I just finished reading Michael Koryta’s new book, So Cold the River. It was a decent read; it was straightforwardly written, and had a solid plot-line. My main problem with the book was the ease with which everyone accepted the fact that the protagonist was psychic, having visions and seeing ghosts. The author could not successfully make me suspend my disbelief.

The main character, Eric Shaw, is a washed-up director, holing up in Chicago after his failure in Hollywood. He has a small business creating biopics of everyday people, mostly for funerals. When Alyssa Bradford sees  his profile of her sister at her funeral she is impressed with his intuition and hires him to do a film of her elderly father-in-law, Campbell Bradford, who is dying in the hospital. In order to research Campbell’s past, Eric must go to the Indiana town where Campbell grew up and visit the hotel and springs that created a boon for the area before the depression.

Things grow sinister after Eric arrives at West Baden and gets deeper into his research. Some of the locals are unfriendly and the past is coming back to haunt not only Eric but the whole town.

It’s worth a read, but I recommend getting it from your local library. It’s a fast read with a satisfying ending, but just lacking in some unknown quantity to make it really great.