Mannheim Rex by Robert Pobi

From Amazon - After the sudden death of his wife, famous horror writer Gavin Corlie retreats from New York City to a secluded house on Lake Caldasac. But his new life in the country is far from idyllic; when a thirteen-year-old wheelchair-bound boy named Finn Horn nearly drowns in the lake, Gavin discovers a startling secret: people in this peaceful lakeside community keep vanishing. Is the corrupt, Benzedrine-fueled town sheriff to blame? Or is Finn’s account of a lake-dwelling monster more than a near-death hallucination? Racing against time and Mother Nature, Gavin and Finn embark on a quest to catch a nightmare that seems to have evolved with a single frightful purpose: to feed on human prey.

An homage to the blockbuster Jaws and the classic American novel Moby-Dick, Mannheim Rex is a deep dark thriller that switches seamlessly between heart-warming friendship and heart-stopping action.

Mannheim Rex is a big book.  It has 512 pages.  But, don't let that deter you from reading this great novel, it's worth every page.  Finn Horn is thirteen and has bone cancer.  He believes the water has a monster in it.

When Gavin Corlie rents a house in the small town of New Mannheim, he figures it will be good for him.  He can begin the healing process over the loss of his wife and work on his novel.  He writes horror.  When Finn almost drowns, He and Gavin strike up an unlikely friendship.  He believes Finn when he says there is a monster in the water.  After his own tenacious investigation, he realizes that people have been disappearing.  

However, the medical examiner seems to fly through his job and chocks up deaths to boating accidents and accidental drowning.  The nasty sheriff doesn't seem to worried about it either.  But what is in the water? 

Mannheim Rex is an epic read.  The bond that Gavin and Finn make is magical, healing and comes at the right time in their lives.  The story starts out slow, setting the tone and the characters, but eventually picks up the pace.  Not in your face horror but definitely full of suspense and in your face villains. Superb writing and a definite must read!

*I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.