So Cold the River

June 09, 2010

My review:

Eric Shaw used to be a one of the most talented and most sought after film makers. That all changed in an instant. All it took was for him to lose his temper and after that, his career crumbled faster then you can say “Oscar”. Eric still produces films but recapping the lives of ones who have passed away. At one of the funerals, Eric is approached by the lovely, Alyssa Bradford. Eric did her sister’s movie. Alyssa is impressed with Eric’s work.

Alyssa calls Eric a few days later. She wants to hire him to do a documentary on her father in law, Campbell Bradford. Her father in law ran away from home during the Depression, when he was just a young boy and stuck it rich in Chicago. He is a billionaire. He doesn’t have much time left on Earth but feels he has a story to tell. Eric agrees. There is just one last thing, Alyssa hands Eric a green bottle with some mucky looking water in it. The bottle is cold to the touch. Alyssa tells him it is Pluto Water. West Baden Springs, Indiana where Campbell’s home town is, is famous for its spring. This is where the Pluto Water came from.

Eric heads to West Baden Springs. There he teams up with Kellen Cage. Kellen is also writing about Campbell Bradford for his theses. It becomes apparent real fast that neither Eric nor Kellen are welcome by Josiah Bradford, a relative of Campbell’s. Strange things start happening to Eric, while in West Baden Springs. For example the green bottle he was given by Alyssa keeps getting colder and colder. It appears that the murky water has turned into a sweet drink with a hint of honey. What dark secrets will Eric uncover?

So Cold the River is a book you will be thinking about for a long while after you have put this book down. The whole time I was reading this book, it reminded me of the old, classic feel of a Stephen King novel combined with the Twilight Zone. I loved this feeling. The best part is that Mr. Koryta put his own twists on this chilling story. Mr. Koryta based this story around historical locations. This is part of what made this book so good. I really got sucked into this book. I forgot about it being over 500 pages. All the characters were engaging. I felt for Eric and hoped this would be the break he would get to turn his career around again. So Cold the River is my first taste of what author, Michael Koryta has to offer. Now that I have, I plan to go back and check all his other novels. So Cold the River is flowing upstream to the top of the best seller’s list and for good reason!

The West Baden Springs Hotel is a historic landmark hotel in the town of West Baden Springs in

Orange County, Indiana, USA, known for its vast domed atrium. It is currently part of the French Lick Resort Casino complex. Prior to the completion of the Bojangles' Coliseum in Charlotte, North Carolina in 1955, the building had the largest free-spanning dome in the United States and was the largest in the world from 1902 to 1913. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1974, became a National Historic Landmark in 1987,[3] and is a Historic Civil Engineering Landmark.