A review by ashleighbeanxo
The Drowning by J.P. Smith

4.0

While working as a counsellor at a summer camp, Alex Mason took young Joey Proctor out into the middle of a lake and left him on a raft, telling him the only back is for him to swim back to shore. Hours later, Alex has forgotten all about Joey, until fellow counsellor Steve asks if anyone has seen the boy. Rushing back to the lake, he finds the raft empty.. and Joey has apparently vanished into thin air.

Twenty-one years later, Alex is a well-known property developer and has long forgotten about that hellish summer. But when someone starts stalking him and his family, leaving cryptic messages, it seems that Joey has not forgotten about Alex at all..

First all, I love anything involving summer camps and mysterious disappearances or deaths. So I knew I would love this book. The premise instantly gave me Friday the 13th vibes, and if Joey's disappearance and apparent reappearance doesn't sound like some Jason Vorhees shit, I don't know what does!

I was confused throughout the book on whether we were supposed to feel sorry for Alex or not. Because I sure as hell didn't! In both timelines, he's a cocky piece of shit and clearly feels no remorse for what happened to Joey.

I loved the little red herrings scattered throughout the book and the twists were soooo good. Only problem I had was

Spoiler

I thought we were gonna get some real answers on what happened to Joey and it was very ambiguous in the end. I did love the reveal at the end about Marty though. I thought he was bit fishy, but I was not expecting that twist!

Really really enjoyed this book. Can't wait to pick up more thrilling stories from this author!