Jon Bassoff crafts mind-melting thrillers that are immediately engaging and utterly unique. Beneath Cruel Waters is a must-read for fans of Thrillers and other genres of dark fiction.

Thank you Blackstone Publishing and Netgalley for this opportunity. I always fascinated by this kind history and present situations. So well done and could nkt put it down.

This is a beautifully written, but very dark, deep, and melancholy book.

Holt Davidson returns to his Colorado hometown for his mother's funeral after her suicide. He hasn't been back for twenty years. In the house he finds a photo of a dead man, a gun, and a love letter, so he goes on a mission to find out the identity of the man and why his ultra-religious mother had those items. What he discovers is shocking and upsets everything he remembers about his life and the past.

Although this is a bit of a mystery, it's not terribly difficult to figure out. It's not the main point of the book though, it is more of a character study and a suspenseful examination of family, and memory. It's very sad and at times quite difficult to read. If you have any triggers, they are probably here, but don't let that sway you from reading it if you can.

Usually I don't care for books without a hopeful ending, and this one is quite bleak yet it does have a slight glimmer of light on the horizon. This is very thought-provoking overall. I listened to the audiobook and the narrator Chris Henry Coffey does a fantastic job giving Holt a voice.

Dark, and emotionally loaded. This book took me a while to get into and seemed to drag on forever. I could not find a reason to keep reading if something else needed to be done. The book was easy to put down and not come back to for days.

I want to thank Netgalley and Blackstone Publishing for an ARC of this book.

I really wanted to like this book but it just wasn’t for me. I hope someone else can appreciate it more

Great read. It’s been twenty years since Holt Davidson has been back to the Colorado town he called home. Eager to escape his controlling mother and his sister, locked away in a mental institution since his teenage years, Holt started a new life in Kansas. Now, after the suicide of his mother, Holt returns home, hoping to lay the past to rest. What he uncovers is a bizarre and shocking mystery – a gun and a photograph of a man lying in a pool of blood. This is a good case of whodunit.

AMAZING! I couldn’t put this book down. I was always on the edge of my seat and was surprised all the way to the end.

Thank you to Blackstone Publishing and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Wow. This book was heavy. Lots of trigger warnings here for almost everything you can think of.

It's hard to express when a story is traumatic but is written so beautifully. Bassoff managed to write a story that leaves you feeling wrecked, emotional and questioning how he was able to pull it off in such a perfect way. The story is told perfectly and it felt so personal at times that I wondered if there was any hint of truth to any of this. Bassoff's characters were well written and their voices were developed perfectly. The traumatic themes didn't feel gratuitous or like this was just for the sake of telling a twisted tale which can be difficult with heavy material. One of the very best books I've read this year and probably in the last few years. Recommended if you like emotional, dark, but beautifully written novels.

Beneath Cruel Waters by Jon Bassaff

This was a well-written story, but very tragic & sad. I isually don’t read this genre because I want to be entertained when I read. This book left me very sad.

First book from this author. I wasn’t too sure about the method of telling the story but by the end I was good it and the ending was quite good. Not a large cast of characters and the subject matter was pretty deep. I would try another book of his to see if his stories are similar in style and structure.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the opportunity in exchange for an honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley and all for an ARC copy in return for an honest review.
Wow! It's not very fast-paced, and I was able to predict where it was going but the writing style gripped me and I couldn't put it down.

"𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘦𝘯𝘵"

I was blown away by Beneath Cruel Waters. The writing style is straightforward and I felt like everything was happening before my eyes. It's not your typical thriller, it takes time for all the pieces to come together but I wouldn't call this a slow burn. The character development was amazing. It deals with some heavy topics and I was left feeling emotionally wrecked. This is the first book I read by Jon Bassoff and it won't be the last.

5 Stars!

When I read Jon Bassoff’s first couple novels years ago, I was very impressed by his writing. It was very dark and even depressing but there was also a kernel of beauty in the books. For one reason or another, I fell out of touch with the author’s books. When I saw Beneath Cruel Waters, I was excited to give him another read and slip back into his dark world. I was not disappointed.



Holt Davidson had not been home in years. In fact, he had left Thompsonville, Colorado, twenty years earlier and had no intention of going back. His mother and his sister still lived there, but he did not have any real family there. His sister had been institutionalized when he was a child and remained lost in her insanity. His mother had never been the same after his sister was taken away and he had become a nonentity to her. Then he hears of his mother’s death by her own hand and feels drawn back to the town. He does not go out of sympathy. Instead, he goes to try to uncover the dark secrets of the past in hopes of understanding just what had gone wrong with his family and his life.



With nowhere to go and no idea what he is searching for, Holt stays in his childhood home and begins to go through his mother’s things. He is not prepared at all for what he uncovers. Holt finds a gun and a music box that has a secret drawer containing a love letter and the picture of a dead man. Old memories begin to surface and Holt quickly realizes that his mother murdered the man. The reason why, however, is not as easy to uncover as is the role this murder played on his sister’s emotional unravelling and the significance of the love letter. Even more troublesome is what he may have had to do with the tragedy that broke his family apart. Sometimes the secrets of the past should remain there, for knowledge does not always set one free. Sometimes knowledge destroys.



In many respects, Beneath Cruel Waters is a difficult book to describe because a simple description of the story does not begin to explain what the book is about. I guess it can be called a psychological drama as it digs into the darkest corners of the human soul. That label, though, is overly simplistic as well. Beneath Cruel Waters is an exploration of human nature from the darkest depths of humanity. We have all been in that place in which depression weighs on everything and every wrong choice and misstep of the past seems to be a past-due bill. All of us have been at the point in which it seems as if the light at the end of the tunnel is nothing more than a mirror reflecting past achievements that will never be reached again. Everyone has been to what seemed to be the darkest of depths only to find that there is a deeper darkness below. Bassoff brings the reader to that point in this novel as he crafts a world in which hope is nothing more than a four-letter word that is best left alone as it only brings disappointment and despair along with it.



In many ways, Beneath Cruel Waters is an ugly book about the darker things in life. It is a tale of desperation and depression. The thing is, though, that Bassoff is a master storyteller, and the novel is beautifully written. Even when it seems to numb the soul, Bassoff still infuses a beauty in the story that carries it through and makes it near impossible to put down. The novel is dark and depressing, but it is also a compelling read. There is beauty in the darkness and Bassoff uses the darkest of despair and the basest emotions to shine a light on the human condition. Everyone has regrets, some more than others, and it is easy to become defined by the mistakes and transgressions of the past rather than to grow from them. Beneath Cruel Waters is not an easy book to read in that the content is difficult to deal with, but it is an easy book to read in that it is so well written that it is never dull. Bassoff is one of the darkest writers out there today and this novel is a prime example of this. While it is not a horror novel, it is more horrifying than most horror novels. I cannot recommend this novel more for those who are brave enough to face the darkest parts of the human mind. It may not be the easiest novel to read and it is sure to leave an emotional mark, but it is a novel that the reader is sure to never forget.



I would like to thank Blackstone Publishing and NetGalley for this review copy. Beneath Cruel Waters is available now.

What begins for Holt Davidson as a journey home for his estranged mother’s funeral after two decades away in order to try and make peace with the past turns instead into a headlong spiral down into his family’s dark history.. True to form, author Jon Bassoff put his lead through an emotional meat grinder in this stark tale of poor choices and family secrets come home to roost as Holt wrestles with the concepts of guilt and redemption and asks himself whether anyone can ever truly be free of the former or deserving of the latter. Beneath Cruel Waters is a gut punch of a read that will haunt you long after you’ve turned the final page.

Holt Davidson has returned to his hometown after receiving word that his estranged mother has committed suicide. He hasn’t been back for twenty years but has returned to pay his respects then move on. But sometimes returning home, can be difficult. Going through someone's belongings, can be a difficult experience. Sometimes you find things and...

While going through his childhood home, Holt finds a gun, a love letter, and a Polaroid photograph of a man lying in his own blood. Why does his mother have these items and who wrote the love letter?

Spurred on by his nagging questions about what he found, Holt takes a very bumpy ride down memory lane. He visits his older sister, Ophelia who was placed in an inpatient psychiatric hospital when she was a teenager to reconnect and ask her questions. Plus, his mother's best friend is there to give support and answers some of his questions.

WOWZA! This book was so good. It is gritty, raw, and full of family secrets. The writing was beautiful and evoked emotion. I read this book in one day as I did not want to put it down. It was so good. The author had me from the very first page - I mean, come on, what a way to start a book. It grabbed my attention and did not let go. I had so many questions and like, Holt, I wanted answers.

There are books I read and think they are very good and then there are books like Beneath Cruel Waters which are excellent reads. This is how you do it! This book was so well written, the characters are so beautifully crafted, and the plot is so riveting that left me awe struck. There is an undercurrent of gloom and heartache running throughout this book. This was so expertly done, so gripping that I felt like a silent observer following Holt around as he delved into the past to make sense of the present.


This book deals with many difficult subjects, but do not let that scare you away. They are done with care, nothing is sugarcoated and yet, the author presents them in a way, that had me wanting more of the story.

I look forward to reading more of Bassoff's work!

Gritty, raw, heartbreaking brilliant


#BeneathCruelWaters #NetGalley

Thank you to Blackstone Publishing and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.

This might just be my favorite book of the year. I loved the beautiful writing, the characters were so fleshed out, and it had a sinister atmosphere to it.

Dark and gritty story, very engaging. Author is able to craft a story that pulls the reader right in.

Beneath Cruel Waters is my first book by Jon Bassoff. This is a chilling, compelling and haunting read and must admit not for the faint-hearted. There are plenty of trigger warnings of violence, death and suicide. Jon's masterfully depicts and unveils deadly secrets and sins that shake the Davidson family's foundations. Returning to his hometown after two decades, Holt Davidson is not only mourning the loss of his mother but hidden demons that surface. This is magnified when he stumbles upon discovering a gun, a love letter, and a Polaroid photograph of a man lying in his blood - all clues to a repressive and destructive family secret. Immersed in this bleak and dark read, you are promised unforgettable twists and turns with an ending that might make you do a double-take. I feel I haven't left the daunting shackles of Thompsonville, Colorado, yet. A brilliant psychological thriller. Five stars all the way.

A big thank you to Blackstone Publishing and NetGalley for giving me an ARC. This honest review is left voluntarily.

American author Jon Bassoff is a prolific writer of gothic noir and his latest release is Beneath Cruel Waters. Kansas firefighter, Holt Davidson learns of his estranged mother’s suicide and returns to his hometown in Colorado. Struggling to find peace, he discovers a love letter and photo of a dead man, as well as a small hand gun. As he investigates, he reconnects with his institutionalised sister and has to confront the history of his mother's past and his own demons. A dark gritty tale of one man’s journey to discover the truth of his past and to truly understand his mother. With its succinct narrative style and gritty earthy feel, this is an enjoyable if gloomy four-star read rating. With thanks to Blackstone Publishing and the author, for an uncorrected advanced review copy for review purposes. As always, the opinions herein are totally my own and freely given, without any pressure.

4.5 ⭐️‘s
When Holt Davidson goes home for his mother’s funeral, he finds a letter, a gun, and a photograph. It’s been decades since he’s been home, but he’s determined to find out what they mean. Seeking answers, Holt visits his sister Ophelia, who was committed to a mental hospital when she was sixteen. This reader was transfixed as the past catches up to the present and Holt starts to uncover the tragic events that changed the course of the Davidson’s lives. Bassoff’s dark and heartbreaking story is exceptionally well written and while bleak, it was a compelling read that won’t soon be forgotten!