Riptide, Oregon is a small Oregon fishing town, the kind of town where kids can't wait to leave. It is further depressed by a recent car wreck that killed two women. One was the sheriff's wife and the other was a wife and mother of two children, Sam and Trina. Sam is a senior planning on a road trip after graduation with his friend but now trying to think of a way to tell him the trip is off after all their planning and saving. He needs to take care of his little sister, Trina who is nine and reading books about nuclear holocaust to try to take back control of her life.

Things start happening. Sam, Trina and his friend find a skeleton buried in the local park, an Indian girl from a century ago who was killed by an animal. On the beach, feral dogs and cats are being found mutilated maybe by an descendant of that animal. Hayslip, a deputy fighting depression and alcohol, becomes obsessed with the skeleton and it's ties to a mystic Indian superstition. When a new death occurs and appears to also be by the same animal, he spins out of control and is put on suspension.

Keith Rossen is an author and graphic designer. He has created a world in a small town where everyone knows everyone and their business and depend on each other to make it through. The hero of the book is Sam, who although no whiz kid, is a kind guy who is loyal and takes care of everyone around him, the kind of kid who is often overlooked. The various threads weave together to end up in a climax that satisfies the reader. This book is recommended for literary fiction readers.

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to preview this ARC of The Mercy of the Tide by Keith Rosson.

It's the early 1980's, the Cold War is making everyone nervous, but mostly, people are living out their lives in a sleepy town in Oregon.

Due to a tragic accident, the loss of loved ones draws unlikely people together, for good and for bad. Sam Finster, a teen boy who just lost his mother is learning to navigate life with an unwell father, and a deaf sister who is obsessed with the Russians.

And the town is also struggling as mutilated animal corpses start turning up on the local beach. And more shockingly, human remains. The residents of the town come together to solve these mysteries, as well as unearthing some surprising history.

The author described this book as weird in his acknowledgements. I tend to agree, but weird isn't bad! It's certainly unique. I did get a bit lost in all the layers, or perhaps just lost interest in some of the layers, but overall, a decent read.

Meerkat Press and netGalley provided me with an electronic copy of The Mercy of the Tide. I was under no obligation to review this book and my opinion is freely given.

Doomsayer Mr. Lyley drops a dissected seagull on the desk of Sheriff Dobbs and proclaims that it is the beginning of the end. Strange things have been happening around town, so maybe there is something unnatural going on after all.

The Mercy of the Tide is told in so many perspectives that the story is fractured, leaving the reader confused at times. This portrayal of the end of days includes movie worthy dramatic scenes and long, drawn out monologues from ranting characters. I never could get into the story fully, since the plot is pulled into different directions as the focus changes from one character to another. The author had an interesting premise, but The Mercy of the Tide ultimately felt like a missed opportunity for a compelling read.

Wow, this book resonated with me in a way I didn't think possible. The way Rosson wrote about grief and being a parent was beautiful.
I also think it was such a unique way to write, how we learn about the characters through memories.
This really kept me guessing until the end, and believe me, I couldn't wait to get to the end to figure out the main plot and to see where all the twists and turns were leading to.
This was a fascinating debut novel by Rosson, and can't wait to read more by him.

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest opinion. My thanks to Keith Rosson and Meerkat Press for the opportunity to read and review this book.

A well-constructed and written novel that sort of blends a whole bunch of stuff together - to my mind if read like a mix of weird fiction and Stephen King and a maybe one of those Canadian novels that spends a lot of time exploring the nuances of grief. Given this melange I wouldn't recommend it to everyone, this is a licorice flavor that won't appeal to all palates, but if you dig it you'll have a very satisfying read.

This is a really odd book. You don't really understand the plot until the very end. The best description of The Mercy in the Tide I can think of is that it's a 'mans book' like Patrick deWitt novels. I don't mean that it isn't for women so much as it's a book about men and how they cope with grief. Our one female character is a nine year old deaf girl whom I just adore. Interestingly it's not that Keith Rosson forgot about women, it's that the main female character start out dead. And so we experience and learn about these women through the memories of the men left behind. It's quite clever.

Told in rotating perspectives we get a slice of each person's struggles with grief. Ultimately this book is about grief; how to cope with it, move on from it, and eventually live with it.

There are some interesting twists and turns that I can't say anything about for fear of ruining it. Just be assured that the story does develop and if at the halfway point you are enjoying the book but still not sure what the main plot is hang in there as it all comes together at the end.

Overall this book is interesting but not amazing for me. If I had skipped reading it I don't think I'd have missed out on something; however, it was good enough to finish. This is also outside my usual genre and so was a nice change both in content and writing style.

This is a really interesting book that is incredibly difficult to pigeon hole. It's a deep character study of four intersecting lives during 1983-4 in a small, coastal town. The characters are wonderfully drawn, flawed and interesting trying their best to make their way through difficult times. It is also an alternate history tale of nuclear trouble during the cold war and a fascinating look at Native American legends. It won't be for everyone, as it is very languidly paced and doesn't focus too much on plot. What I found most enjoyable was the nostalgia for a time before mobile phones and the internet and MP3 players. The author is an unabashed lover of the cassette tape and it features prominently here to great effect. This is a very good book that deserves to be read by anyone who loves to remember the eighties - fans of Stranger Things would love it.

A sleepy little coastal town during the early 1980's,sets the scene for this riveting tale that keeps the reader asking, "What is going on?!"
The Mercy of the Tide is told from the viewpoint of four characters-all dealing with their own grief and deep-rooted issues. We'll start with Sam Finster, a teenaged boy trying to find where he fits in all while still recovering from the tragedy of his mother's recent death. Sam has a younger sister, Trina who is deaf and has her own way of dealing with her grief by obsessing over nuclear war -causing herself increased anxiety and paranoia throughout the book.
Strange happenings start occurring in the town when a young girl's body is found buried in a local park. There have also been dead birds showing up around people's homes so the local law enforcement (enter the other 2 characters) begin to investigate what is going on in their small town. Sam and Trina aren't the only two that are grieving. Detective Dobbs and officer Nick Hayslip have their own grudges and past that effects their daily life both personally and professionally. Are all of these characters intertwined in some way? You'll keep reading to find out that's certain. I really enjoyed the style of writing, it was easy to become invested and feel deeply for these characters. There is a level of fantasy that I couldn't quite put my finger on in relation to these characters struggles and development besides the mourning. I will also say I felt the ending of the book was abrupt and left me wanting a little more of a conclusion but I felt like I was left hanging for more. Overall, I do think it was a great read. Rosson brought depth and emotion to these characters that a lot of authors glaze over. Looking forward to reading future work from Rosson.

I was intrigued by the vague publisher's description of this book, but unfortunately, the plot really doesn't go beyond four people in a small town lives converge after an accident. The character's of Sheriff Dave Dobbs and Deputy Nick Hayslip are interesting, flawed characters. Dobbs's chapters in particular where great reads. Teenager Sam and his deal little sister Trina are dealing with their own tragedy. While I did like parts of the book, it didn't really start to hold my interest until the last third. The ending was very strange, I almost wish it was the beginning.

I thought this book was very well written, with the characters developed in great depth and an intriguing premise.

However, I found the dark subject matter quite difficult in places and at times the pace was slow to me because of the number of characters involved.

This is probably a book that many crime fans will enjoy. For some reason I didn't quite connect with it and ultimately it wasn't one for me.

This is one of those books that upon finishing had me shaking my head and trying to process what I just read. On the surface it is a story of a car crash, a wife and mother of two, apparently drunk driving kills the wife of the town's chief lawman, a beloved librarian. It is about the man left behind, mourning his wife of many years, the woman who smoothed out his rough edges. A father and two, young children, Sam, the teenage brother who now must provide solace and comfort for, his young sister, who is also deaf, Trina. About the deputy who has many secrets of his own and seems to be falling apart.. That's on the surface.

Beneath the surface, there is much going on in this small Oregon town, dead birds, a man crying out end of days, a very old body discovered that seems to be tied to, an old Indian legend. Also young Trina has developed a fascination and fear of the Cold War and the bomb. Yes, it is the time of nuclear cheaters and fear, but there is more than one thing to fear.

Loved Sam and Trina Finisher, but all these characters, like them or not are skillfully developed. The writing is amazingly detailed, this is incredibly well written. The plot goes along, until the last third when it rapidly changes and becomes something else, something a bit frightening. Incentive and imaginative, this is a writer with talent. I just wish I thoroughly understood exactly what happened.

ARC from Netgalley.

I chose the book for the cover. I received a readers copy from Net Galley. The writing was well done but I just didn't really care for any of the characters to care much at all about what happens to them. I liked it enough to finish but not really to suggest this to anyone.

This book wasn't what I was expecting, but I did enjoy it! I found it a little difficult to figure out all of the character's relationships to each other in the beginning, so I didn't feel that invested in the book until later on. It definitely kept me guessing.

This is a fascinating book that uses the impact of a tragedy to tell a story through the individual characters impacted by the tragedy. Much of the writing is in a lyric style that flows details of the environment through the reader's mind. The scenes of the small town of Riptide create indelible images as it appears that an ancient Indian myth is coming to life along the beaches outside of the town. Each of the main characters gets a chance to tell their part in the story, and they are each developed in depth and very human. You will appreciate this story the first time you read it, and you will want to read it again.

DNF @ 48%

I really wanted to enjoy this book, but it's not really gelling with me. I recently read Idah, which was a character drama disguised as a mystery, and this is exactly what this novel is like, too.

I ended up really enjoying Idaho it was very moving and meaningful, but I'm not getting such vibes from this. Don't get me wrong, it's well written and the character development is beautifully done but I'm looking for something more fast paced and exciting right now.

I'm planning on trying to pick dome DNF's up later on in the year, as a lot of the time I put books down just because I've picked them up at the wrong point in my life (such as this one!), so I'll probably give this another shot later down the line, but for now, it's a pass from me.

Thanks to Netgalley and Meerkat Press for giving me the opportunity to read this in exchange for an honest review.

I had a hard time figuring out how to rate The Mercy of the Tide. The concept is really interesting, and Rosson is clearly an excellent writer. But for me, this book just seemed to drag. I expected a suspenseful mystery, with maybe some paranormal/horror elements thrown in. And while there are definitely mystery and paranormal/horror aspects, they aren't actually very present in the story for most of the book.

The Mercy of the Tide is set in Riptide, Oregon in 1983. Riptide is a small town where everyone pretty much knows everyone and major crimes are virtually nonexistent. When the story begins, two women have just been killed in a car accident. This book is mostly about the people closest to these women: their family, lovers, and friends who have to come to terms with their loss. While they're grieving and healing, a mysterious skeleton is discovered and something is attacking the town's animals. Then everything goes kind of crazy.

I had a couple problems with this book. First off, it moves so slow. It felt like a good 70% of the book was spent introducing characters and giving backstories. Don't get me wrong, I love a good backstory and character development is always welcome. But when you get over half way through a book and still only have a vague idea what the story is supposed to be about, it can get kind of boring.

Then there was the ending that was kind of an ending but also not really. I get that Rosson was leaving a lot up to the reader's imagination. But even so, I feel like very little actually got resolved. A few characters got the closure they needed, and the reader got some explanations for certain things. But I was still left feeling like there was a lot missing.

Despite my lower rating, I still don't think this is a bad book my any means. It just wasn't really want I was expecting and I felt a little disappointed after finishing. I've seen plenty of positive reviews for this book though, so maybe this is another case of "it's not you, it's me." So if it sounds like something you might enjoy, I'd say give it a shot and see for yourself.

This book is definitely on the literary end of the speculative fiction spectrum, with a nod to alternative history and magic realism. It is a study of loss and grief. A car crash months before the story starts has killed two women and not only does their death massively impact the main protagonists in the story – it also appears to set off a chain of events that have recurred on this site before.
Often protagonists are faced with unexpected deaths of partners, parents or children – and while we are aware of the impact upon them, events generally move along so that we rapidly gain some distance from the bereavement tearing lumps out of their lives. Indeed, I am regularly exasperated at how quickly that aspect of the story is glossed and the implicit message is that the bereaved are allowed a few months’ grace, but then should be pulling themselves together, again. Unless the book is all about how their dead partner has arranged letters in bottles, or a series of tasks for them to undertake - then they’re allowed to continue to founder in a morass of grief.
Rosson hasn’t done either of these – his focus is firmly on the four characters devastated by the deaths of these two women. In beautiful, unsentimental prose that peels back any pretence or façade, he digs into his characters’ souls and shows the crippling extent of their loss. Alongside this, though, there are other events. Mutilated remains of animals start appearing along the beach of this off-season seaside town which has seen far better days, a body is discovered. Meanwhile the political temperature is steadily rising as Ronald Reagan is warning the world about Russia’s ‘evil Empire’ and fears about nuclear war abound as the cold war seems to be dangerously heating up.
There are all welded into an engrossing read that takes us into the rain-lashed streets of Riptide with a grieving Sheriff of Police, a teenage boy trying to also look out for his deaf nine-year-old sister as he comes to terms with the loss of their mother and a Deputy who was having an affair with one of the women. In order for this book to work, I needed to really care for all the characters – which I did. Even when they did stupid, silly things. Even when they were mean and angry. Rosson does a cracking job of giving his characters depth and vulnerabilities that certainly had me rooting all the way for them.
Any niggles? I’m aware this is more of a literary read than I generally do, these days – but I did feel that about two-thirds of the way through, the pace dipped slightly just at the point in the book when it should have picked up. That said, I was never at any stage tempted to put it down. I really enjoyed the wonderful piece of personification for all that terrible grief in amongst the story and found it a gripping, sobering read. Strongly recommended.
While I obtained the arc of The Mercy of the Tide from the publisher via NetGalley, this has in no way influenced my unbiased review.
9/10

This was one of those books that I had to make myself continue to read. I wanted to like it. The setting and characters were intriguing, but nothing seemed to happen. Having spent quite a bit of time at the Oregon coast, I was especially interested in the setting. The authors' descriptions of this area were rich and evocative. The characters were also well developed and multidimensional. This author is obviously quite talented, which makes it such a shame that there was so little in the way of plot. The elaborate descriptions seemed never-ending and before long became very tedious.
I forced myself again and again to continue reading, hoping that something interesting would happen, but I was disappointed. I finally gave up at the 62% mark.
Note: Not having finished the book, I feel it is unreasonable to judge it. Therefore, I will not post this review.

There are times when you choose a novel and regardless of how hard you try, it just doesn't work for you. This was one of those times. I really thought that this story had an intriguing plot but I wasn't able to get into the story and this will have to remain on my DNF list. From what I've heard from other reviewers, this novel is more about self-discovery and loss than it is about any actual mystery, so if you are looking for something along those lines, definitely give this novel a shot.