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The Drowning: An Insane Thriller Ride
An Insane Thriller RideDarius Shaw is a security guard working the night shift in the small town of Shadow Bay, New York. When he finds two bodies in the local recreation center pool, he calls 911, but he’s not the only one calling in drowning victims. The operator has received multiple calls for dead people in the past thirty minutes.Within hours, over a dozen bodies are found in pools, bathtubs, and the lake—all apparent victims of violence as the bodies have bite marks and bruising.Then Darius comes across a journal that belonged to one of the victims, which includes startling information on a decade-old cold case. While he attempts to investigate on his own, people continue to die—some by just walking into the lake to drown.The police chief calls in the FBI for assistance, and they immediately lock down the town, effectively trapping everyone inside, along with whatever is killing them. With the lockdown in full effect, people are still drowning, leaving the authorities to question who—or what—is killing the people of Shadow Bay.The Drowning is an insane glimpse at the town of Shadow Bay over twenty-four hours—when Hell came to visit.
320 pages, Kindle Edition
Published July 26, 2021
41 people are currently reading
150 people want to read
About the author
Jonas Saul
107 books391 followersJonas Saul is the bestselling author of the Sarah Roberts Series—more than two million sold!—and has written and published over sixty thrillers. After acquiring an agent, he signed several deals in Los Angeles, with MadRiver Pictures optioning his Sarah Roberts Series—over forty books!—(currently in development).
Jonas has often outranked Stephen King and Dean Koontz on Amazon over the past decade. He’s regularly invited to be a guest speaker, teacher, or workshop presenter at international writing conferences and film festivals worldwide.
He hosts multiple annual retreats in Greece, where he currently lives—writer’s, screenplay, and reader’s retreats. He focuses his teaching on how to get tension and emotion in every scene and on every page, how he made it as a creator/writer, the path to success in this business, and the pitfalls to avoid. Visit the Imagine Greece Retreats website at www.imaginegreeceretreats.com, or email him directly.
Jonas Saul is an acclaimed author, teacher, and professional freelance editor. He lends his editing prowess to several publishers and offers private editing services to clients. His website, www.imaginepress.org, is a testament to his editing skills, featuring numerous testimonials from satisfied authors. Jonas is an email away for those needing professional editing.
To book Jonas for a speaking engagement at a writer’s conference/festival, to have him on your jury at a film festival, or even to say hello, email Jonas directly at jonassaul@icloud.com.
Jonas has often outranked Stephen King and Dean Koontz on Amazon over the past decade. He’s regularly invited to be a guest speaker, teacher, or workshop presenter at international writing conferences and film festivals worldwide.
He hosts multiple annual retreats in Greece, where he currently lives—writer’s, screenplay, and reader’s retreats. He focuses his teaching on how to get tension and emotion in every scene and on every page, how he made it as a creator/writer, the path to success in this business, and the pitfalls to avoid. Visit the Imagine Greece Retreats website at www.imaginegreeceretreats.com, or email him directly.
Jonas Saul is an acclaimed author, teacher, and professional freelance editor. He lends his editing prowess to several publishers and offers private editing services to clients. His website, www.imaginepress.org, is a testament to his editing skills, featuring numerous testimonials from satisfied authors. Jonas is an email away for those needing professional editing.
To book Jonas for a speaking engagement at a writer’s conference/festival, to have him on your jury at a film festival, or even to say hello, email Jonas directly at jonassaul@icloud.com.
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Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
August 26, 2021
Something is killing people in Shadow Bay. And in a gruesome way: death through drowning, preceded by a bizarre event for each victim. Jonas Saul manages to hold your breath right until the penultimate chapter, mixing in multiple points of view from some seriously damaged people. This is an extremely well-crafted book with a host of mysterious characters, a WhoDunIt or WhatDunIt mystery with a quick pace, great conflict, very real dialogue, and characters you will love and hate. You will LOL (I did many times), and you will cringe. You will cheer on the heroes, and you will cry out for justice against the wicked. WARNING: Make sure you’ve got your chores done for the day, because you may not be able to put this book down once you start it! Five Stars for sure. The Drowning
August 17, 2021
A unique idea with an amazing twist.
October 30, 2025
Have you read the book The Drowning by Jonas Saul? Oh my goodness you should! I read this book in two days! It's very hard to put it down and get anything else done!!
A lot of things are happening in a small town, Shadow Bay NY (if this was a real town, it wouldn't be far from my home town). It starts out as a couple of people drowning with weird circumstances to 60 plus people drowning, definitely more than the Chief can handle on his own, that is why in calls for outside help, and still more are drowning themselves. And who is responsible for all these drownings in 24 short hours⁉️ I'm not telling you 🤐 you will have to read it to find out the twists, suspense, phycological, and surprise ending
Book Blurb:
"Something’s killing them. And it’s not done yet.
Shadow Bay wasn’t known for much—until the bodies started surfacing.
Darius Shaw, a night-shift security guard, stumbles upon two corpses floating in the local recreation center pool. But when he calls 911, the operator is already overwhelmed—there are drowning victims showing up all over town.
Within hours, over a dozen people are dead. Pulled from pools. Dragged from bathtubs. Recovered from the lake. All bear the same signs of something violent… something unnatural: bite marks, bruising, trauma no water should cause.
As panic grips the town, Darius discovers a journal left behind by one of the victims—filled with disturbing details that connect the recent deaths to a cold case buried ten years ago.
Then people begin walking into the water on their own.
In a desperate move, the police chief calls in the FBI, who immediately seal off Shadow Bay. No one in. No one out. And still, the bodies keep coming.
With time running out and answers running thin, Darius must uncover the truth hiding beneath the surface before the whole town is pulled under.
Welcome to Shadow Bay.
Where drowning doesn’t need water.
The Drowning is an insane glimpse at the town of Shadow Bay over twenty-four hours—when Hell came to visit."
Come and visit Shadow Bay
A lot of things are happening in a small town, Shadow Bay NY (if this was a real town, it wouldn't be far from my home town). It starts out as a couple of people drowning with weird circumstances to 60 plus people drowning, definitely more than the Chief can handle on his own, that is why in calls for outside help, and still more are drowning themselves. And who is responsible for all these drownings in 24 short hours⁉️ I'm not telling you 🤐 you will have to read it to find out the twists, suspense, phycological, and surprise ending
Book Blurb:
"Something’s killing them. And it’s not done yet.
Shadow Bay wasn’t known for much—until the bodies started surfacing.
Darius Shaw, a night-shift security guard, stumbles upon two corpses floating in the local recreation center pool. But when he calls 911, the operator is already overwhelmed—there are drowning victims showing up all over town.
Within hours, over a dozen people are dead. Pulled from pools. Dragged from bathtubs. Recovered from the lake. All bear the same signs of something violent… something unnatural: bite marks, bruising, trauma no water should cause.
As panic grips the town, Darius discovers a journal left behind by one of the victims—filled with disturbing details that connect the recent deaths to a cold case buried ten years ago.
Then people begin walking into the water on their own.
In a desperate move, the police chief calls in the FBI, who immediately seal off Shadow Bay. No one in. No one out. And still, the bodies keep coming.
With time running out and answers running thin, Darius must uncover the truth hiding beneath the surface before the whole town is pulled under.
Welcome to Shadow Bay.
Where drowning doesn’t need water.
The Drowning is an insane glimpse at the town of Shadow Bay over twenty-four hours—when Hell came to visit."
Come and visit Shadow Bay
October 16, 2023
I wondered how on earth this has 4.5 stars but then I saw there were only like 60 reviews.
What on earth. So many things are wrong but glaringly:
1. Writing is SO juvenile and unrealistic
2. All of the characters are caricatures. “Big tough cop”, “drunk abusive asshole”, etc. Overwritten but zero depth.
3. The random sex offender that truly served barely any purpose states that the reason he needs to rape someone is “so he can reoffend and then go back to jail”. A few minutes later, he tells his would-be victim that he has to kill him when he’s finished with him “because he can’t risk him talking”. Thought you wanted to get caught to go back to jail?🤔
4. The killer is… a mentally disabled person… who is literally called “retarded” the entire book. What year is it that we’re still using the R word???
5. Aforementioned mentally disabled person has made a *homemade poison gas* that makes people drown themselves. And when the police catch him - he goes from a nonverbal / stuttering mess to talking in long scientific paragraphs😂😂😂😂😂 and someone even says “hey did you realize when you talk science, you don’t have a speech problem?” And his answer is “yeah it’s because I love science”.
6. This is terrible. I want the last 24 hours of my life back.
What on earth. So many things are wrong but glaringly:
1. Writing is SO juvenile and unrealistic
2. All of the characters are caricatures. “Big tough cop”, “drunk abusive asshole”, etc. Overwritten but zero depth.
3. The random sex offender that truly served barely any purpose states that the reason he needs to rape someone is “so he can reoffend and then go back to jail”. A few minutes later, he tells his would-be victim that he has to kill him when he’s finished with him “because he can’t risk him talking”. Thought you wanted to get caught to go back to jail?🤔
4. The killer is… a mentally disabled person… who is literally called “retarded” the entire book. What year is it that we’re still using the R word???
5. Aforementioned mentally disabled person has made a *homemade poison gas* that makes people drown themselves. And when the police catch him - he goes from a nonverbal / stuttering mess to talking in long scientific paragraphs😂😂😂😂😂 and someone even says “hey did you realize when you talk science, you don’t have a speech problem?” And his answer is “yeah it’s because I love science”.
6. This is terrible. I want the last 24 hours of my life back.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 25, 2021
Wow..just wow
This book grabs ahold of you and takes you on one heck of a ride. Jonas Saul is one of my favorite writers. His books always seem to have lots of action,intrigue and so many twist and turns you’re lucky if you can figure it out on your own and I love them!! I would definitely recommend you read this and if you love it as much as I do and then I would like to recommend that you also check out his Sarah Roberts series. You really can’t go wrong with any of his books!
This book grabs ahold of you and takes you on one heck of a ride. Jonas Saul is one of my favorite writers. His books always seem to have lots of action,intrigue and so many twist and turns you’re lucky if you can figure it out on your own and I love them!! I would definitely recommend you read this and if you love it as much as I do and then I would like to recommend that you also check out his Sarah Roberts series. You really can’t go wrong with any of his books!
December 1, 2021
Didn’t like the characters to start and almost totally gave up on it . Then reading further I got some interest but then came John Skylar, a garbage character who if there was anymore of, I would have quit. The number of drownings kept me reading. Darius running looking guilty??? What does a guilty run look like versus an innocent run, other than who is observing? The book definitely gets better the deeper you go. All in, after finishing, it was interesting. 4
August 6, 2025
In the small town of Shadow Bay, what starts out as an ordinary night for the police chief quickly descends into carnage and chaos as within a matter of hours, over a dozen dead bodies are reported across town, all drowned, bruised, and bitten.
Overall I found this enjoyable, wasn’t a huge fan of the ending and plot twists but I did find it gripping with how quickly things were spiralling out of control.
Overall I found this enjoyable, wasn’t a huge fan of the ending and plot twists but I did find it gripping with how quickly things were spiralling out of control.
October 25, 2025
3.5/5 ⭐️
The story takes place in Shadow Bay, where people start dying mysteriously - all by drowning, and no one knows why. From the first chapter the chaos never lets up.
I loved the tension and the creepy atmosphere. The pacing can be a little slow, but the idea of the water itself becoming dangerous is both original and terrifying. Some of the characters felt a bit one-dimensional, and the ending might not land for everyone, but it definitely kept me turning the pages.
The story takes place in Shadow Bay, where people start dying mysteriously - all by drowning, and no one knows why. From the first chapter the chaos never lets up.
I loved the tension and the creepy atmosphere. The pacing can be a little slow, but the idea of the water itself becoming dangerous is both original and terrifying. Some of the characters felt a bit one-dimensional, and the ending might not land for everyone, but it definitely kept me turning the pages.
November 18, 2025
“The Drowning” by Jonas Saul is a dark, gruesome thriller that pulls you straight into a chilling mystery. With bodies turning up in waters all over the city, the tension builds as you’re left questioning who—or what—is behind the killings. The atmosphere is eerie and the pace relentless. A gripping, unsettling read that keeps you hooked until the final reveal.
May 10, 2025
A fast-paced narrative with multiple pov's. With plenty of suspense, mystery, and action-packed chapters. A zombie feel to it. The only issue i had was the dialogue between Darius and Joseph Brown. It felt awkward for such a series scene.
May 19, 2025
I could not put this book down at all. I did not get much sleep as I wanted to finish the book. What a twist at the end I did not see that coming at all. This is the second book by him that I have read and I believe I found another author that I like.
October 7, 2021
Love Sarah Roberts!! Want more Aaron!!
January 5, 2023
Amazing idea, amazing twist!
June 6, 2024
I really loved this book! Great mix of unexpected crazy!
January 14, 2025
Virtual voice completely ruined it. So many mispronunciations including names of main characters. Pay an artist!!!
October 3, 2025
Fun read
Enjoyed it very much. I recommend the read. Characters could have been more flushed out but the plot is excellent.
Enjoyed it very much. I recommend the read. Characters could have been more flushed out but the plot is excellent.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews