This book was easy to read, it didn't take long to fly through the pages. That being said, the book was also quite boring. The whole time it felt like we were on the verge of something big happening, and although the story did get better the closer we got to the end, that "something big" never really happened. Even the ending left me unsatisfied. I appreciate the cleverness woven throughout the story and the blurb sounded promising but unfortunately it missed the mark with me.

Alex is a swimming councillor at a summer camp. Little Joey is sent to the camp so his parents can sort out their marriage. Joey can't swim and is afraid of water. Almost at the end of camp, Alex gets angry at Joey for not at least trying to swim. He takes Joey out in the lake and leaves him on a raft and tells him he will have to swim back or stay there forever. Alex leaves him there and forgets about him. That evening, when they start looking for Joey, Alex remembers, but when he gets to the raft, Joey is gone. Alex keeps quiet and Joey is never found. Twenty one years later Alex is a succesful business man with a wife and two daughters. But then Joey catches up with him. And as is mentioned in the book, the reader sees how one small careless act leads to a string of tragedies. Many people was affected by what happened and there were consequences all over the place. Like bodies on a battlefield.
I could not put the book down and I want to sincerely thank #Netgalley and the publishers giving me the chance to read it. I did not see the twist at the end coming at all.

Every seven years, a boy disappears from Camp Waukeelo. Who will be next?

It doesn’t take long for a little boy to disappear. Joey Proctor can’t swim, but that doesn’t stop camp counselor Alex Mason from leaving him out on a raft in the middle of the lake in a fit of rage. Alex only meant to scare the kid, teach him a lesson. He didn’t mean to forget about him. But now Joey is gone… and his body is never found. More than twenty years later, Alex is a success. No one knows what happened that summer at camp. At least, no one should know. But it looks like Joey Proctor may be back to take his revenge…

Summer camp stories have always scared me and this one was no exception! The characters and descriptions were beautifully detailed, I felt very connected to this story. This thriller gets an A+ from me!

Thank you #NetGalley for the ARC of #TheDrowning
Pub Date: 01 Jan 2019

An incredibly unique page-turner...I was hooked from the first page! It’s well-written, gripping and twisty. The ending is the only thing that held me back from giving it 5 ⭐️’s!

Joey Proctor is an 8-year-old going to summer camp for the first time.

Camp Waukeelo is like every other summer camp—it has a ghost story. As the kids sit around the campfire, the counselors tell the tale of John Otis. John has snatched a boy from the camp every year for the past seven years. He chooses one of the smaller kids—a loner who is timid and fearful.

Joey can’t swim and is afraid of the deep water, but his swim instructor—Alex Mason—intends to keep his promise to teach every kid to swim by the end of camp. Frustrated with Joey’s fears, he leaves Joey on a raft in the middle of the lake and in a fit of rage, he tells him to “swim or die”. He’s confident Joey will overcome his fear and swim back to shore. But once Alex is back at camp, he forgets about Joey until someone notices he’s missing.

Joey never returned. He’s not on the raft or anywhere else in camp and Alex never tells anyone about leaving Joey stranded alone on the raft. The police are called and the lake and surrounding area searched—but Joey is never found.

It’s been over twenty years and Alex has buried the memories of Camp Waukeelo. He’s a successful property developer with a trophy wife, two daughters and a hefty income. But it looks like Joey and the summer camp tragedy are back to haunt him. His family is terrorized and someone is trying to destroy his business and marriage. He’s convinced Joey is still alive after all these years.

Thank you to NetGalley / Sourcebooks / J.P. Smith for this digital ARC, in exchange for my honest review!
#Netgalley #TheDrowning

So much deeper (no pun intended) than a boy left in a raft.
This story is a crazy, interwoven series of lives affected by the butterfly effect of one 18 year olds choice 21 years ago. And, yes 21 years later the Butterfly Effect is still spreading.
The title is also full of symbolism. There is so much drowning that the title doesn’t just refer to that one night at camp. A man Watching his business sink while trying to keep his marriage above water. A couple drowning in debt from that one night 21 years ago. A son drowning in the loss of his parents because of that night 21 years ago. A literal drowning of a young man 21 years later. Secrets drowned.
But everything resurfaces sooner or later.

This book deserves 5 stars for the plot and the prose. The author has a beautiful writing style.

Thank you #NetGalley, the author and the Publisher for my free ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

This is my first book that I've read by J.P. Smith and all I can say it's a really good book. It had me gripped from the start to the end. There is no hero or anti-hero that you expect in any book because all the characters are humans, they have their flaws and that's the brilliant part of this book. This book makes you like and dislike the characters all at the same time and sometimes you feel bad for the characters and sometimes you just despise them. All in all this was a good book, one that I quite enjoyed. Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for giving me the chance to read the ARC in exchange of my honest review.

Thank you to #NetGalley for this ARC of #TheDrowning

This is the first novel I’ve read by J.P. Smith, therefor the writing technique cannot be evaluated comparatively to previous works. While novel offers a dark, mysterious feel the pace of the story alters too much to give the anxiousness that is a true suspense novel.

An eight year old boy goes missing from summer camp. One of the guidance counselors responsible for his care is lying. Twenty one years later, the same guidance counselor starts having very eery things occur to dishevel his perfect life.

The story alternates between past and present in addition to character perspective. However, it’s all told in this third person voice that is also used to summarize rather than develop a storyline further. I found all this very distracting. The way in which it is written takes away from character development. I found it hard to get invested in the book. 3 stars.

Enjoyed the bulk of this mystery/suspense novel. It’s a page turner with some interesting twists. Dragged a little at about 2/3 through, but picked back up pretty quickly. I could easily see this being adapted into a movie!

3.5 stars. I liked this one, but felt a bit unsatisfied by the ending. Well, it was satisfying in one way, but left some frustrating loose ends as well.

We start out 21 years ago, when Joey Proctor disappears at a summer camp, after being left on a raft by Alex Mason. The way this happened gave me a similar feeling to the last book I read about a summer camp--do the people who write these books know how camps work!? I worked at a Girl Scout camp for three summers and there was no way I could EVER have lost a kid for hours without noticing. Sure, they could have snuck out at night, but during the day, especially when leaving one activity for another, I was always counting them. And if someone didn't return from the waterfront in particular, it would have been a huge deal, as everyone had to tag in and out, and if there was a tag left, it was treated as an emergency and potential drowning (like, they blew an airhorn and we all had to run to the lake and jump in and sweep the bottom). However, I guess there are likely to have been camps with less strenuous rules than mine, so I did my best to suspend my disbelief, but it's a bit mind boggling.

After Joey's disappearance, we fast forward to the present day Alex Mason, rich and successful and not suffering any lasting guilt about what he did to Joey. At least, not until some strange and threatening things start to happen to him and he begins to fear that Joey has returned to seek his revenge. Alex is not a character you root for, but I was still sucked in to the terror he was experiencing, while still wanting to see him receive his comeuppance, especially as his own actions escalated.

This was a engrossing thriller and a worthwhile read if you're looking for something fast paced and suspenseful, and don't mind a somewhat ambiguous ending.

The Drowning by author J.P. Smith is a really dark mystery with a lot of character!! I enjoyed this one, seriously the mystery is amazing in this!
Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for an arc copy of The Drowning in exchange for an honest review.

5 stars

This book has flashbacks that help to explain and enhance the main story.

Joey Proctor is eight-and-one half years old and is small for his age. He reluctantly attends summer camp for the first time. His parents are always fighting anyway, so he might as well go. Of course he is singled out by the older boys and he is bullied. He befriends a camp counselor named Steve. Another camp counselor Alex Mason is an arrogant (and just plain mean), college boy who is the swimming coach. He doesn’t like Joey at all and wants to scare him big time. So he throws him in the deep lake and then leaves him on a raft in the middle of the lake.

Joey disappears. No sign of him has ever been found. A detective named Mike Farrelli, retired after seven years have passed since Joey’s disappearance, can’t let the case go. He keeps looking for answers.

It’s now twenty-one years later and Alex is a successful multi-millionaire business man with a wife, daughters and an expensive home.

Strange things begin to happen to Alex. There is trouble in his marriage and odd things are occurring at his hotels. There is blood in his swimming pool and later a home invasion happens. Alex just knows it is Joey. He begins to look askance at his own employees. He is positive that he knows who Joey is pretending to be.

The situation is escalating. Alex’ life is falling apart and he is slowly self-destructing. Fearful and filled with anxiety, he makes one blunder after another.

All is revealed on nearly the last page of the book. It’s delicious.

This book is very well written and plotted. It is filled with twists and stunning surprises. I didn’t care for the main character, Alex, but it hardly mattered. The reader gets to see what happens to him. This book is a very interesting psychological study of what happens to a guilty man when the past comes back to haunt him. Ghosts from the past? Perhaps so… The author has done a wonderful job in writing this novel. This is my first JP Smith book, but it won’t be my last. I immediately went to Amazon to look for others of their books.

I want to thank NetGalley and Sourcebooks Landmark for forwarding to me a copy of this great book for me to read, enjoy and review.

This was a very good horror story thank you to net galley and the publisher for letting me have the chance to read it

I received an advanced reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review

This was an 80s horror movie of a novel, and even though it is decidedly lowbrow it was well-crafted and I loved every minute of it.
Perfect late-night escape.