Title: A Dark and Rising TideAuthor: Debra Castaneda
Series: Dark Earth Rising #5
First Published: October 18, 2023
Publisher: Self-Published
Pages: 289
Genre: Horror
Format: Ebook
Source: Kindle Unlimited
Rating:
Synopsis:
When a massive storm surge hits the central coast of California, the ferocious surf destroys buildings, floods streets, and washes up something sinister from the depths of the Monterey Bay.
Peter, a retired state lifeguard, knows the water better than anyone. Carla, owner of a beach-side restaurant, is still mourning the loss of her son in a boating accident. While both love their quaint small town with spectacular views, their personal lives are as complicated as the changing weather forecasts.
After a mysterious creature in the water kills two men, Peter and Carla are plunged into a living nightmare as a massive tidal surge traps them and their friends in a battered, unstable building.
While the storm rages through the night, they discover something horrifying swims between them and escape, just waiting to attack anyone within reach.
They need to make life or death decisions to survive.
But first, they need to make it to morning.
Inspired by real events, A Dark and Rising Tide is part of Debra Castaneda’s Dark Earth Rising series of standalone novels. Read the books in any order.
Get the Book: AmazonReview
A Dark and Rising Tide is a fun slice of aquatic eco-horror with a likeable cast of characters. I really liked the coastal town during the off season setting, having lived in coastal cities my entire life, and the threat of unusually high tide was nerve wrecking. Never mind what shows up along with the tide – large parts of the book are action packed and very exciting, and had scenes that I could envision. The story follows a rag tag band of locals that I found endearing.
My one critique is that the story starts to lose gas later on in the story. Because I really liked the main cast of characters of the tension came from worrying for their safety. At some point though I realized that these characters were too loveable and that there was no way that any real harm would come to any of them, and that kind of broke the narrative tension for me. After that it felt a bit repetitive and the ending was fine, but didn’t blow me away.
Overall the book is solid and surprisingly cozy. It’s the first book that I had read by Debra Castaneda and I’m keenly interested in reading more of her work. I like the nature horror theme in the Dark Earth Rising series and will definitely be checking more of the series out.
Quote
“Suddenly dizzy, she swayed, overcome with panic. The ordinary world had no place for such monstrous things, and yet, a primitive part of her mind stirred with recognition.”
Content Warnings
View Spoiler »About the Author
About Debra Castaneda
Debra Castaneda is an award-winning horror and dark fiction author based on the central coast of California.
Her works include “The Devil’s Shallows,” “The Root Witch,” “The Copper Man,” and “Circus at Devil’s Landing” which comprise the Dark Earth Rising series of standalone novels, and “The Monsters of Chavez Ravine,” an International Latino Book Awards gold medal winner.
Debra loves writing character-driven stories about people who experience scary things, and how they react when confronted with the unexpected. She’s committed to representing Latinas and Latinos in her books.
For inspiration, she draws from her experience as a TV and radio journalist, and as a third-generation Mexican American. Over the years, she’s lived in Los Angeles, Dallas, Chicago, Salt Lake City, Portland, and the San Francisco Bay area.
Debra now lives in Capitola, California with her husband. She enjoys rediscovering the Mexican dishes of her childhood and texting her two daughters about her latest binge-watch.
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