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The Narrows by Travis Riddle
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Oliver is in his mid-twenties, just starting his career, when his best friend, Noah, from his hometown commits suicide. Oliver returns home for the funeral. His childhood friends Davontae and Sophia also return for the funeral. This is a melancholy occasion for Oliver. He and Noah had unresolved issues when they last saw each other.
Oliver becomes convinced that Noah's death was not a suicide. Odd things are happening in the small Texas town of Shumard. For example, Oliver watches a high school dissolve in a suburban street. He catches a glimpse of another reality across a small river. Oliver begins to inquire and, eventually, discovers an odd character who calls himself “the Knave.”
Up until the introduction of the Knave, the book has largely been uneventful, to the point of boredom. Oliver is fairly mopey, which is a fair condition to be in when a friend dies, but it doesn't move the story along. I also found myself not very interested in his friends Davontea and Sophia, who seemed interchangeable, except that Sophia was a female. There might have been an interesting backstory in how a girl joined the three male friends, but, apparently, in a bit of “check the woke boxes,” Sophia was born Simon and came out as trans in college because, you know, trans were a big deal in 2020. But it was a meaningless detail; apart from mentioning that Sophia was Simon nothing further was made of this detail and it added nothing to the story.
The story picks up the pace with the introduction of the Knave. I will credit the book for giving answers, but, frankly, the Knave betrayed the tone of the book. Up until the Knave appears, the book is presenting a story with potential dimensions of cosmic horror. However, the Knave is simply a monster who collects jewels from people and keeps them in a house in the alternate version of Shumard across the Narrows. The story turns into a narrative about fighting the monster with no cosmic horror in sight.
This book had promise. The characters had some depth. The opening created a slow burn. However, the ending was a kind of fizzle.
