The Darkest Place — Daniel Judson

From Daniel Judson, Shamus Award winner and emerging master of the modern literary thriller, comes a riveting and accomplished crime novel set in the seedy underside of a celebrated beach town.

During a bone-chilling snap of record cold, a series of enigmatic drowning deaths plays out in a small Hamptons community on Long Island's Shinnecock Bay. Local college professor Deacon Kane, himself recovering from the accidental drowning of his only son years ago---recovering slowly, with the help of alcohol and an addictive, messy affair with a married woman---is implicated in the deaths.

As the police and several other interested parties watch his every move, Kane befriends a hypnotically alluring bartender named Colette and quickly continues his brutal downward spiral with little regard for self-preservation. How---and whether---Kane is connected to the young men is the question everyone wants the answer to. As it becomes clear that Kane himself may not know the extent of his own involvement, all must admit that something dark and sinister is at work in Southampton.

Daniel Judson has a virtuoso's touch and a diabolical ability to layer suspense, plot, and character study into an engrossing and completely surprising crime novel that will not soon be forgotten.