So Cold the River

By: Michael Koryta

Narrated by: Robert Petkoff

Length: 13 hrs and 33 mins

Publisher's summary

Now a major motion picture: So Cold the River is a chilling, supernatural tale "guaranteed to put the cold finger down your spine" (Michael Connelly).

It started with a beautiful woman and a challenge. As a gift for her husband, Alyssa Bradford approaches Eric Shaw to make a documentary about her father-in-law, Campbell Bradford, a 95-year-old billionaire whose past is wrapped in mystery. Eric grabs the job even though there are few clues to the man's past—just the name of his hometown and an antique water bottle he's kept his entire life.

In Bradford's hometown, Eric discovers an extraordinary history—a glorious domed hotel where movie stars, presidents, athletes, and mobsters once mingled, and hot springs whose miraculous mineral water cured everything from insomnia to malaria. Neglected for years, the resort has been restored to its former grandeur just in time for Eric's stay.

Just hours after his arrival, Eric experiences a frighteningly vivid vision. As the days pass, the frequency and intensity of his hallucinations increase and draw Eric deeper into the town's dark history. He discovers that something besides the hotel has been restored—a long-forgotten evil that will stop at nothing to regain its lost glory. Brilliantly imagined and terrifyingly real, So Cold the River is a tale of irresistible suspense with a racing, unstoppable current.

©2010 Michael Koryta (P)2010 Hachette

Critic reviews

"A cataclysmic finale will put readers in mind of some of the best recent works of supernatural horror, among which this book ranks." ( Publishers Weekly)

"This book builds like a summer storm. Beautiful to watch until it shakes the house and knocks out the lights, leaving you alone in the dark. Another masterful work from Michael Koryta, So Cold the River is guaranteed to put the cold finger down your spine." (Michael Connelly)

And So Long the Story

Brevity would have helped this read, but that doesn't make it a bad one. The author belabored the plot in such a way that I found myself wanting to fast forward to the next piece of action. The characters were great, the descriptions of the settings superb, it was just the pace of the unfolding of the story and resolution of the mystery that had me wanting.

Loved it!

The story was wonderfully suspensful and never boring. The narration is one of the very best I have heard in an audio book. The background music in significant parts of the narration just added to the mystery and suspense of the story. Could not stop listening!

this was not my kind of book

Would you try another book from Michael Koryta and/or Robert Petkoff?

i don't think so. it was too far out.

What was most disappointing about Michael Koryta’s story?

the way all the strangeness was explained.

What about Robert Petkoff’s performance did you like?

good preformance and good sound backgrounds too.

If this book were a movie would you go see it?

i don't think i would care for the story. if someone found a better way to explain the strangeness i mite have liked the book. it was a disappointment.

Any additional comments?

the book had parts that were finally getting interesting but then, it got wierd again. and i still don't understand the mystery. i admit i had a hard time concentrating on the story as it could not hold my interest.

Interesting twist on a modern day ghost story

The story is a modern day mystery, historical fiction, and ghost story all combined into one. The character development is very good and relevant as the story unfolds. I enjoyed the imagery of these real life places.

LOVE it!

The story is amazing and intriguing. The reader is one of the best and I'll look for others he's done.

Overrated

A bit of a do do do do weird book and not my type. Sorry

I couldn't stop listening

I loved this book. I couldn't put it down. if you're from Southern Indiana, you picture all these little places because you've seen them your whole life. now you see them in a new way.

Terrific reader of a terrific book

This psychic cinematographer turned hallucinogenic detective story was a total treat. A burnt out ex-Hollywood film-maker Eric Shaw is down on his luck and back home in Chicago making slide-show movies for funeral/memorial tributes. He has a mostly un-tapped psychic instinct that draws rich society woman Alyssa Bradford to hire him to do a film about her mysterious father-in-law Campbell Bradford and her only clue is that he was from the resort towns of French Lick and West Baden in Indiana and she gives Shaw an antique bottle of the local mineral water called Pluto Water which has an unnatural ability to stay freezing cold at whatever outside temperature. When Shaw sneaks a drink and finds his instinctive psychic abilities enhanced into seeing characters who are no longer alive the story is kick-started and you cannot stop reading/listening to it. Narrator Robert Petkoff is just terrific at handling several character voices lending each of them a distinctive identifiable sound. Highly recommended!

Wow, what a story!

I loved this book and could not stop listening. It has the right amount of character development to go along with a very original story. Production quality is terrific! Violin music and sound effects enhance the narration and add a subtile magical mood. Robert Petkoff is a skilled narrator with a pleasing voice. The whole listening experience in this audible book is much better than simply reading it yourself. Past and present are woven together through the haunting visions of the main character. Believe it or not, I was listening to the end of this book during a very loud thunder storm... The storm in the book echoed what what going on around me! I am looking forward to more from Michael Koryta! Don't forget to look up the violinist, Joshua Bell's music. It has such soul.

Creepy and wonderful

I have visited the West Baden Hotel many times. This book captures the mysterious, haunted feeling of the resort and then reimagines it in a way that I loved. Definitely worth a listen!