Underlake

In McCoy’s vivid if convoluted debut, a deep-sea diver’s homecoming dredges up painful memories of a disastrous flood and reveals the miraculous existence of a strange cult. Otta Coates hails from Paintsville, which was flooded when she was a young girl back in 1979 after the building of a dam, and now, 30 years later, lies at the bottom of a polluted lake. When 400 residents refused to leave, 240 of them drowned. Blame fell on Otta’s mother, Eugenia, who was accused of helping people prepare for “underwater living.” The tragedy complicated their relationship and colored Otta’s childhood in neighboring Steels. She returns to Paintsville a broken woman, distraught over the accidental drowning of her partner on a dive and having abandoned her graduate studies in marine biology. A parallel narrative follows May, who comes to Otta looking for help finding her daughter, Daphne, who’s missing in Underlake, an underwater town. May grew up in Underlake as part of a cult that believed they were the righteous who were saved when the town was buried under water. As the women’s quest for Daphne progresses, McCoy sheds light on Eugenia’s true motivations, how the residents of Underlake survived underwater, and much more. The narrative becomes a bit tough to follow, but McCoy effectively conveys how May and Otta are bonded by their mutual damage. Intrepid readers will appreciate this magical mystery tour. Agent: Marya Spence, Janklow & Nesbit Assoc. (Apr.)