So cold the river

Eric is a former Hollywood Director of Photography, but since his fall from grace, he makes remembrance films for grieving people in Chicago. He's sent to French Lick, a rural southern Indiana town, to discover and film what he can about Campbell Bradford, a dying billionaire with a very shady past, the key to which seems to be the natural mineral water called Pluto Water that was once sold as a panacea, as well as the refurbished, elaborate hotels at the town's center.

The book's best parts are the eerie spectres that begin appearing to Eric amidst his pseudo-detective work. The questions about the contents of Pluto water are compelling, while the town's dark past begin to come alive in unexpected ways.

Koryta's writing falters in his stock characters, the bad guy is cookie cut and only vaguely menacing, the odd old woman is hazily defined, and the town, perhaps the central character of all, isn't clearly described at times.

It's a fun dip into the supernatural mystery genre that occasionally lags but mostly crackles with surprises.