First published 2010
Private investigator Eric Shaw arrives in West Baden Springs, Indiana, to research the life of Campbell Bradford for what seems like a routine biographical documentary. Shaw carries with him a bottle of Pluto Water, the mineral spring water that once made the town famous, hoping it will help him connect with his subject's past. But when Shaw drinks the water, he begins experiencing violent visions of events from decades earlier. The visions grow stronger and more disturbing, revealing murders and secrets the Bradford family has kept buried. As Shaw struggles to separate past from present, he realizes the town's grand resort hotels hide a legacy of violence that refuses to stay dead. The investigation becomes personal when Shaw discovers his own connection to the Bradford family runs deeper than he imagined. Shaw must confront both the town's ghosts and his own demons to survive.
Genres: suspense, mystery, thriller, paranormal
Vibes: atmospheric, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: fish-out-of-water, unreliable-narrator
Setting: West Baden Springs, Indiana
Period: 20th-century
448 pages · Hardcover · Hodder & Stoughton Ltd
Content warnings: violence