Drowning

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Drowning

January 30, 2020 by JBronder

Welcome to the blog tour for Drowning by Steven M. Cross! Read on for an exclusive excerpt and more details!

Drowning

Genre: Young Adult/ Contemporary

Publication Date: October 29th, 2019

Publisher: Liminal Books

Dean knows being different isn’t always a good thing.

Trapped by the voices and visits from the dead, Dean is drowning. His father, allegedly drowned, and the friend who took his own life taunt like the school bullies he can’t seem to get away from.

A sliver of hope breaks through when his mother announces they are moving. A chance for a fresh start for all of them. So why does she move them to the cottage near the river his father drowned in?

The water begins to envelop him, threatening to pull him under, when Dean discovers nothing changes and the bullies find not only him, but his twin sister, Dee, as favorite targets. Dean’s personal struggles worsen as his tentative grasp on reality weakens.

An unexpected hand plunges through the water toward him, bringing with it questions and a family secret that haunts them all.

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Excerpt

My dad looks up at me, “I’ll catch you.”

I know he probably won’t, but that doesn’t scare me, not today. What scares me is knowing that this day—this perfect day—one of the few my family ever has will end soon, and it will be back to yelling and screaming and being slapped for saying the wrong thing even when I don’t know what is wrong.

I turn to Dee and ask, “What do you want to be when you grow up?”

“I don’t ever want to grow up,” she says.

And I realize I don’t want to either. I back away from the cliff.

Dee says, “Finally. Don’t kill yourself.”

“I don’t want to grow up either.”

I run to the edge of the cliff, but this time I don’t jump feet first. I dive. I think as I sail through the air and hit the water that it’s the perfect day to die.

My dad jerks me out of the water. “What the hell are you doing? You could have killed yourself.”

I just look at him and say, “I didn’t.” Then, I swim toward the beach.

Dee yells, “Holy shit, brother! Way to go.”

Drowning is Available on Amazon!

About the Author

Steven Cross remembers his first literary success, a play about a wolfman that his English class read. His first publication was a Haiku about hearing wolves at sunset one evening as he sat on his back deck with Luke his faithful mutt by his side. He also published a horror story about mutant moles whose taste buds begin to crave human flesh.

Cross, born in Missouri, has published plays, novels, and poetry and done well in some screenwriting competitions, most recently as a quarterfinalist in The Bluecat Screenwriting competition, considered one of the best in the country.

Cross often writes about mental illness. He is an example of how a person can overcome mental illness and succeed. His young adult book Drowning covers bullying and mental illness and is a must-read for teenagers, parents, and teachers.

An educator for over 30 years, he is now semi-retired. Right now he and his wife Jean live in Poplar Bluff, MO, where they spend a lot of time spoiling their grandchildren. Cross is a St. Louis Cardinals fan and has been ever since he was old enough to hold a baseball card. He also enjoys music, reading, and of course writing.

Steven M. Cross | Twitter | Facebook | Instagram

My Review

3 Stars

Dean Knight has some serious issues, the fog and violence, obvious mental health issues, and the ghosts of his dead best friend and father haunt him. His mother has moved Dean and his twin sister Dee back to the cabin they lived in years ago where his father committed suicide. Dean’s father haunts his time around the river along with a monster that lives in the water that is determined to get him.

Dean is foggy from a round of electroconvulsive therapy and is having a hard time remembering anything. But he is getting more glimmers of his past, especially his father and a beautiful lady. But Dean and Dee have a lot ahead of them as they start school. Dean has bullies he is trying to avoid and Dee is trying to protect him and find someone to love her. But their neighbors Roger and Ella may not be the ones that will save the twins.

My heart breaks for Dean and Dee. Their home life is horrible and they are just trying to survive in a cruel world. I really feel for Dean and all of the bullying he has gone through. I don’t blame him for being so violent. I was hoping and praying that they would get a happy ending after everything they go through.

Dean has some serious issues but he doesn’t get any help because there is no one really there to help him. The story goes round and around with this information with other events sprinkled throughout to breathes more life into it. In the end I have mixed feeling about it. I felt bad for Dean and Dee and I wanted to know how the story ends. But at the same time not much really happened that would make me want to pick this book up again.

I do think this is a good read and if you want a more honest approach to teen issues and mental health I recommend checking out this book.

I received a complimentary copy of this book. I voluntarily chose to read and post an honest review.