An American Indian Youth Literature Award Honoree In her stunning debut, Cheryl Isaacs (Mohawk) pulls the reader into an unsettling tale of monsters, mystery, and secrets that refuse to stay submerged.

When small-town athlete Avery’s morning run leads her to a strange pond in the middle of the forest, she awakens a horror the townspeople of Crook’s Falls have long forgotten.

The black water has been waiting. Watching. Hungry for the souls it needs to survive.

Avery can smell the water, see it flooding everywhere; she thinks she's losing her mind. And as the black water haunts Avery—taking a new form each time—people in town begin to go missing.

Though Avery had heard whispers of monsters from her Kanien’kéha:ka (Mohawk) relatives, she has never really connected to her Indigenous culture or understood the stories. But the Elders she has distanced herself from now may have the answers she needs.

When Key, her best friend and longtime crush, is the next to disappear, Avery is faced with a choice: listen to the Kanien’kéha:ka and save the town but lose her friend forever…or listen to her heart and risk everything to get Key back.

An unmissable horror novel for readers who devoured Trang Thanh Tran’s She Is a Haunting or Claire Legrand’s Sawkill Girls!

• Small Town Horror: Crook’s Falls seems like a perfect, quiet town. But the forest that surrounds it holds a deadly secret, and the townspeople have been forgetting for a reason.
• Indigenous Horror: Avery has always felt disconnected from her Kanien’kéha:ka heritage. Now, the answers she needs to survive lie with the very Elders she’s ignored.
• Paranormal Mystery: When people start to vanish one by one, Avery must piece together the clues behind the hungry black water before it claims everyone she loves.
• Friends to Lovers: He’s her best friend and longtime crush. When the monster takes Key, Avery must confront her feelings and decide how much she’s willing to sacrifice to get him back.