Under the Water

Unescapable, festering secrets underlie this tense, unsettling novel from Spanish author Pen (Desert Flowers). Frank attempts to rescue his family from a run of calamities—most seriously, the loss of his nine-year-old son Simon’s eye in a gun accident—by packing his wife, Grace, their 16-year-old daughter, Audrey, and Simon into an RV for a move from Seattle to Boston. One night in Idaho, Frank is unable to stop in time to avoid hitting a young woman on an isolated road. Circumstances, such as lost cellphones and damage to the RV, contrive to strand the woman, Mara Miller, who’s not badly injured, with Frank, Grace, Audrey, and Simon for the short term. While they wait for help, Frank worries about his family’s safety around Mara, who exhibits in turn depressed angst, understandable rage, and a sort of twisted feminism. Meanwhile, Frank dances between being a wonderful father trapped in his bad choices and a monster wearing civility’s mask. This tosses readers disconcertingly between sympathy and revulsion, and perhaps toward consideration of their own moments of cowardice. Fans of character-driven suspense will be rewarded. (Oct.)