Michael Okon’s supernatural thriller DRAGGED DOWN DEEP plunges readers headfirst into a tale of small-town intrigue, sea monster mayhem, and one man’s quest to confront his past while getting to the bottom of his father’s death. The novel opens with a literal cliffhanger, as cryptozoologist (a scientist who studies legendary animals that may or may not exist) Logan dangles precariously from a cliff face in Arizona while in pursuit of a Thunderbird.
Logan is haunted by witnessing his father’s watery demise at the hands of a mermaid-like creature twenty years earlier. When a string of disappearances in his hometown eerily echoes his father’s death, Logan is reluctantly drawn back to the small coastal town where his nightmares began to investigate the resurgent “Mermaid of Minatuck.” Teaming up with his ever-pragmatic research partner Elliot and childhood friend-turned-local-cop Penny, Logan confronts not only the town’s murky secrets but also his own traumatic past. As they uncover a pattern connecting the disappearances to extreme tides and a series of strangely mutilated animal carcasses, Logan begins to suspect that the creature he seeks is far more than a local legend.
Okon’s writing is brisk and propulsive, with a cinematic flair reminiscent of a pulpy B-movie creature feature: “A howl split the air, the noise somewhere between the lolling of a cow and with the shrillness of a siren. It traveled through Logan, making the fillings in his teeth hurt. If an elephant and a Tasmanian devil had a baby, it would have sounded like this, Logan thought inanely.” At the same time, Logan’s emotional journey—to uncover the town’s dark secrets and discover the truth about his father—resonates with genuine pathos. There’s an engaging undercurrent of playfulness in his writing, too, particularly in the relationship between Logan and the food-obsessed Elliot: “He pulled into the drive-through, purchasing all of Elliot’s fast-food fantasies. Even without a roof, the car smelled of fried food. Elliot moaned in ecstasy.”
While imaginative, the story is sometimes convoluted. Particularly in the narrative’s climactic moments, as its crazy quilt of plot elements teeters on the verge of chaos. The writing, while atmospheric, can also be occasionally prone to over-description: “A row of aluminum mailboxes gathered on a corner like neighbors discussing a crime scene.” But overall, fans of creature-feature thrills will find much to enjoy in Logan’s suspenseful quest and the things lurking in Minatuck’s waters.
Michael Okon’s DRAGGED DOWN DEEP delivers a fun, fast-paced romp that’s elevated by its haunting evocation of a Long Island town with dark secrets and Okon’s infectious enthusiasm for all things cryptozoological.
~Edward Sung for IndieReader