My thanks to NetGalley and Aconyte Books for an advance copy of this book of horror the concluding book in a series dealing with the rise of water and the rise of an ancient god, once thought asleep coming to a town in Massachusetts, and the brave defenders who risk it all to save their town and their souls.

The house I lived in flooded once. One minute it was dry, suddenly there was water coming in both the front and the back every bit of the floor was covered, and it kept rising. It was one of those storm of the century rainstorms that seem to be hitting New England about every other month. Soon everything up to my knees was submerged, floating, and being ruined. Even years later it still bothers me. Rain from a few drops to heavy downpours have me pacing back and forth, looking at garages, checking drains and gutters. Always thinking it is going to happen again. That the water will come and take everything including my sanity. For that is how I think of water, an evil creature inextricably looking to pull me down into its depths. Which is probably why this story unsettled me so much. The Arcane Gamble of Harvey Walters: An Arkham Horror Novel by Rosemary Jones is the third book in the Drowned City series and tells of the town of Arkham, a rain that won't stop, an elder god slowly awakening and the brave citizens brought together by one man who is trying to stop what to many seems inevitable.

The Miskatonic River is overflowing its banks, the Rivertown section of Arkham is underwater, and even with the Mayor dynamiting the shores to drain the river, the town looks doomed. In many ways. As the water creeps higher, the people are still dealing with a plague of sleeping disease that is only starting to go away. Dogs have been recovered from deep in the Earth, a sacrifice to a sleeping God in hopes that he will awaken. Harvey Walters is doing every thing he can to stop what is going on. Walters has spent his life studying the occult, investigating ancient sects and dealing with the unidentifiable. What's happening in Arkham, though, might be too much for him. Walters is bringing together a group of people, a ex-baseball player turned garbage man, a female reporter with her own dealings with the dark, a street gang of bootleggers with hearts of gold. A group of women with ties to the old world and old ways, and also have clean rooms with dinner for rent. Elder professors at Miskatonic University, with a knowledge of what lies beyond. The foes are the foul waters, a group of sisters, and a god about to awaken from a long sleep, with only destruction on its mind.

I must say I have loved all the books in this series. The Arkham Horror books are great novels, not just great product tie-in novels. I especially like the books by Rosemary Jones. Jones makes great characters, interesting scenarios and has a great sense of narrative. Jones has a way of grabbing readers and not letting go until the story is over. The care the Jones puts into the story, the mention of Lon Chaney's lost movie London after Midnight. A little bit of dialogue about a librarian at Miskatonic University's unique way of cataloging books saying, I have seen more odder than Dewey. Cool library jokes which frankly there should be more of. These little things make the story real, set a scene and make one care.

A great horror story, and a really good novel. One doesn't have to read the other books, but one should as well as all the other books in the Arkham Horror series, as well as anything by Rosemary Jones, who is a really good author, one of the few I know will entertain me.

Written by Rosemary Jones with cover art by Martin M Barbdu and published by Aconyte Books.

Thank you to Aconyte Publishing for providing me with a preview copy of this release to review. Per Aconyte’s site…

Arkham stands on the brink of destruction as eldritch forces rise from the depths in the stunning conclusion to Arkham Horror’s The Drowned City. Harvey Walters knows the end is coming. Arkham is overwhelmed by flooding, and from the depths strange creatures have arisen, drawn from another dimension by the approach of an ancient being determined to destroy the city. And amongst the chaos, another force seeks to seize the influx of supernatural power for themselves.Arkham is under siege from all fronts. But Harvey Walters is not going down without a fight. Teaming up with garbageman, Lefty Googe, and reporter, Minnie Klein, Harvey is determined to save the city he loves from annihilation. His mind and a stolen wand are his only weapons, and as Arkham crumbles around him, Harvey must draw on all his mystic alliances to make a last stand. He’s gambled with the arcane before, but this time the stakes have never been higher.

The Arkham Files have spent the totality of this year focused on the events of the IP encompassing event “The Drowned City,” which deals with the rise of dread Cthulhu from the ruins of R’lyeh. As “Herald of Ruin”, “The Forbidden Visions of Lucious Galloway”, and the “Nightmare Quest of April May” let readers dive into the circumstances that led to Cthulhu presence, and the effects it has had on humanity, “Arkham International” and “The Twilight Magus” have shown the aftereffects of the LCG campaign that forms the spine of the event. With that content serving as a base, author Rosemary Jones returns to the world of Arkham to present readers with what life was like the day that the mythos tried to break Arkham in “The Arcane Gamble of Harvey Walters”. With the denizens of Arkham, Massachusetts, scrambling to address the flooding caused by the mighty Miskatonic River breaching its banks, Ms. Jones differentiates this newest release by showing fans what happened on the day of the campaign’s final scenario.

Picking up the day after the events of the “Nightmare Quest of April May”, and with April May having been sidelined from further immediate adventure due to the fallout of her debut story, Ms. Jones focuses the narrative lens on the eponymous Professor Harvey Walters as he deciphers what is coming and how he is going to help the city he calls home survive the event as former professional baseball player, turned local garbage man, Lefty Googe graples with the arcane knowledge being forced upon him and Arkham Advertiser reporter Minnie Klein puts herself in harms way to gather the details of local events for a special edition of the paper. Ms. Jones’ choice to base a third of her protagonists out of Arkham’s local newspaper, the Advertiser, within her duology pays dividends in terms of tone and consistency while the dichotomy of perspective between the entry level employee, April May, and the veteran reporter, Minnie Klein, gives the news orginzation, as well as the overall story, a more robust feel. In addition to that, it's also worth noting the contrast between April May and Prof. Walters. Readers spent the prior novel learning about April May as she started on her path into adulthood, but in this follow-up, readers join Prof. Walters as he navigates this most recent calamity from the perspective of a man who has begun his wind-down into retirement after a life of scholarly adventure. As the perspective shifts between Walters, Klein, and Googe’s individual struggles and triumphs, Ms. Jones never leaves doubt that, despite her protagonists' actions, there is always more chaos happening just outside of her narrative. References to Agatha Crane, the legend of Michael McGlen’s recent encounter at the docks, and the loss of his partner, becoming the stuff of local legend, Darrel Simmons covering activity in nearby Kingsport, and dynamite detonating in the distance by mayoral decree all provide additional layers that give the besieged witch cursed city the gravitas that “The Drowned City” and coming of Cthulhu deserve.   

Despite the heavy stakes at play, Rosemary Jones brings forward the cozy horror style that has been the hallmark of her continued work in Arkham. Over her five-book tenure, the most published fiction of any author in the Arkham Files setting, Ms. Jones has continued to evolve her distinct style of horror, wherein eldritch horrors can exist alongside budding romances and the machinations of a vile coven, and the dark Gods they invoke can be interrupted with the power of positive emotions, explosions, and a flamethrower. Readers who are familiar with Ms. Jones’ style may predict some elements of the conclusion to this narrative, but that didn’t detract from my experience. The introduction of a prophecy, by an opportunistic set of witches and a half dozen seers, plays into this chance to glimpse the future to the point that it felt purposeful within my read.

This wouldn’t be an Arkham entry from Ms. Jones without both callbacks to prior creations and the development and introduction of a few new citizens. The Fitzmaurice family is once again name-dropped, Nova Malone makes her presence felt, and the venerable institution of Sweet and Sons is referenced, but the standout introduction in this newest release is Valeska Strange. Valeska, the morally compromised answer to Professor Walters, is woven into the history of the Professor’s life well enough that she feels like she could be an alternate weakness to the investigator in the eventual parallel release within the LCG. Powerful, confident, and knowledgeable, Valeska makes a great counterpoint to Professor Walter’s plans as they both take action as the water rises in their own unique ways.

In a less interesting author and editor’s hands, “The Arcane Gamble of Harvey Walters” could have turned into a telling of the last scenario of “The Drowned City”, giving the “cannon” story of the conclusion of the campaign. Fortunately, Aconyte and Rosemary Jones chose to instead present a more engaging choice. One where players have the opportunity to read a story that dances in the narrative raindrops of the LCG campaign, providing additional context to the mindset of the denizens of Arkham on the day the Miskatonic breached its banks, prophecies were challenged, and a Professor gambled, culminating in not only a great story but a worthy finale to “The Drowned City” trilogy.

I hope you enjoyed this look at “The Arcane Gamble of Harvey Walters”. If you would like more updates about the history of Arkham, its residents, and events tied to the area, then you can find me on Bluesky or bookmark this site for future updates. If you have any questions or wish to request specific content, please use this contact form. 

Best regards

Dude in progress