I got this good-condition softcover at a local thrift shop, attracted by the cover-art with its skulls-beneath-the-waves! It has an intriguing premise: in the aftermath of the devastating St. Elizabeth's flood of 1421, three characters come together in search of a ring that was lost in one of the many sunken houses. The characters include rough, tough, Sander, who has a fetish for being strangled (preferably by his con-man lover Jan), and who is more than a little mentally unbalanced; Jan the handsome rogue with an agenda; and Jolanda, a dyer's daughter, whose abusive upbringing has left her violent and suspicious - but her talent for swimming and diving makes her a valuable asset in Jan's eyes.

The introductions of these characters include a great deal of violence, some inflicted on each other and much inflicted by others - or upon them; the body count rises as the story progresses. (One of the more tragic deaths early on is of a teenaged boy whom Jan was hoping to acquire as his diver (and possibly more - he admires the lad quite a bit). He bet the boy's father that the kid couldn't retrieve an object thrown into the chilly waters, and the father kept pushing the kid to keep diving - to the point where he didn't come up again... That part was, perhaps, not Jan's fault directly, but it's one of many increasingly dark events to add to his tally.)

While I enjoyed the setup and the bizarre, sometimes grotesque characters - not to mention the creepy scenes underwater, of clothed corpses mouldering in submerged houses - the story got increasingly bizarre and surreal as it went along, and I found that it didn't hold my interest throughout. Still, an unusual and atmospheric tale...

I plan to leave this book in or near Massimo restaurant at Penhallow and Daniel streets, when stopping by for dinner. Hope the finder enjoys the book!

[See other recent releases in NH here.]

*** Released for the 2018 Four Elements Release Challenge. ***