The Dredge
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2.5 • 2 Ratings
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- $12.99
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- $12.99
Publisher Description
“Flaherty writes with stealthy acuity, his prose seemingly simple yet full of coiled power. . . . Multiple hauntings emerge in 'The Dredge,' and you’ll be contemplating them after the last page.”—Sarah Weinman, The New York Times
In Brendan Flaherty’s debut novel, two estranged brothers must confront the violence of the past when they find out a pond where they played as children will be dredged.
After some traumatic teenaged years in rural Connecticut, Cale and Ambrose Casey had nothing left to say to each other. Cale ran off to Hawaii to sell luxury real estate. Ambrose stayed behind and built up his construction company. Neither thought they’d be in touch again and were glad for it—until they learned of a real estate developer’s plan to drain and expand Gibbs Pond.
Nearly 30 years before, the Casey brothers buried a secret in that pond, which fell somewhere between self-defense and family preservation.
Lily Rowe, the contractor in charge of the dredging, can also trace her roots—and her trauma—to the banks of Gibbs Pond. After a childhood that saw her and her brother yanked across the country by her abusive father, it was here where she finally stayed put, even if they didn’t. But as ambitious as Lily is, and as much as she wants answers of her own, her family also has secrets to protect.
Now, the haunted lives of Cale, Ambrose, and Lily collide once more as they reunite to unearth the devastation of the past.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
In this accomplished debut mystery, Flaherty revitalizes the familiar trope of old secrets threatening to resurface with sinewy prose and well-tooled suspense. In the present, plans are underway to dredge Gibbs Pond in Macoun, Conn., after a yearslong silt buildup. Developer Lily Rowe, who's leading the project, hopes it will increase property values in the area, but also fears new light may be shed on dark secrets from her family's past. Her father, Abe Rowe, physically abused his wife and children, including Lily's brother, Ray, whose resulting behavioral issues—including violence and classroom disobedience—led the neighborhood to label him a dangerous pariah. Abe and Ray both disappeared in 1993, not long after the death of Eli Casey, who once tried to intervene and protect Abe's wife, Bonnie, from her husband's violent outbursts. Casey's sons, Cale and Ambrose, who knew Lily growing up, have concerns of their own about what violent secrets the dredging might expose, leading Cale to return to Connecticut from Hawaii so he can convene with Ambrose. The past and present unfold gradually from the vantage points of Flaherty's well-drawn leads, keeping readers on a knife's edge as the full scope of each character's history clicks into place. Admirers of Eli Cranor's Ozark Dogs will be riveted.
