I loved this book. Honestly, I had no idea where the story was going. Sure, I had ideas, but they paled in comparison to the actual twists and turns in the plot. The author's depth of characterization and descriptive skills are off the charts. The similes and metaphors were fresh and precise. 9-year-old Trina grabbed my heart and twisted it into tiny pieces. I saw that the publisher said it blurred the lines between genre and literary, and I agree with that assessment. Between the wonderful prose and the way the author deftly handles family and grief issues, it was squarely checked both boxes for me as well. I would definitely recommend this book.

NOTE: This is just a copy of my Goodreads review, but with the spoiler removed

A magical realism book that's less about magic and more about the reality of a dirty, rain-slick, deteriorating beach town, where many are grieving and aching to change.

The first thing that comes to mind about this book, something that sticks and won't go away - a desire to compare this to Stephen King. Kids as protagonists, run-down small city in America of the past, something sinister lurking beneath as the children try to cope with the future. But such a comparison is, while flattering, also a bit of a disservice. Being compared to the modern "king of horror" sets a damn high bar for the author and gives the readers certain expectations. And yet it might be okay in this case, because this is a damned good debut and an interesting take on the standard tropes of the genres.

Our "heroes" who don't do much heroism and specialize, largely, in morally dubious deeds are split in two groups: Dave and Nick, sheriff and cop, both grieving because they've lost their partners, a wife and a married lover, respectively; Sam and Trina, brother and sister, punk and deaf, both grieving because they've lost their mother. As their predicaments are intertwined we get a front-seat look at the process of mourning from many different sides, be it Dave's quiet desperation, Nick's diseased madness, Sam's stoicistic numbness, or Trina's redirected fear of the bomb. With grief playing such a major part one may be worried that the dead ones will be idealized, put on a pedestal and given angel wings, but nobody is perfect, much less so in the world Rosson builds. Melissa, the mother, was prone to drinking and had an affair, far from the idealized mom of two that you could expect.
This ties into something that really sticks out about the book and its eschewing of convention: parents are neither incompetent, blathering idiots nor violent abusers, as they so often are in books of this genre and, specifically, in King's works. Gary, the father of the two kid protagonists, is well-meaning, though dejected by his wife's death. Melissa, though a drunk and an adulterer, is a caring mother. They are doing their best, just like everyone in this story, and it just goes to show that the best might not be enough.

Rosson does not shy away from giving almost everybody flaws: Nick is unhinged, Dave similarly so, but with more of a tendency for violence, Sam is your typical teenage boy with a penchant for self-destruction and brooding. The one person that seems pretty much perfect is Toad/Todd. A punk kid who dreams of leaving the small town and going on a roadtrip with his best friend. Listens to Ramones and is good with children, smokes but doesn't litter, popular with girls. It's hard not to see him as both the author's mix of wishful self-insert and self-deprecation, as the boy does come off a bit too idealistic and perfect. He's the weakest link in this chain of struggling people, but his role is not exceedingly large, so it does not sour the impression of the novel much.

A lot of praise should go toward the descriptions of the town, where Rosson shines as a writer. Every single run-down, delapidated part of it is painted in such a way that you believe in its realness. The children's home is wind-blown and crooked, an uneasy place that provides no shelter. The park where the magical realism is kickstarted is covered in mud, perpetually rained upon, and has a spiderweb-covered gazebo that does little to protect from the weather. These locations just expand to give a sense of despair. 80's are in full swing, Cold War is looming in the background, nobody feels okay.

The "Brief aside" sections of the book are interesting, but some more so than others, especially the Indian folk tale one, which builds up the dread for the finale, but also provides some fascinating imagery.

Aside from the minor complaint about Todd, the only grievance I have with this book is that the ending felt like it passed by way too fast. It's a climactic moment, everyone in one place, things finally crashing down as all the plot elements come into play. And yet it races by and it's over before you know it, leaving you in its wake to look at the broken pieces. Some might also dislike the fact that several minor plot threads are set up but never get to the pay-off, but their results should be clear when viewed through the novel's prism of quiet hopefulness clashing against cold reality of life.

Overall, an engaging debut from a promising author, a look at childhood, grief, and death through many varied eyes.

This is a beatiufully constructed novel. The description of both the places and the people made me feel like I was there and knew them. There is a depth to all of his characters and that strengthens the readers connection to them.

This book is about grief, love, growing up, being a parent and the lies we tell ourselves to get through the day. In a world obsessed with perfection I loved the realistic picture painted characters in this book, each and everyone of them flawed in their own way. Even though they are all flawed, they are all likeable and I could not help by sympathise with them and their struggles.

In some ways this is a slow moving story but you can feel the tension building moving you forward to the end of novel with a few twists I did not see coming. This story held my attention from the very first page and it did not let go of me once I finished it. This is an outstanding debut novel by an author I am sure we will be seeing more of.

This book didnt grab me from the start but I kept with it and I'm so glad I did. It is beautifully written. The story just got more and more interesting. I was sorry when it ended.

A quiet little town is peppered by strange occurrences that seem a little otherworldly in The Mercy of the Tide by Keith Rosson.

In the small town of Riptide, the discovery of a child's skeleton in a park sparks an investigation into its origin, as well as the idea that it might be related to the recent, strange displays of dead birds near particular people's homes. Following in the wake of grief from a double fatal car crash three months prior, the lives of the three remaining in the Finster family, Sheriff Dobbs, and Nick Hayslip are intricately pulled together again by the investigation of the skeleton and the odd, supernatural happenings that follow it.

The characters were well developed and they were nuanced with redeeming characteristics and flaws such that made it easy to connect with them and become invested in their future. The story has a bit of a Stranger Things feel to it with the creature wreaking havoc on the town. I found that the ending was a bit too abrupt - there was a nice, slow build toward the development of the ending, but when it actually came it more or less happened and then immediately fizzled into nothingness with no more text. As a side note, I really enjoyed the Shakespearean section openers that briefly told the reader what was contained therein and was going to happen.

Overall, I'd give it a 4 out of 5 stars.

LOVED it! I'll be seeking out more from this author !!

Note: this review will be copied on to goodreads

I was given this book for a open and honest review.

The preamble made me want to read this book and I was not disappointed. It is slightly different from my normal reading choices but this story grabs you and you become quickly engrossed in the characters lives,aware there is a connection but unclear as to the reasons or the drama that will play out.
The characters are believable ,well written and make you have a certain protectiveness towards them.
The small town I feel is obvious and is adaptable to other countries.
This is a book to read at a slower pace,appreciate the quality of the writing,the depth of the characters and try and join the threads of the emerging story together.

The asides vary and some add value.

What you imagine to be chapter breaks puzzled me to begin with but hidden are preludes as to what will come.An interesting method I have never seen before.

Is this book finished and there to make you reflect and question? I'm not sure. I feel the end came so quickly,I have questions and this may be the prelude to a sequel. Or maybe that is the genius at work?

I would recommend this.

A minor aside the cover does not give any clue of the quality or writing of the story. Not a cover I would gravitate to.

I really liked this book, and I wanted to love it. The story was original and strong right up to the ending. I feel like the abrupt ending let down all of the complex characters the author spent so much time cultivating. The reader is left with too many unanswered questions and is not given much help to infer the answers.

Great read for fans of Stranger Things, similar vibe.

First, thank you Netgally for letting me get my eyeballs on this book ahead of time,
and oh wow, What a great book. Dark, tragic with a sprinkle of the supernatural. But the characters...

This is how you write characters. They were people you cared about instead of just names in a book. They were the reason I gave this book 5 stars. The story was good, but the characters were what stole the show, what kept you turning pages and what sticks with you in the end.

I don't know how I feel about the very end of this book, but that takes nothing away from how great the rest of it was.

Thank you to NetGalley for my copy of this book. I loved the multiple points of view and there was excellent characterization. I was trying to read as fast as I could to just get more of the story. I would definitely read another book by this author.

The futuristic events of this novel happen in a small town on Oregon coast in 1983. Lives of Sam and Trina Finster, Sheriff Dave Dobbs and Deputy Nick Hayslip interwind by a recent head on collision where each looses a loved one. They suffer in their own ways, but eventually misery and despair expands to an unbelievable global size. First, bones of a little girl that died over a hundred years old are found. Then there is a disfigured dead body found on a turnaround on a New Year Eve. A local Native tale about a Sorrow Eater, which feeds on human sadness, becomes Nick’s obsession that causes him to lose his badge and pushes away everyone from his already wretched life. In the meanwhile, the global tensions between USSR and USA go to a new level.
I was surprised by how events unfolded, glued to the novel’s pages. Very much recommended read for its mystery, well developed characters and sci-fi twist.

5 stars

The author, Keith Rosson, calls this a "weird book." I, for one, take mild exception to that. It's a wonderful book. (Of course, I may be weird too.)

Told from the point of view of four people, Dave, Nick, Trina and Sam, the book's language is beautiful. Sheriff Dave’s wife is killed in a car accident. Trina and Sam’s mother is killed in the same wreck. The part Nick plays in all this? You’ll have to read the book to find out. This is the story of how they all cope (to some degree), with the loss. Sam’s very good friend, Toad, also plays a supporting role. At the same time mysterious things are happening.

On a superficial level one could read this book simply for the mystery. However, that would be missing its point, I believe. It’s about love and loss, good and bad judgment and the effects sudden death has on the survivors. It’s about old scars that never heal and creep back up when we least expect it.

The book is well written and flows very nicely.

Great job, Mr. Rosson. I will most definitely look for more from this author.

A special thanks to Netgalley and Meerkat Press for allowing me the privilege to read this book.

Grief, love, doom and gloom, mystery, end times. "The Mercy of the Tides" has it all.

Sheriff Dave Dobbs, Deputy Nick Hayslip, and siblings Sam and Trina Finster are all reeling from the loss of loved ones resulting from a head on car collision. Sheriff Dobbs has lost the love of his life, wife June. June was Riptide, Oregon's librarian. Dobbs becomes stoic, silent and comes down hard on any infractions. Deputy Hayslip has lost his lover, Melissa Finster, mother of Sam and Trina. Hayslip is unable to eat or sleep. He intends to do the job in front of him because free time is the enemy. He freezes when trying to apprehend a suspect. Sam Finster, Melissa's son has become Trina's caretaker while mourning his mom's death. A heavy load for the teenager. Trina Finster, a deaf nine year old, is very frustrated and belligerent in school. She is the only non-hearing child in her class. She continually draws pictures of The Cold War and nukes scaring her classmates.

The eerie atmosphere of end times is raised when the book commences. The owner of a Bed and Breakfast by the beach delivers a bag of sand to Sheriff Dobbs. The contents contain a desiccated sea gull. Mysteriously, Dobbs later finds dead birds on his doorstep. Strange occurrences abound.

"The Mercy of the Tides" by Keith Rosson opens a window to how a community handles the death of a much loved librarian and the sheriff's wife. This grief is seen mainly through the eyes of four principal characters. I felt the most compassion for Sam and Trina Finster. Mr. Finster's inability to properly use sign language was an obstacle to helping Trina deal with her grief. Sam, although nurturing, was overwhelmed. What about nuclear annihilation? Was the threat real? Author Keith Rosson's multi-faceted book contains several unresolved threads. Hoping the stage is set for a sequel. A great debut tome.

Thank you Meerkat Press and Net Galley for the opportunity to read and review "The Mercy of the Tides".

Can I just say WOW? This is the first book I've read by Keith Rosson but hopefully it won't be the last. I've read thousands of books in my lifetime but can not think of another with such vivid imagery. Keith Rosson not only tells the story but he paints the scene with such finesse that you can literally imagine each and everything he describes. I found myself repeating more than a few times, "Damn, I wish I would have written that!" Couple the imagery with an interesting, but peculiar, story time and you've got a winner of a book.

The first part of this book reads like a regular small-town, police-department, gloomy (in a good way) novel set on the Oregon coast in the 1980s. Then, about a third of the way in, it becomes clear that this is an alternate 1980s and all bets are off. This book is a good read - but it has a bit of an "uncanny valley" problem. I wanted it to be either less realistic and go full Stephen King on me, or to stick more closely to the social realism, character-driven genre that is the first part of the book. I think this is the freshman novel effort from Keith Rosson, who says in the author notes that this is a "weird book" - but for me, it could have been weirder.

I'm not really sure what to make of this one. I'd put it somewhere around a 3.5. It kind of started off slow, kind of stayed slow. I thought it was building to a mystery, but the mystery wasn't really the focus and when I started to accept that, it became more interesting. Whatever mystery there is, odd and small that it is, is sort of a side effect. The focus is elsewhere, on loss and grief.

The ending could have been bizarre and outlandish -if I described it, it would totally sound bizarre and outlandish- but it wasn't. Magical realism done where it feels more real than magical always kind of surprises me when it works.

(Lengthened review to come shortly... Stay tuned...)

Wow. Keith Rosson can write.
This book is so, so good. I cannot believe it's not being hyped all to hell and back.
The story takes place in 1983, amid the nuclear panic that was a very real part of our childhoods (if you're a 40 something like me).
The characters are exceptionally well drawn and the story is told from each of their points of view. I won't spoil or repeat the plot here, that's done enough in reviews. I will add, though, that I haven't read such a realistically done and sympathetic bunch of characters in a long time. Trina is one of the most heartbreakingly wonderful people I've had the pleasure of reading this year.
Please read this book. I think it deserves (as I said above) soooo much hype. It's the real deal. You won't be disappointed.

Review of THE MERCY OF THE TIDE by Keith Rosson

THE MERCY OF THE TIDE is an exceptional literary adventure, a novel that is deep and rich, a literary pleasure. About halfway through, I was reminded of A SUDDEN LIGHT by Garth Stein, a novel which I consider a Best of 2015, as THE MERCY OF THE TIDE I consider a Best of 2017. Both are set in the Pacific Northwest, though A SUDDEN LIGHT occurs in an earlier century. Literate, absorbing, revealing, cutting deep into the characters, both novels bring us their individuals in deeper and clearer ways than the individuals recognise in themselves.

am very conflicted about The Mercy of the Tide. The character development is wonderful. I cared about the people in the story and not just the four who are the focus of the story. There’s Sam’s best friend Toad and his uncle whose own sorrows will wring your heart. Sam and Trina’s father struggling with his own grief while trying to raise his children alone. There’s the two women who died in that awful accident, gone but never forgotten, grief for their loss animating Dobbs, Nick, Sam, and Trina. These people are fully realized, complex, interesting people for whom we come to care deeply.

But then there is the plot, which just seems to never decide what it wants to be. It would be a more suspenseful, tighter, and far finer story if the entire element of Native American folklore were excised. First, it’s not based on real folklore and the Native American tribe and reservation are fictionalized. That’s just not right. If you are going to write about Native Americans in Oregon, don’t erase the real ones.

More importantly, the characters build the tension. There is this marvelous tension between Sheriff Dobbs and the decompensating Hayslip, there is where the story should have focused, there and on Hayslip’s obsession with his dead lover’s children.

And then, there is the Ronald Reagan issue. For some reason, the author chose to have Hinckley shoot Reagan during the election campaign against Jimmy Carter. This gives Dobbs’ wife June motive to despise Reagan for exploiting the assassination attempt. She could have easily chosen to despise him for delaying the return of the hostages in Iran in order to have them come home on his inauguration day, leaving them hostage for three more months to feed his ego. Then there is the day the bullet left in Reagan’s body shifts and it is believed he is dying or dead (no bullet was left in his body) which sets of an international incident. Why go with this false history when the real assassination left him in surgery and General Alexander Haig saying he was in charge. Real history gives reasons enough for the events he wants to happen, so why make up something that is just going to stop readers in their tracks to say, “wait, that didn’t happen.” It was beyond annoying to this history major. In fact, after the part about him exploiting his assassination to win election, I put the book down for a day in disgust before coming back to it because I really liked Sam and Trina and wanted to know what happens to them.

So, as I said, I am conflicted. The characters are wonderful, so human and real. I wish they were in another story.

I went into reading this novel with only a vague impression of where it would take me. First off, Rosson's writing is superb. His descriptions infuse the story with an almost heady, atmospheric quality that allows you to feel as if you are walking down the misty, rainy roads of Riptide with the characters. Though the description touts the book as more of a magical realism/mystery thriller, and while I did enjoy these aspects of the book greatly, I appreciated the other, more quotidian, themes of loss, grief, and guilt (amongst other things) that Rosson explores via Dobbs, Hayslip, Sam, and Trina. The manner in which these characters are intertwined within the context of the plot and the way in which they develop throughout the novel is fascinating and realistic.

It's hard to classify this novel into one genre. It's sort of a Frankenstein of magical realism, science fiction, historical fiction, horror...all mashed into one intriguing package. My only point of ambivalence at this time is the ending. Without giving too much away, I will say that the end seemed abrupt given the drama that occurs in the last few pages. It's not that the ending doesn't function well, but moreso the fact that I was left feeling a little unsatisfied. Nevertheless, I look forward to reading more or Rosson's writing in the future.

"The Mercy of the Tide" is a conundrum. There is no main protagonist, neither is there really an antagonist. It's not a mystery but there are elements of mystery within. It's not horror but here to there are elements of horror. People die but these aren't murders to be solve. Not much happens but it has a lot to say. Every page I expected the "action" to take over. It never really does. No mystery. No bad guys. No instantaneous romance between the hunky man who drifts into town and sweeps the lonely but ever so beautiful woman off her feet. There is sorrow, friendship, betrayal, grief in its many forms. It's also set in a very slightly tweaked alternate reality. Hence the conundrum.

What Keith Rosson has done is written a book that is an exceptional read. Reading for the pure joy of seeing how he has put words together. I could label the book with something generic but that would do dishonor to what he has done. What Mr Rosson have given us is a book where lives get tangled up over a fatal accident. How sorrow, loneliness, grief play out in the lives of those involved. The characters have a depth to them that adds to their reactions. He writes each character as if they are what should be focused on. Each has a very distinct voice. A 9 year old deaf girl obsessed with nuclear warfare, her 17 year old brother. His 19 year old best friend. The Police chief and one of his officers. Even those considered minor characters have a voice.

When I read a book I typically pass it on to someone else. So the best praise I can give Mr Rosson and "The Mercy of the Tide" is that I will keep this book to read again.

I wish to thank Mr Rosson, the Publisher, and NetGalley for my copy of this book in exchange for this honest review.

The Mercy of the Tide is Keith Rosson’s debut novel, and it’s a strong one. Set in a tiny, depressed town on the Oregon Coast during the Reagan Administration, things start out dark, and they’re about to get a whole lot darker. Thank you, Net Galley and Meerkat Press for the DRC, which I received free of charge for this honest review. This book will be for sale February 21, 2017, and those that love good fiction with a working class perspective will want a copy.

The tiny town of Riptide, Oregon is knee deep in grief. A recent head-on collision claimed the lives of Melissa Finster, mother of Sam and Trina, and June Dobbs, the town’s beloved librarian and wife of Sheriff Dave Dobbs. The blow has left everyone reeling and on edge.

Someone else is missing Melissa too, though he can’t say so. Deputy Nick Hayslip--a Vietnam veteran who has no patience for the madness associated with that category, a vet who figures that you go home when the war is over, you put on your clothes and go to work and therapy is for losers--is coming unstuck. Nobody knows about his past with Melissa, and he finds terrible ways to keep her memory alive.

The teaser for this novel tells us that the story centers around Sam and Trina, and since the author generally writes the teaser, that must be his intention. However, I found Trina to be the weakest element here, and it was the other characters that made this story work for me. Part of this is just pure fickle bad luck for the author; I actually taught deaf kids of the same age as Trina, as well as gifted kids that age; and in one instance, a gifted deaf kid that age. It’s true that the gifts of highly capable children vary widely in scope and range, and that every child is unique, but the vocabulary and abstract concepts Rosson bestows on this kid are just not within the realm of the possible, and so Trina isn’t real to me until later in the book, when things other than her obsession with nuclear holocaust are used in the development of her character.

The most interesting character and unlikely hero here is Hayslip. Also beautifully developed are Sheriff Dodds and Sam’s closest friend, Todd, known familiarly as “Toad”. Alternating points of view from the third person omniscient give us ready access to their thoughts, impulses, and feelings.

An interesting side character is zealous Christian wingnut Joe Lyley, who says in a somewhat uncharacteristic understatement, “These are unlovely times.” I also liked Leon Davies, whose role I will let the reader discover, because it’s such a fun surprise.

The setting is almost an anti-tourist brochure. The Oregon Coast is well known for its wild, rugged beauty, but Rosson chooses to introduce the other reality, that of the many local denizens that endure a hardscrabble working class existence in small, chilly, damp coastal communities that rarely see the sun. The moldering smell of rotting wood, porches and floors with a sponge-like give under foot are dead accurate, although the town of Riptide is fictitious; the recession of the 80’s plunged small beach towns into a depression from which there has never been a moment’s relief.

This is a strong story with a tight, tense climax and a powerful resolution. This darkly delicious novel shows that Rosson is a force to be reckoned with; I look forward to seeing more of his work in the future.

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.

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