An American Indian Youth Literature Award Honoree In her stunning debut, Cheryl Isaacs (Mohawk) pulls the reader into an unsettling tale of monsters, mystery, and secrets that refuse to stay submerged.

When small-town athlete Avery’s morning run leads her to a strange pond in the middle of the forest, she awakens a horror the townspeople of Crook’s Falls have long forgotten.

The black water has been waiting. Watching. Hungry for the souls it needs to survive.

Avery can smell the water, see it flooding everywhere; she thinks she's losing her mind. And as the black water haunts Avery—taking a new form each time—people in town begin to go missing.

Though Avery had heard whispers of monsters from her Kanien’kéha:ka (Mohawk) relatives, she has never really connected to her Indigenous culture or understood the stories. But the Elders she has distanced herself from now may have the answers she needs.

When Key, her best friend and longtime crush, is the next to disappear, Avery is faced with a choice: listen to the Kanien’kéha:ka and save the town but lose her friend forever…or listen to her heart and risk everything to get Key back.

An unmissable horror novel for readers who devoured Trang Thanh Tran’s She Is a Haunting or Claire Legrand’s Sawkill Girls!

• Small Town Horror: In the town of Crook’s Falls, a long-forgotten evil has been awakened in a haunted pond, and it’s hungry for souls.
• Mohawk Stories and Legends: Avery has always ignored the whispers of monsters from her Kanien’kéha:ka relatives, but now the Elders may hold the only key to survival.
• A Terrifying Monster: The black water is more than just a place; it’s a shapeshifting entity that haunts Avery and hunts the townspeople one by one.
• Friends to Lovers: When her best friend and longtime crush Key is the next to disappear, Avery must risk it all in a desperate attempt to get him back.