Cold River, by Rick Hautala

Ben has lost the love of his life and is inconsolable. He is trying to push through as best he can, but the constant torment of his wife's loss refuses to let him sleep and tunnels at his brain like a grave digger with a sharp shovel. He has begun to take refuge at night, where he sits on a park bench on the edge of the river in Northbrook, hoping to find something that will solve what ails him. What he finds instead is that he's not the only one in in the dark; where he thought he was alone, comes others out of the inky black. Are they real? Are they figments of his sleep deprived imagination? Can they help bring his wife back to him? Or are they after something deeper within him, something that maybe even Ben is not willing to give up yet.

Part of the Cemetery Dance Novella Series, Cold River is a wonderfully well written and heartbreaking read. A page turner that shows the torment a man with loss is going through, night after night. Rick's stories will live on for generations, and I'm glad they're here. He was a very nice man the time I met him as part of the Gross Out Contest at World Horror 2012, and I'm glad there are still many books of his that I haven't read yet, to entertain me for many years to come. Overall I'd give this one an A.

Written by Kyle Lybeck