with nightmarish all too easily. And here in two interconnected tales it does. First one has a serial killer who decides to decades later get some credit for his work. Second one has features some haunted luxury accommodations you wouldn’t want to check into. So a nice balance of genres while maintaining the appropriately dark atmosphere. A good October read, but nothing really stood out. Nothing really spectacular as the foreword promises. Just thoroughly decent takes on popular motifs. The sort of book that puts the author on your radar in a relatively favorable light, but doesn’t necessarily send you looking for every book he’s written. This was a very quick read and provides above adequate evening’s worth of entertainment. For a random Kindle freebie it’s all you can ask for.

[Steve Stred · Rating 4 out of 5]

** Edited as review is now live on Kendall Reviews! **

3.5/5

I just want to start off with a sincere apology to Mr Deady. I was sent this for review through Kendall Reviews at some point at the end of 2018. I’m just now getting to it. How this happened is beyond me, but I finally rectified it and here we go!

Tom Deady has been a name floating around and recommended to me by a number of folks.

His novel ‘Haven’ won the Bram Stoker Award for Superior Achievement in a First Novel and has been on my radar for some time. Whenever you hear that sort of accomplishment, you get excited when you get to read some of their work.

Backwater features two interconnected novellas, although that connection is fairly loose. A single character is mentioned in the first novella who is the main character in the second novella. As well, both stories occur in the small town of Edgewater. (Fun side note – I grew up about 3 hours from Edgewater, BC. We never went there as it was a total dive, although it did have a great reputation for partying. Not to be confused with Edgewood, BC, which was about thirty minutes from my childhood home. Edgewood came by its nickname Goodweed honourably.)

The first story – “Class Reunion” is the stand out of the two. We follow Tim who has decided to attend his 40th High School Grad Reunion. This is the first of the reunions he’s attended and is decidedly nervous regarding what to expect.

The nostalgia trip that Deady gives us is top-notch. It really gave me a new, wonderful take on reminiscing, as this wasn’t the 10 or 20-year reunion. These folks have lived life and being in their 50’s now, really made it enjoyable to see how they’ve carried on past the high school glory days.

Deady couples the nostalgia with a great subplot for our main character Tim, which really helps explain the bits that he can’t remember. Along the way, Deady introduces some old acquaintances which are where things really ramp up. The ending did feel a bit rushed for me, but it answered the questions and tied up all of the plot ends, which worked well. If this had been drawn out a bit more, this would have been a 5-star story for me. As such, I’m giving it a solid 4 stars.

This is where I kind of wished Deady had stopped. The second novella included was just a slog for me. It went down a familiar plot path for me and overall I just didn’t enjoy it.

“One Night at the Grand,” follows the aforementioned linked character Stan from the first story, as he and a group of urban explorers decide to explore The Grand Hotel before it is demolished. While on the surface this sounds like an excellent premise, the story ultimately felt far too rushed for me and things just kind of get skimmed over and happen. Throw in Stan’s frustrating anger over a potential crush on a fellow explorer and then the ‘saw it coming from a mile away’ ending, One Night at the Grand just really failed in its execution for me. As I said, the potential was there, the delivery was not.

For me, this novella on its own was a 2/5.

Overall I’m rating this fast read a 3.5/5. Class Reunion was just so well done that it really holds up the collection on its own. I’m definitely going to explore ‘Haven’ now from Deady, as it’s synopsis looks fantastic and seeing how well done the first novella in this book was, I’d love to see his writing chops played out with an extra 100-200 pages.

[Alan · Rating 4 out of 5]

I enjoyed the book. However, I have to admit I don't "get" the story-within-the-story element. Quite frankly, it feels like Deady had two short novella ideas and jury-rigged the two together just to make one longer almost novel-length novella. Both stories were good, but there really was no need to connect them.

[William Richardson]

An excellent book, very creepy and I like very creepy. Enjoyed it very much as some of it brought back memories of my high school reunion. I always look forward to reading Tom's books.

[Shane Douglas Douglas · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'll be reviewing this one soon, but don't wait for that. Two amazing stories, one strange little town, one great author! Perfect combo!

[Madelon · Rating 5 out of 5]

First and foremost, do read John R. Little's introduction to BACKWATER. It, more or less, epitomizes why I read a book from cover to cover. What one writer has to say about another can be so very revealing. Little understands completely something I have come to realize over decades of reading. Start with an author's first book and watch the art mature. Alas, BACKWATER is Tom Deady's fourth book, so now I have to backtrack while being unable to unread this particular work.

BACKWATER is a collection of two stories where the first "Class Reunion" acts as somewhat of a precursor to the second, "One Night at the Grand." However, each of these tales stands well on its own. Pay attention to what the characters do and say.

As I read the introduction, I found myself in total agreement with Little with respect to the need for readers to discover the plot on their own. To intervene by providing spoilers would be unconscionable. After reading only a few pages you will be drawn in by the very readable writing, and you will find that the characters are fully-fleshed people.

Now I will have to go back and read those earlier works to see the writing progression that produced these two fine pieces.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

Backwater was a good one! Both stories kept me turning the pages and trying to guess ahead what the ending would bring. The book has scares, gore and mystery in it’s two solid horror stories. Looking forward to more from Mr. Deady!

[Karalee Coleman · Rating 4 out of 5]

The publisher’s blurb for this book seemed disjointed, until I realized it comprises two novellas. The first story, Class Reunion, made me think of stories done so well by C.J. Tudor – a kind of À la recherche du temps perdu vibe. The second, featuring Stanley Kowalsky (last seen in A Streetcar Named Desire), has echoes of The Shining, only lacking the redeeming angels. And of course being much, much shorter. Both are set in the same smallish town of Edgewater, Massachusetts, and they share some characters. I seem to be binge-reading spooky stories lately, and I hope to see more from Mr. Deady. If he continues to write shorter fiction, the unifying back story of Edgewater and its residents could be a promising line.

I have this one as an audiobook, and for the second novella the narrator, Matthew Godfrey, has adopted what I guess is a variety of New England accent. This consists mainly of dropping the “g” on all the gerunds. It seems like an unusual choice, and I’d like to track down a paper copy of the book to see if it’s actually written that way. In wondering about this, though, I learned that Mr. Godfrey has narrated a number of creepy audiobooks, so my query has yielded some new authors to feed my current habit. Excellent.

Why do so many New England authors write creepy stories? Stephen King and John Connolly spring to mind, plus others I’ve encountered over the years. It’s got to be bad for the tourism industry.

[Randy · Rating 5 out of 5]

Oh yeah!

Tom Deady.. Tom Deady..Tom Deady.. Remember that name, because I predict that in the future , it will be revered among fans of Horror fiction. He just keeps coming up with the goods. Stories that draw you in until you feel like you're in the story along with the characters as a silent witness to their every thought and movement. Stories that linger in your mind long after the last page. Each book unique and original and better than the last. If that's possible. Damn! I'm a HUGE fan for sure!

[Kerry Higgins · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars

Two short stories, both well written and kept my interest. Nothing particularly new or different but I really enjoyed the writing style and would definitely recommend both the book and the author.