From Below

Coates (the Gravekeeper series) demonstrates her skill at conjuring atmospheric horror and maintaining taut suspense in the dual timelines of this standalone outing. In the present, Cove Waimarie leads a production team filming a documentary about the SS Arcadia, an ocean liner that disappeared in 1928 while traveling from the U.S. to Britain. Before the ship went silent, its crew sent three SOS messages, but, bizarrely, conveyed rapidly shifting coordinates. Evidence of its fate only surfaced nine months later, when a piece of oar, believed to be from one of its lifeboats, washed ashore on a Polish beach. Eventually, the ship is located on the ocean floor, and Waimarie’s team hopes the wreck will offer some answers to the lingering mystery of what sank it. Their investigation becomes hazardous, however, when the divers encounter possibly paranormal perils. Coates is particularly good at only hinting at something ominous, as when the explorers find a cryptic message on one of the Arcadia’s walls, stating simply, “They came through here.” Meanwhile, flashbacks to 1928 ratchet up the reader’s fears for the filmmakers. Coates’s subtle plotting makes this a solid pick for horror fans. (June)