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Edge of Dark Water

3.94 of 5 stars 3.94 · rating details · 802 ratings · 198 reviews

Mark Twain meets classic Stephen King--a bold new direction for widely acclaimed Edgar Award winner Joe R. Lansdale.

May Lynn was once a pretty girl who dreamed of becoming a Hollywood star. Now she's dead, her body dredged up from the Sabine River.

Sue Ellen, May Lynn's strong-willed teenage friend, sets out to dig up May Lynn's body, burn it to ash, and take those ashes to...more

Hardcover, 292 pages

Published March 27th 2012 by Mulholland Books (first published March 2012)

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Sep 24, 2012 Lou rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: arc, january-2012-reading-list, mystery-thriller, best-published-2012

I must alert you, do you smell something in the air?
No?
Good!
As that would have been a sign that the myth of the Skunk Man is real, his presence is known by a skunk like smell. A legend or a myth, be he what you please, he is a character that Lansdale has created in this story of fiction. He certainly adds a thrill to the tale. Skunk man presents death, a bogeyman like character that one shall tell tales of and our main characters in this story hope to be not true.

Sue Ellen a young woman, sixtee...more

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Oct 05, 2012 karen rated it 3 of 5 stars

this book was just okay.

it's a little east texas huck finn-ette story about a bunch of misfits who take to a raft after their friend is found at the bottom of the river with her hands wrapped in wire and attached to a sewing machine. turns out, she has a map to some buried cash, so they decide to take the money and her ashes to scatter her in hollywood, which is where she would have been headed had she not been, you know, murdered.

so all the misfit toys escape their demons and go on a river tri...more

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Mar 19, 2012 Dan Schwent rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: lansdale, 2012

A teenage girl with Hollywood aspirations's body is pulled out of the Sabine River. Her friends Sue Ellen, Jinx, Terry set out to spread her ashes in Hollywood. Unfortunately, some money the deceased girl's brother stole winds up in their possession and numerous ill-tempered people are on their trail. And a murderer named Skunk has been hired to get the money back at any cost. Will Sue Ellen and her friends survive their river odyssey?

Joe Lansdale weaves a coming of age tale set in east Texas. I...more

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May 10, 2012 Steve Lowe rated it 4 of 5 stars

Great characterization, good plot, took me a bit to really get into it, but once they got moving down the river I was hooked (see what I did there?)

Bonus points for a scene that literally made me jump. This is no hyperbole, and I honestly can't remember the last time I was scared bad enough to flinch while reading a book (14 years old reading the tunnel scene in THE STAND maybe?), but there's a scene toward the end, one paragraph in particular, that made me catch the vapors. It was so bitchin'.

T...more

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Aug 07, 2012 Josh rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: mulholland_minded, own, read_2012, favorites

An atmospheric period piece which unearths the diluted humanity of a time where equal stature regardless of gender, race, and sexual preference was unheard of rendering one class above all with the rest left to fight for scraps. The trials and tribulations of the underclass documented within ‘Edge of Dark Water’ are confronting, raw, and powerful. For Sue Ellen, living amongst the perpetual weary dream-like trance of her parental figures who either ignore or pay her too much unwanted attention,...more

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Feb 03, 2013 Tintenelfe rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Am Sabine River in Osttexas fischt Sue Ellens Vater am liebsten mit unreifen Walnüssen oder mit Dynamit, das ist am bequemsten. Die Fische treiben betäubt auf dem Wasser und er braucht sie nur noch abzuschöpfen. Auch als er eines Tages eine Leiche aus dem Wasser fischt, würde er sie aus reiner Bequemlichkeit am liebsten wieder ins Wasser werfen. Doch seine Tochter Sue Ellen und ihre Freunde Terry und Jinx erkennen in dem toten Mädchen ihre Freundin May Lynn, das schönste Mädchen im Ort, das imme...more Am Sabine River in Osttexas fischt Sue Ellens Vater am liebsten mit unreifen Walnüssen oder mit Dynamit, das ist am bequemsten. Die Fische treiben betäubt auf dem Wasser und er braucht sie nur noch abzuschöpfen. Auch als er eines Tages eine Leiche aus dem Wasser fischt, würde er sie aus reiner Bequemlichkeit am liebsten wieder ins Wasser werfen. Doch seine Tochter Sue Ellen und ihre Freunde Terry und Jinx erkennen in dem toten Mädchen ihre Freundin May Lynn, das schönste Mädchen im Ort, das immer davon träumte nach Hollywood zu gehen und dort berühmt zu werden.

Die Jugendlichen beschließen, dass wenigstens ihre Asche den Weg nach Hollywood finden soll und als sie beim Durchsuchen von May Lynns Sachen auf eine Karte stoßen, die zu der Beute eines Banküberfalls führt, sehen sie die Chance, ihrem trostlosen, von Gewalt geprägten Leben zu entfliehen. Doch bald schon sind ihnen habsüchtige Verwandte und der wenig gesetzestreue Constable auf den Fersen. Ob es stimmt, dass der sagenumwobene Fährtenleser „Skunk“ auf sie angesetzt wurde?

„Ich komme mir vor wie ein Vogel, dem jemand auf dem Schwanz steht. Ich kann nicht fliegen.“ (S. 99)

Joe R. Lansdales neuer Roman spielt wie schon „Die Wälder am Fluss“ am Sabine River in den 1930er Jahren. Das Leben der Menschen im Osten Texas’ ist geprägt von Armut, Gewalt, Alkoholismus, Misshandlungen und Trostlosigkeit. Rassismus ist allgegenwärtig und bietet so manchem ein Ventil, den eigenen Frust loszuwerden. Die Wälder am rauschenden, wilden Sabine River bieten Stoff für Mythen wie den Ziegenmann und den Skunk, die gleichermaßen Faszination und Grauen auslösen.

Die Geschichte wird aus der Sicht Sue Ellens erzählt. – Ein sechzehnjähriges Mädchen, das sich sicher ist, niemals ein Leben wie ihre Mutter führen zu wollen, ohne zu wissen, wie sie dem entkommen soll. Gewohnt wortgewaltig beschreibt Lansdale nicht nur das einfache Leben der Menschen, sondern auch ihre Gefühle und Gedanken, Sehnsüchte, Zweifel und Hoffnungen. In nur wenigen Sätzen zeichnet der Autor zum Beispiel ein Bild vom Vater Sue Ellens, das sofort lebendig wird und den Leser sich angewidert abwenden lässt. Die detailverliebten Beschreibungen von verwesenden Leichen lassen einem geradezu den Gestank von Verwesung um die Nase wehen, und doch ist es immer gerade noch am Rand des Erträglichen.

Doch nicht nur sprachlich vermag „Dunkle Gewässer“ zu überzeugen. Die Handlung zieht den Leser sofort ihn ihren Bann und immer sobald sie in ruhigere Gewässer kommt, lauern schon weitere Stromschnellen und Strudel, die die Protagonisten in Lebensgefahr bringen. Bei aller Düsternis und Beklemmnis ist es erleichternd, wie sich Lansdales Figuren versuchen, selbst aus dem Sumpf zu ziehen, in den das Leben sie geworfen hat. Entweder voller Hoffnung und Glaube oder aber desillusioniert und realistisch wie Jinx, die mit ihren frechen Sprüchen über Gott selbst einen Reverend zum Schweigen bringen kann.

Nachdem ich bereits den Roman „Die Wälder am Fluss“ kenne, fallen mir etliche Parallelen auf. Nicht nur, dass der Ort der Handlung ähnlich, wenn nicht derselbe ist, auch die Figuren sind ähnlich angelegt. Ebenso taucht der Lynchmord an einem unschuldigen schwarzen Jungen wieder auf – auf genau dieselbe grausame Weise. Anders als „Die Wälder am Fluss“ würde ich „Dunkle Gewässer“ jedoch nicht als Krimi bezeichnen. Zwar gibt es eine Leiche, aber letztendlich geht es nicht um die Suche nach dem Mörder. Die Reise am Fluss entlang, stets auf der Flucht und immer auf der Suche nach ein bisschen Glück, Freiheit und Freude im Leben hat mich dieses Mal tatsächlich an Huckleberry Finn erinnert.

Joe R. Lansdale ist mit „Dunkle Gewässer“ wieder einmal ein spannendes Zeitporträt mit einer spannenden Geschichte gelungen, geprägt von eindringlichen Bildern in einer direkten Sprache.

(c) Tintenelfe
www.tintenhain.de (less)

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Feb 02, 2013 Xirxe rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: abenteuer, krimi

Osttexas, in der Zeit der 'Great Depression' (also 1929/30), als es den Menschen so richtig übel ging.
Als Sue Ellen, die 16jährige Ich-Erzählerin, ihren Vater und Onkel zusammen mit ihren FreundInnen Jinx und Terry zum Angeln begleitet, finden sie die Leiche der gleichaltrigen May Lynn, verschnürt und mit einer Nähmaschine beschwert. Doch niemand ist an einer Aufklärung, wie sie zu Tode kam, interessiert und so wird sie kurzerhand verscharrt. Doch ihre Freunde wollen sich damit nicht abfinden, g...more

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Sep 02, 2012 Maddy rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012-reads, tops, 2013-reads

PROTAGONIST: Sue Ellen Wilson
SETTING: Depression era East Texas
SERIES: Standalone
RATING: 5.0

Have you ever finished reading a book and found yourself having to fall back in your chair and take a deep breath while you marvel at its wonderfulness? That’s what happened to me when I read EDGE OF DARK WATER; moreover, I felt that somehow it had become part of my very being. I was amazed to find myself loving EDGE so much. It’s been a few years since I’ve had that experience; I feared that I had become...more PROTAGONIST: Sue Ellen Wilson
SETTING: Depression era East Texas
SERIES: Standalone
RATING: 5.0

Have you ever finished reading a book and found yourself having to fall back in your chair and take a deep breath while you marvel at its wonderfulness? That’s what happened to me when I read EDGE OF DARK WATER; moreover, I felt that somehow it had become part of my very being. I was amazed to find myself loving EDGE so much. It’s been a few years since I’ve had that experience; I feared that I had become a cynical and critical reader and was very happy to be proved wrong.

Sue Ellen Wilson is a 16 year old whose family life is quite dysfunctional. Her mother spends most of her time in bed, as she is addicted to a potion called a “cure all”. Her stepdaddy is a drunk who regularly beats her mother. Sue Ellen has to lock and barricade her bedroom door to resist his advances. She has two best friends—Jinx, who is a feisty black girl, and Terry, a well-spoken “sissy” (gay) boy. When one of their acquaintances, May Lynn, is murdered, they decide that they will fulfill one of her dreams by cremating her and taking her ashes to Hollywood. They plan to travel by raft to a nearby town and take the bus from there, thereby eluding their kin, who are intent on taking some money that had been buried by May Lynn’s dead brother and found by our intrepid trio. Getting away from their unhappy living circumstances is a nice side benefit.

Sue Ellen’s mother unexpectedly joins the group. Their journey is fraught with adventure. The worst trouble is not from the miserable lot of husbands, fathers and uncles searching for them. Their greatest danger comes from a legendary woods creature named “Skunk”. They are uncertain whether he really exists; supposedly, he enjoys torturing his victims and chops off their hands as keepsakes.

Joe Lansdale is a master story teller. Usually I prefer a straightforward narrative and don’t have much patience for digressions. That wasn’t the case for EDGE; I found each of them to be interesting in its own right, whether an accounting of the Oklahoma dust storms by a homeless family or the sad story of Skunk. This book reminded me quite a bit of two of Lansdale’s other standalones, THE BOTTOMS and A FINE DARK LINE. Each of these books was set in Depression-era East Texas, and each was narrated by a young person. The dialogue was pitch perfect, and the characters wonderfully drawn.

EDGE OF DARK WATER is the rare book that I have given an A+ rating to. I know that it is not a flawless work, but I didn’t care about that at all. It met all my criteria for a great read, and it won’t be a book that I forget. Now I can only hope to have this experience again before a few more years pass!

(less)

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Apr 14, 2012 Oneida rated it 5 of 5 stars

Edge of Dark Water is the first book I have read by writer Joe R Lansdale. I won the book from Goodreads First Reads. I found it to be an fantastic read and I look forward to reading more books by Joe R. Lansdale. He really captured what life was like back during the depression and how people were treated back then. As I read this book I could just picture everything he was saying. This book has mystery,suspence,funny parts, sad parts and you just have to read it to find out more!

May Lynn was on...more

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Mar 25, 2012 Trent Zelazny rated it 5 of 5 stars

Really solid. Lansdale is one of my all-time favorites, and he is at the top of his game with this one. Story-wise, it's a slight departure, but if you enjoy Lansdale, this is supreme champion mojo storytelling. I highly recommend it.

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Mar 04, 2013 librarianh20 rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012-13-lariat

There's a river, there's a raft, there's a pithy African-American character and a scrappy young-un in overalls, there's an amputation and a psychotic killer (with a cut-out tongue! His momma tried to drown him!)- it's the Adventures of Huckleberry Finn gone very, very dark. Lansdale is all about the Southern Gothic, and he does a good job with it. In particular, he's good with an evocative phrase that makes the moment come alive for the reader. This is not a book for the faint of heart, though--...more

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Jan 15, 2013 Peter rated it 5 of 5 stars

I first came across this book when I was perusing the Goodreads Choice Awards for 2012. It was listed as one of the top horror novels, but what I discovered in reading this novel was something quite different than I expected.

Having not previously read anything by Joe Lansdale, I was expecting a more traditional novel. The publisher describes the book as “Mark Twain meets classic Stephen King,” which led me to think of perhaps a supernatural occurrence along the Mississippi. What Lansdale deliver...more I first came across this book when I was perusing the Goodreads Choice Awards for 2012. It was listed as one of the top horror novels, but what I discovered in reading this novel was something quite different than I expected.

Having not previously read anything by Joe Lansdale, I was expecting a more traditional novel. The publisher describes the book as “Mark Twain meets classic Stephen King,” which led me to think of perhaps a supernatural occurrence along the Mississippi. What Lansdale delivered; however, is something much deeper.

The comparison to Mark Twain is made primarily because of the themes shared with The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. It takes place in depression-era east Texas, dealing with subject matters such as racism and abuse. Like Huckleberry Finn, the narrator of the novel is young — a sixteen-year-old named Sue Ellen — and it tells a coming-of-age story as she undergoes a brooding rite of passage to start a new life. Also, like Twain, Lansdale has a keen sense of dialect, employing an uneducated sense of southern speech in his dialog.

The comparison to Stephen King is a bit odd to me and I almost prefer a comparison to Cormac McCarthy. The novel’s setting, strong antagonist, and the adroit dealing with the deepest of human emotions leads me to draw this connection. Thankfully, Lansdale does not fear punctuation.

The plot is not what makes this novel extraordinary. It’s quite simple, actually. A girl is found dead in a lake and Sue Ellen, who lives with an abusive stepfather with no real chance for life on her own, decides to follow her friend’s dream by bringing her ashes to Hollywood. Accompanying her on her journey are her alcoholic mother and two friends, Jinx and Terry. When they come upon some stolen money, the worst of rural civilization comes to get their piece of it. Their most dangerous foe, Skunk, a bogeyman whose reputation precedes him, is also after them and the money alone won’t be enough to satisfy his evil ways.

What makes Edge of Dark Water a beautiful novel is much more than the plot. The writing is excellent, depicting the drawl and sensibilities of the south with such a flavor that the reader gets completely enveloped in the protagonists’ travels. Sue Ellen has a combination of sass and southern charm as she tries to respect her alcoholic mother’s choices, but make the right decisions as well.

Lansdale also handles many difficult themes with style. Alcoholism, racism, domestic violence, and societal norms are interwoven into the narrative, making a southern gothic tale much richer on many levels. These struggles are ones that the reader can identify with, adding a lot of depth to the characters.

Ultimately, there is nothing tangible for me to criticize, but I must admit there were many times while listening to the novel during my commute that I had to focus to stay in the story. I don’t know if that is more of a reflection on me than on the novel itself, but the literary sense of the narrative at times left me skimming the surface instead of fully immersing me in Lansdale’s world.

Overall, Edge of Dark Water is a rewarding novel with interesting characters, deep and emotional themes, providing quite a satisfying journey for the reader. For those who like smart writing in the style of someone like Cormac McCarthy or William Faulkner, I think Joe Lansdale may be a worthy read.(less)

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Jun 09, 2012 Rob Kitchin rated it 5 of 5 stars

Edge of Dark Water is top draw country noir. Lansdale writes in engaging prose, with a strong narrator’s voice that makes it feel as if it’s a transcript of porch-told yarn. And that voice is very much that of sixteen year old girl coming of age. Lansdale does all the basics very well - character development, sense of place and time, dialogue and plot. The book is populated with real people, with the principles of Sue Ellen, the strong-willed, fast mouthed Jinx, and conflicted Terry, very well p...more

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May 24, 2012 Marsha rated it 4 of 5 stars

Be warned, there is a lot of graphic violence in here, but the characters are great, the setting is fascinating, and the story is good. Joe R. Lansdale books kind of remind me of Coen brother's movies--quirky, dark, and enjoyable. One of the blurbs on the back calls his writing "hillbilly noir."

The story starts out with Sue Ellen and her friend, Terry, watching and helping her Daddy and Uncle Gene poison fish with green walnuts in the Sabine River in eastern Texas. As they were hauling up the sa...more

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May 21, 2012 Nikki-ann rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: received-for-review

Voiced by Sue Ellen, a teenager with little to look forward to, Edge of Dark Water takes us to East Texas during the Depression.

At the edge of the River Sabine, Sue Ellen and her friend Terry are helping Daddy and Uncle Gene pull in the fish when they discover the dead body of her friend Mary Lynn river. Mary Lynn had been always been a pretty girl with dreams of becoming a film star, but bound with wire and weighted down she no longer looks pretty.

Sue Ellen, Terry and their friend Jinx decide t...more Voiced by Sue Ellen, a teenager with little to look forward to, Edge of Dark Water takes us to East Texas during the Depression.

At the edge of the River Sabine, Sue Ellen and her friend Terry are helping Daddy and Uncle Gene pull in the fish when they discover the dead body of her friend Mary Lynn river. Mary Lynn had been always been a pretty girl with dreams of becoming a film star, but bound with wire and weighted down she no longer looks pretty.

Sue Ellen, Terry and their friend Jinx decide that if Mary Lynn can’t become a film star, then the least they can do is take her remains to Hollywood and spread them in the land of her dreams. All they need have to do is dig her up and find some money and a raft to take them down the river.

Edge of Dark Water takes not just Sue Ellen and her friends on an adventure, but the readers too. It’s an adventure fraught with danger as the teenagers go on the run, pursued by the very people they’re trying to escape. And then there’s Skunk. A man who lives in the woods and kills people, cutting off their hands for trophies. Is it just folklore or is he real?

While the premise of the book might seem a little over the top at first (after all, who would actually dig up their friend’s body and leave home with very little to their name?), reading the background you really feel for these kids. Put me in Sue Ellen’s shoes (what’s left of them) and I’d do just about anything to get out of there. They’re living hand-to-mouth in an era where people of different races only mix when a white person needs a black person to do some work for a pittance.

I loved the way Joe R. Lansdale wrote Edge of Dark Water with a bit of a Texan drawl as if Sue Ellen actually telling me the story. I found it helped put me right where Sue Ellen was. Despite all she’s been through, Sue Ellen is quite a character and it shines through in her narration..

At first I thought this might be a young adult book, but Edge of Dark Water gets pretty gruesome and disturbing in places, and takes the reader on a rollercoaster ride. The book also deals with some pretty serious subjects such as racism, alcoholism, domestic violence and the like.

Edge of Dark Water flows at quite a pace and is pretty compelling. It’s one of those books that you pulls you in and doesn’t let you go until the end. I thoroughly enjoyed it and can’t believe I’ve never read a Joe R. Lansdale book before.

Definitely recommended!(less)

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May 07, 2012 Steve rated it 4 of 5 stars

This is the second of two books I read by Lansdale, published less than a year apart, and I would not have guessed they were written by the same person because the styles are so different. Both books were great page-turners, but the plot of this one works better.

It's easy to make comparisons with Huckleberry Finn: a white teen narrator fleeing with a black friend in the south (East Texas, and a different river), an abusive drunk for a father, and the law after them. But the narrator here is 16-y...more This is the second of two books I read by Lansdale, published less than a year apart, and I would not have guessed they were written by the same person because the styles are so different. Both books were great page-turners, but the plot of this one works better.

It's easy to make comparisons with Huckleberry Finn: a white teen narrator fleeing with a black friend in the south (East Texas, and a different river), an abusive drunk for a father, and the law after them. But the narrator here is 16-year-old Sue Ellen Wilson, who heads for Hollywood with stolen money to help Jinx and Terry (a "sissy") scatter the ashes of their friend May Lynn because she wanted to be in pictures before she was murdered. The local sheriff, who is long on greed and short on brains, is after them. Unfortunately, so is a legendary local killer, known only as "Skunk," who loves to cut off his victims' hands.

Lansdale creates an intriguing and believeable cast, and his prose is terrific. The plot twists are both surprising and logical, and Lansdale wraps everything up neatly and happily, but at a high price. Nobody comes through the story unscathed.

The minor characters who show up for supporting roles are twists on Twain's episodic characters, but they're updated to the newer time period and all move the plot along well. They also have some real depth and we get to understand a few of them clearly

The book does have a few problems, but they don't do much damage. My experience is that women can write a convincing male character more often than the opposite, but Lansdale doesn't fall into any major mistakes here. I don't entirely buy that the speaker is female, but I don't really doubt it, either. She's actually a little androgynous for a sixteen-year-old in a dirt-poor and borderline literate family at this time period.

The story takes place in the late 1930's or early 1940's, but that isn't clear until about three-quarters of the way through when a character talks about losing his dust bowl farm. It's clearly not comtemporary because of the blatant racism, but I would have liked that time period specified more quickly. There were also a few anachronistic speech mannerisms, mostly slang that was too modern.

I would have liked Sue Ellen's victory over the horrible killer to rely less on luck, too. Her mother, who flees from her abusive husband along with the children, is amazingly lovely for a battered addict, and her going cold turkey works with remarkably little stress.

All these are quibbles, and the book doesn't suffer from them. It's a page-turner with terrific prose. (less)

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May 03, 2012 Shedrick Pittman-Hassett rated it 5 of 5 stars

From my blog: http://serialdistractions.com

Anybody who’s read my blog for a decent length of time should know that I love me some Joe R. Lansdale. The East Texas author has such a unique voice and crafts such deliciously weird stories–if he put his name on the front of the phone book, I’d give it a serious read.

His latest, Edge of Dark Water is yet another triumph, a notch in his worn, tale-slinger’s belt.

This Depression-era story begins when the body of young woman, May Lynn, is found dead in t...more From my blog: http://serialdistractions.com

Anybody who’s read my blog for a decent length of time should know that I love me some Joe R. Lansdale. The East Texas author has such a unique voice and crafts such deliciously weird stories–if he put his name on the front of the phone book, I’d give it a serious read.

His latest, Edge of Dark Water is yet another triumph, a notch in his worn, tale-slinger’s belt.

This Depression-era story begins when the body of young woman, May Lynn, is found dead in the Sabine River with a Singer sewing machine tied around her feet. She had always been a beauty and had dreams of leaving their ramshackle East Texas town for Hollywood. Now she wouldn’t be going anywhere special. Her friends–Sue Ellen, Terry, and Jinx–decide to burn her remains and take them to Hollywood; to fulfill their friend’s last wish and to let the river take them out of their go-nowhere lives.

But in a Lansdale book, things don’t ever come easy. Sue Ellen and her friends manage to find some stolen money that might just be what May Lynn was killed for. Soon, after they are joined by Sue Ellen’s laudanum-addicted mother, they find themselves running away from a corrupt constable, Sue Ellen’s odious uncle and abusive father, and the legendary, aptly-named killer, Skunk.

Lansdale’s voice, filtered through Sue Ellen’s narration, is simply beautiful. The cadences and phrases ring true to the time and place of the tale and carries the reader along on a torrent of wry observations and stinging metaphors. The novel is an entirely immersive experience–largely due to Lansdale’s mastery of description and characterization.

This novel is about escape and discovery. All of the characters participate in this mad scheme because they want to escape the joyless lives that fate seems to have planned for them. Sue Ellen wants to escape her mother’s fate–being tied to a good-for-nothing man. Terry wants to escape his step-family and the label of “sissy” he’s acquired around town. Jinx wants to escape the deep racism of her neighbors and the drudgery of her family’s life. At the same time, Jinx discovers what lengths her anger can drive her to, Terry discovers what it means to forgive himself and be forgiven, while Sue Ellen discovers that there is much more to her mother–and to the life she leads–than she believed.

Along the way, the friends meet hardships both natural and decidedly man-made. Extreme violence at the hands of greedy men and an insane, implacable, hunter. Religious intolerance. Love and understanding. Essentially–the river takes them all on a journey of a lifetime and reveals to them who they really are.

Lansdale is dipping a bit into the same well as he did for his Edgar-award-winning The Bottoms and the wonderful short story “Mad Dog Summer“. Nevertheless, Sue Ellen’s story is fresh and original. As before, the picture he paints of Depression-era East Texas is as vivid as it is bleak. The oppressive poverty and ignorance weighs on the souls of all the characters, impressing the setting with a through-line of darkness that dances, snake-like, through the tale. The river is referred to, rightly, as the Kingdom of the Snake–though it’s hard to say whether it’s due to the water moccasins or to the souls of the people depicted in the story. Some look mean but just want to slither on, while others look innocent but are filled with angry poison.

Funny, literate, terrifying, lyrical, sad, vulgar, uplifting: Edge of Dark Water is all of these things and much, much more.

Do not deprive yourself of the experience of this book.(less)

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Apr 20, 2012 Hallie rated it 5 of 5 stars

Joe R. Lansdale's Southern Gothic "Edge of Dark Water" takes the reader down a river on a journey with a cast of unforgettable characters. Narrator Sue Ellen is a clear-eyed teenager who'd much rather go fishing and shoot squirrels than keep a garden and shell peas. Her father is a nasty braggart and lazy drunk who poisons fish with sacks of green walnuts and then scoops them up by the armload.

The novel opens with Sue Ellen and her friend, Terry Thomas, whom most everyone has written off as a "...more

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Mar 30, 2012 Kathleen Hagen added it · review of another edition

Edge of Dark Water, by Joe Lansdale, a-minus, Narrated by Angele Masters, Produced by Hachette Audio, Downloaded from audible.com.

Terry, Sue Ellen, and Jinx go fishing with Sue Ellen’s father and one of his friends. They think they’ve hooked a big fish, but when they pull it in, it turns out to be the corpse of their friend, May Lynn, whose body was sunk with the assistance of a sewing machine tied to her feet. The adult men think they should just push her back into the water. After all, she was...more

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Mar 19, 2012 Kelly Hager rated it 4 of 5 stars

Sue Ellen's home life is pretty awful. Her dad's abusive (he hits her and her mom; he also visits her room at night) and her mom's basically checked out, addicted to her "cureall," which I'm guessing is something like laudanum. One day, she's fishing with her best friend Terry and her dad and uncle when they find a body in the water. It's obviously murder; there's a sewing machine tied to her feet. Turns out the victim is a girl that Sue Ellen and Terry were friends with, May Lynn. Sue Ellen, Te...more

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Dec 17, 2012 Jonathan rated it 5 of 5 stars

Let's begin with the bottom line: this is the first Lansdale, Joe R. novel I read and I will read more of them as soon as I can. There's no better compliment one can give a writer, right?

To the book itself:

Edge of Dark Water takes place in East Texas during the Great Depression. It is centered on the Sabine River around which live a number of communities and secluded houses.

This is a poverty stricken area and rife with racism. It is also a violent time and the lawmen are corrupt or ineffectual.

T...more

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Apr 27, 2012 William Thomas rated it 3 of 5 stars

There is no truer American experience than the Southern American experience. And for all of those who have captured it with a clarity, depth and brilliance- Harper Lee, Truman Capote, Mark Twain, Flannery O'Connor- thank you, for that. Joe R Lansdale, this book doesn't put you on that list no matter how many nods and winks to those authors you make.

I had to really restrain myself from giving this fewer stars. I kept reminding myself that it wasn't his fault that almost every reviewer was misquot...more There is no truer American experience than the Southern American experience. And for all of those who have captured it with a clarity, depth and brilliance- Harper Lee, Truman Capote, Mark Twain, Flannery O'Connor- thank you, for that. Joe R Lansdale, this book doesn't put you on that list no matter how many nods and winks to those authors you make.

I had to really restrain myself from giving this fewer stars. I kept reminding myself that it wasn't his fault that almost every reviewer was misquoting Dan Simmons review of this book in regard to it being likened to Huck Finn. It isn't Huck, ain't a damn sight close, neither.

The story lacks any kind of depth and suffers from ridiculously weak characterization. Lansdale instead swaps out those things for a complete and total understanding and use of Southern vernacular and a lax, conversational tone. Those things are its saving graces and laid out in this book masterfully. Really, those are the only things the book has going for it, and about half way through, even that wears thin because you'll be rolling your eyes at every over the top simile something the likes of 'he was ornery as a cat after a bath'.

Once you get past the initial charm of the book, there just ain't much else there to keep you reading. It becomes quickly apparent that Lansdale has a very weak or vague understanding of his secondary characters and knows next to nothing about writing from the vantage of a 16 year old girl (no matter the period or setting).

I don't really think he took this book very seriously, to be honest and its a might disappointing for that. The fact that everyone else is head over heels for it makes me wonder just exactly how much power and influence those little review blurbs on the covers of books really have. How much sway they hold over a reader while they read. Because I see it more and more, just a regurgitating of those blurbs or a blind agreement.

Give it a whirl. I loved it for the things it did right. I hated it more for the comparisons everyone else was making. Just because there's a river and a raft doesn't mean the damn book is a modern day Huck Finn. Thinking that is just a might foolish.(less)

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Nov 12, 2012 Melissa rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: crime-mystery-thriller

The mood and culture of this book reminded me a lot of Winter's Bone. Taking place in south Texas somewhere during the 1940's/50's, Seventeen year old Sue Ellen with her friend Terry, her father and Uncle drag up the body of a friend in the Sabine river. The wretched town seems unconcerned about May Lynn's death and who might have caused it. But after her burial, Sue Ellen and her two friends Terry and Jinx snoop around May Lynn's room, find a map that leads to money and they, along with Sue Ell...more

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Apr 10, 2012 Jim rated it 5 of 5 stars

I've searched out Joe R. Lansdale ever since I saw the movie Bubba Ho-Tep. I've read the entire Hap & Leonard series and several other novels and "Edge of Dark Water" is the best of all as a page-turning story. Sue Ellen, Jinx, Terry & Sue Ellen's mother find themselves fleeing down the Sabine River in east Texas on a raft with a lard can full of the ashes of a murdered friend and another full of stolen money. They are pursued by various family members, acquaintances, a crooked constable...more

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Feb 16, 2013 Mallory Anne-Marie Forbes rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2013-personal-reading-challenge, 2013_reads, armchair-southwest-unitedstates, february_2013_reads

Review of Edge of Dark Water by Joe Lansdale
5 stars

I think there must be close to 1000 reviews and blurbs already for this book, which just published on Feb. 12. Many of them are from writers and reviewers far more articulate than myself. Every blurb and comment I’ve read is positive, and I have to second that. Joe R. Lansdale is a Master, by any criteria. I’ve never forgotten his set “The Drive-In” and “The Drive-In II” and I never will. Now I will never forget “Edge of Dark Water” (and his deb...more

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May 22, 2012 Jodie22 rated it 3 of 5 stars

I loved Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn, and this book seemed similar to them. I liked the idea that a girl was the lead character. I was immediately drawn into the story by the character's voice. Sue Ellen is a 16 year old girl with a limited education. Lansdale sometimes slipped out of that voice, but it only distracted me for a moment.

For a book that's about characters traveling along a river, the majority of the book takes place on land. Obviously, the characters couldn't be on the river constantly...more

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Sep 29, 2012 Michael rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 110-books-in-2012-and-do-it-again, family-relationships, mystery, narrative, read-in-2012, reviewed

May Lynn was a beautiful girl of age sixteen who dreamed of going to Hollywood.

One day, two of her teenage friends are fishing with one of the teens relatives and they pull May Lynn's body from the Sabine River.

The central character is Sue Ellen, also age sixteen. She and two of her friends, Jinx, a colored teenage girl and Terry, a boy who thinks he might be gay, decide to dig up May Lynn's body, cremate her and bring her ashes to Hollywood where they can spread the ashes over the place she wan...more

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Aug 20, 2012 KR Smith rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book surprised me a bit. After reading some of the reviews and the blurb (I won’t copy it here – it’s available elsewhere), I wasn't really sure what to expect or if I'd like it. But I needed something to read and I was curious how this story could work. It only took a few pages before I got the feel of the story and knew it would be interesting.

When I read a book, one of the criteria I use to determine if I like it is whether I can picture the scenes and the characters as vividly in my mi...more This book surprised me a bit. After reading some of the reviews and the blurb (I won’t copy it here – it’s available elsewhere), I wasn't really sure what to expect or if I'd like it. But I needed something to read and I was curious how this story could work. It only took a few pages before I got the feel of the story and knew it would be interesting.

When I read a book, one of the criteria I use to determine if I like it is whether I can picture the scenes and the characters as vividly in my mind as I could see them in a movie. With Edge of Dark Water, I had no problem. Perhaps because I’ve lived with people not too different from some of the characters and spent time in places at least somewhat similar to those described in the book, I can identify with the story more than some. In any case, it’s easy to like a heroine like Sue Ellen. She’s strong, but approachable, dealing with the situations she’s in as best as she can.

There are times when the speech can be as overdone as a catfish that’s been on the fire for a week, but most of time it works, and adds to the humor in the story. It’s hard to image how a story with a number of rather gruesome scenes can be funny, but it often is, and even at the same time. If a book written in dialect doesn’t work for you, this won’t be enjoyable. As for me, after reading the book, I just started talking a bit more slowly, had an urge for cornbread, and got real uneasy whenever I saw a small-town law enforcement officer nosing about.

Some of the scenes and situations may not be appropriate for young children, but other than that, it works for a large audience.
The story is more of an adventure than a mystery, but it does have elements of both. If you’re looking for a deep investigative mystery however (police procedural), this isn’t your best choice.

I’ve read in some of the other reviews that some feel this isn’t the author’s best work. That tempts me to read another of Lansdale’s books to see if that’s true. If it is, then his other books are very good. I would have given this book 4.5 stars if I could.
(less)

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Jun 21, 2012 Godzilla rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012, noir, growing-pains

I'm not going to fall into the trap of other reviewers and start comapring this to other Joe R Lansdale books, that way madness lies.

Instead I'm going to concentrate on the wonderful characterisation, the sparkling dialogue and his great craft at pacing a story wonderfully.

You are soon drawn into the world of the main protagonists, and you begin to feel as though you really know them and care about what happens to them.

The book has malevolent and dark characters that seem more than bogeymen, the...more

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Aug 03, 2012 Craig rated it 4 of 5 stars

Very good coming of age tale from Lansdale, though it doesn't quite live up to his book The Bottoms. A trio of youngsters in Texas, around the 1940s or 50s, decide to dig up the body of one of their friends, recently deceased, and take her ashes (after burning up her body) to Hollywood, where she was planning to go. They also dig up some money from a bank robbery and soon there are a number of shady characters on their trail as they float down the Sabine River on a raft. Lansdale almost consciou...more

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About Joe R. Lansdale

Joe R. Lansdale is the winner of the British Fantasy Award, the American Horror Award, the Edgar Award, and six Bram Stoker Awards. He lives in Nacogdoches, Texas.

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Books by Joe R. Lansdale

Mucho Mojo (Hap Collins and Leonard Pine, #2)

Savage Season (Hap Collins and Leonard Pine, #1)

The Two-Bear Mambo (Hap Collins and Leonard Pine, #3)

Bad Chili (Hap Collins and Leonard Pine, #4)

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“It was the kind of talk that made me want to break off a limb and take to whacking her and that bunch of hypocrites across the back of the head.” — 6 people liked it

“Era semplicemente il fiume. Improvvisamente mi colpì il pensiero che era proprio come la vita, quel fiume. Tu ci navighi semplicemente sopra e, se arriva una pioggia forte, un'inondazione o qualcosa del genere e una parte viene spazzata via, col tempo tutto torna al suo posto. Be', magari con qualcosa di diverso, ma in sostanza resta lo stesso. Il fiume non cambia, ma la gente su quel fiume sì.” — 1 person liked it

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