The Unfinished By Cheryl Isaacs

In her compelling debut, Cheryl Isaacs (Mohawk) weaves a chilling narrative of terror and suspense in The Black Water. Avery, a small-town athlete, stumbles upon a sinister pond in the woods during a morning run. This seemingly innocuous discovery unleashes a dark force that has been dormant in Crook’s Falls for generations.

The black water is more than a mere body of liquid; it's a malevolent entity craving souls to sustain its existence. Avery’s initial disbelief quickly turns to terror as she begins to experience the water’s haunting presence, which manifests in increasingly disturbing forms. As people in the town start disappearing, Avery is thrust into a nightmarish reality where the boundaries between sanity and madness blur.

Struggling with her own disconnect from her Kanien’kéha
(Mohawk) heritage, Avery finds herself turning to the Elders she once shunned for guidance. With her best friend and secret crush, Key, becoming the next victim, Avery faces an agonizing decision: adhere to the ancient teachings of her people and sacrifice her chance to save Key, or defy tradition and risk everything to rescue her friend.

Isaacs' novel is a gripping blend of supernatural horror and cultural exploration, reminiscent of Trang Thanh Tran’s She Is a Haunting and Claire Legrand’s Sawkill Girls. It’s a powerful exploration of fear, identity, and the struggle between personal desires and communal responsibilities. 📚❤️