Still Waters by Ash Parsons

I have a bad habit of choosing books based on their jackets. I know, I know, you can really miss out on some gems by doing that. So, I decided on my most recent trip to the library to check out a book that was missing its jacket. And I did precisely that. Still Waters was the only book by Ash Parsons on the shelf, and its jet black binding and simple white title was nothing special. However, I stayed true to the promise I made myself and picked it up. I started it this morning while laying in bed, being completely blind to what it was about. After reading the first twenty pages or so, I was hooked.

Still Waters is about a high-schooler named Jason, who has a little sister named Janie that he adores and an extremely abusive father he can't wait to get away from. His upbringing has bred a fight-or-flight attitude, so his first instinct when popular-prom-king Michael approaches him with a wad of cash to hang out with him and his friends is to fight. While Jason understands that his reputation is that of a tough guy, he doesn't understand why this crowd wants him to hang around--however, as the plot unravels, things become more and more clear to Jason, and his internal struggle to become more than a victim becomes a struggle to survive and keep his sister, his best friend, and any he loves out of danger's path.

This book is an absolute roller-coaster ride. I was physically tensed the entire time I was reading it, and that doesn't happen often when I'm not reading a horror novel. The plot was so intricate and well-written that I not only didn't have a clue what would happen next, I literally could not find the strength to stop reading until I reached the end, the resolution. Parsons did an excellent job with every bit of dialogue, plot line, and character development in this novel.

Another aspect of Still Waters that I absolutely loved is the character of the nameless abusive father. I think this character could be representative of an evil in families that not only is the father, but the mother, husband, child, etc. that is abusive. The character being a drunk father fit well for Jason and Janie's situation, but readers could interpret this character and Jason's constant struggle to be victorious and lose his "victim" status over this character in their own way, making it an extremely relatable plot for millions of readers.

One thing that a lot of writers seem to struggle with is making their characters relatable/real enough for their audience to identify with and feel for them. I can tell you that throughout this novel, I felt real, emotional pain for several characters, and fear/loathing towards others. I was anxious and emotionally charged throughout this entire novel, and that made the sensory reading experience that I had so much more. Just more.

After reading Still Waters, I broke down and looked up the cover of the jacket. It's not a remarkable cover (or the one I saw wasn't) and didn't really portray anything about the context or content of the plot. However, on the back of the jacket, there are four words that really sum up this entire novel for me, and that is more indicative of how I feel about this book than anything I could ever write above:

Intense. Gritty. Chilling. Powerful.

I recommend Still Waters 10/10.