This isn't really a thriller but it is a literary novel and how much you like it will depend on your patience with the writing style. The story moves back and forth in time and between narrators- Daniel Abend and Nelson Spurlock. Abend was a psychiatrist but he's also got a lot of secrets in his past, which his daughter Clementine works to untangle after his death. Much of this is tied up in his time in Paris with her mother Miriam. The writing occasionally overwhelms the story but this is something that could have been solved with an extra edit to peel away the extraneous. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. Try this if you like complicated tales where the truth eventually emerges.

This debut novel written by a professor of Poetry, DeSales Harrison, is intensely introspective from the viewpoint of a doctor who shares his life in a written document sent to a priest he doesn't know, Rev. Nelson Spurlock. Nelson tries to minister to a waning flock in an ancient church in lower Manhattan. A young girl named, Clementine, visits Nelson and asks for a letter he received from her father. He must disappoint her, as he has not received any correspondence from her father, nor does know him.

The story begins to unwind with the father's (Dr. Abend) recollection of his medical training in Paris. It is there that the narrative becomes exciting and I enjoyed the novel with its twists and turns. Professor Harrison interjected poetry into his story, and I have to plead ignorance there. I appreciated the universality of the love that the men who populate the critical aspects of the narrative. The feelings are romantic, fatherly, and communal. Although this is a tragic story, it is presented beautifully, with a voice that is authentic, taking me to another world.

Thank you, NetGalley and Random House for the opportunity to read this ARC.

One of Daniel Abend’s therapy patients commits suicide. She was an addict and was depressed so he thought he understood what had happened. But when he starts to receive mysterious packages and letters, he starts to think there may have more to her death than he first thought. The letters and packages take a more sinister turn when they lead him to believe that his teenage daughter is in danger. Whomever is sending Daniel these notes seems to know a lot about his past, which causes Daniel to visit his past mistakes in life.

Writing the above blurb outlining the basic plot of this book makes it sound like an ordinary thriller. Yes, there’s plenty of suspense, but it’s so much more than that. It’s an extraordinary, multi-layered look at the life of a man whose sorrows and regrets run deep. The writing is so luscious, I couldn’t get enough of it. The author chose to tell the story through a confession written to a priest, which added another layer of intrigue. It’s a dark, tragic tale and one I’ll never forget. This is an intense literary work of art and completely took my breath away. Kudos to the author on his debut novel. If it doesn’t receive many awards, I’ll be very surprised.

Most highly recommended.

An excellent literary thriller by debut author DeSales Harrison. The writing is beautiful and the characters and plot interesting. Highly recommend.

We were all in over our heads, you said. Everything was too much, our lives were too much. Too many temptations, allurements, false starts, false promises. Too much pain. Too much grief. And there was nothing to be said about this: some griefs, you said, outstripped all consolation.

As for the explannations, we would never be satisfied.

Daniel Abend is a successful psychoanalyst and single parent to a teenage girl. Life is wonderful, until it isn’t. His work with patient, Jessica Burke, was successful and returned her to her life and family, her future potential back on track with college. Then it falls apart when she dies. While sitting in the pews, waiting for Rector Nelson Spurlock to give the eulogy, Daniel thinks about the patients he has lost and struggles with the stunning shock that it seemed impossible that of them all, Jessica could be dead. When it is Daniel who is dead, his daughter seeks Spurlock out to inform him all missives from her father now belong to her. But the clergyman is rattled, with no idea who she is talking about, who Daniel is. So begins the story. The ‘confessional’ arrives after Daniel’s death and in it a mystery, the reader and Spurlock dissect everything that happened together. This is Daniel’s last confession, and he asks in his letter “will you hear it”?

Daniel passes his days in a sort of haze until his daughter, Clementine brings to his attention a strange envelope with a key inside. Led to a post office box, he discovers a poem assigned in a night class Jessica was taking. Now, with the poem sent before her death he knows it was no accident, her death was very much intended. It is a heavy weight to bear, this knowing. Then, through a photograph that horrifies with its mystery, the claws will pull him down. Spurlock is drawn into the story, though beyond giving a eulogy for the deceased Jessica, he never knew either she nor Daniel, but Abend was so moved by his words that he clung to them. Who is Abend? Does anyone truly know?

The picture serves to terrorize Daniel, like a threat to his own daughter, to all daughters of the world. Clementine knows so little about her own mother, just another lie he contains, until he can’t. His life seems to be a series of women begging, remember me… “with the past so much longer than the future.” Each woman gone and now Clementine too, or maybe missing, which? The slippery truth found its way to his daughter, and all because of his protective lies, he has nothing and deceptions even for good reason can’t be tolerated by the one betrayed. But what is the truth, just what lies has he invented?

It is fact he loved a woman named Miriam, that the way of her demise is more story, one Clementine had to tell herself, because what she believes of her mother is a safer fiction than the true horror story. Someone else knows though, the very person who could have had a hand in Jessica’s tragic end. Someone else is making sure Daniel ‘remembers’ his discarded past involving the tragedy of Miriam who is now morphing with Jessica’s strange final moments. This is a mystery, a quiet thriller but much more a beautiful literary tale. Daniel helps his patients cling to life long enough to see their way out of darkness, and yet what of his own? Is it possible to reinvent the past, change the story to a cleaner version? What of the sickness of the sinner?

When the reader reaches the rotten center, they’re not sure what to feel- maybe horrified and yet exhausted by the decisions and deceptions, much as Daniel must be. Heartsick, because nothing is worse than being abandoned by your child. Is anyone ever truly ours? What of abandoning yourself? It’s so hard to express why I felt so many conflicting emotions reading the story without ruining the mystery. All I could think is, “My God, what have you done?” Every character has meaning, even when we (like Clementine) are oblivious to their importance. That the dead are present, an ever watchful eye, that a reckoning is never quite how one imagines it to be. A tale we all take part in, because you can arrange a life, your own, someone else’s, with the precision of a God and your ‘creation/invention’ will turn on you, demand its pound of flesh. What of intentions, selfless vs selfish, does it make a difference? As if any sort of ‘arranging’ can be right, or wrong. The universe has an account of your every transgression, against others, or yourself. The dead rise, at their own will, if only through the tormented memories of those left behind to grieve.

The characters have their reasons for everything, how toxic our ‘reasoning’, how blindly we move through our lives and each others, infecting those we love most with our choices. I imagine every reader will feel different emotions, certainly it seems damnation would be fair, if you are moved to justice. Everyone is a mystery, or a tragedy about to happen. How is Spurlock, a godly man, to unravel such inhumanity? How did he find himself a key player in a story of deception and fatherly love? The writing about Daniel’s job as a ‘therapist’ is gorgeous and humbling. In chapter 29, he tells of his years in practice dealing with his patients ‘astonishing disclosures’ and how little, in the end, they ‘alter the fabric of the patients life.’ These happenings that rupture the veil of our ordered life somehow always spit us back out to where we were. Everything changes, and yet nothing. Our lack of awareness is usually suspect, because all too often on some level we did know. All of it stood out to me, because it is a strange effect when something rocks our world, it may reverberate but does it change the past? That can be applied to any big moment, good or bad, if you can even label the things in a life as such. The world and all it’s inhabitants hurtle towards the future, unchanged by our victories and miseries. Life moves on much the same.

I will be thinking about this for days. It starts off slowly, but by the novels conclusion I was gutted. There are heartbreaking moments, and brutality that is shocking. It’s hard not to hold Daniel accountable, and yet impossible not to find compassion too. Are we all so disfigured? Maybe.

Publication Date: April 3, 2018

Random House Publishing

The unburdening of a soul..........

The stone walls of the Church of the Incarnation give sanctuary to those seeking comfort and a harbor from the outside world. Rector Nelson Spurlock walks among the crowded cots of the lightly blanketed. New York City seems to gather up the unwanted deemed sadly undesirable by society.

A young woman, Clementine Abend, whispers to Spurlock as she seeks him out in this darkened room. She tells Spurlock that her father, Daniel Abend, has sent a package to the rector. Spurlock states that he knows of no package nor of anyone by the name of Daniel Abend. He takes down her information and continues to move through the room. Spurlock, unknowingly, will become a key player in this story and his impact will reverberate throughout the chapters.

DeSales Harrison presents a very multi-layered, intensely written read that showcases the deep humanity in his selected characters. The story reverts back in time as Daniel Abend, a New York City psychoanalyst, becomes our focus. The above-mentioned package contains the steppingstones of his prior life in Paris. It is a father's dialogue intended to peel back the darkened petals of his life. Daniel slowly reveals chipped nuggets of stone that eventually weigh heavy in the pocket of his ill-fated relationship with Miriam, Clementine's mother. "For the world's more full of weeping than you can understand."

Don't be misled that this is a mystery/thriller. It is far more than that. There will be questionable circumstances that weave back and forth throughout the storyline with answers that don't bud-out until the conclusion. Be patient, dear reader, be patient.

Perhaps that is why this will not draw interest from all readers. Harrison's writing style contains densely inscribed passages that carve their way into your heart if you allow it to be. His descriptors of grief at the funeral of one of his patient's had my eyes brimming with tears. "Some griefs outstripped all consolations." His words are lush and yet contain a simple beauty to be embraced and savored. Harrison implements lines from a Yeats' poem that slowly trickle clues. Stick with this talented author. Let it be enough........

I received a copy of The Waters & The Wild through NetGalley for an honest review. My thanks to Random House and to DeSales Harrison for the opportunity.

This was an easy read in between two heavy books. I enjoyed this story and even though the writing was a little much, I enjoyed the story.

Daniel Abend, psychoanalyst, wanted to rewind his experiences and travel down a different path to the future. As a successful New York City therapist, he was encouraged by the apparent breakthrough of patient Jessica Burke. After years of therapy, she was now reinstated at college and had repaired strained family relationships. A few days before her death, by suicide, she sent Daniel her favorite poem by Yeats. The doctor-patient bond obligated Daniel to maintain therapist-patient confidentiality. Rector Nelson Spurlock delivered the eulogy at Jessica Burke's funeral, an impressive eulogy according to Daniel.

Three years later, Daniel's daughter, Clementine arrived at Spurlock's parish stating that her deceased father stipulated, in his will, that all correspondence relating to his estate be sent to her, c/o Reverend Nelson Spurlock, Church of the Incarnation in New York City. No mailings had arrived. Parish records showed no parishioner named Abend. Father Spurlock was puzzled by his discovery of Abend's letter of confession stating his sin and/or guilt. Spurlock felt discomforted and bogged down by the weight of this document. Who was this Daniel Abend and why had the rector found this confessional missive?

"The Waters & The Wild" is a psychological, literary thriller. Daniel Abend received mysterious mail after Jessica Burke died. Father Spurlock received mailings slated for Clementine Abend. The premise of this tome was excellent, the delivery, not so much. It was challenging, at times, to determine the speaker of various ruminations. That said, other parts of the book were positively riveting containing unexpected twists and turns. Uneven at times, "The Waters & The Wild" is a good read from debut author DeSales Harrison.

Thank you Random House Publishing Group-Random House and Net Galley for the opportunity to read and review "The Waters & The Wild".

THE WATER AND THE WILD is a beautifully written mystery of sorts. True literary fiction at its finest. Daniel Abend is a practicing therapist with dark secrets he has hidden from his teenage daughter, Clementine. He reveals these secrets in a epistolary fashion to a Catholic priest and Clementine come looking for her father's letter. Poignant and relatable, this is a book to savor and I was sorry to see it end.

This book was as delightfully weird as anyone could hope an old fashioned gothic novel to be - loved it

See review at blog