A Dark and Rising Tide

By: Debra Castaneda

Narrated by: Jesse Ganteaume

Length: 7 hrs and 5 mins

Publisher's summary

When a massive storm surge hits the central coast of California, the ferocious surf destroys buildings, floods streets, and washes up something sinister from the depths of the Monterey Bay.

Peter, a retired state lifeguard, knows the water better than anyone. Carla, owner of a beach-side restaurant, is still mourning the loss of her son in a boating accident. While both love their quaint small town with spectacular views, their personal lives are as complicated as the changing weather forecasts.

After a mysterious creature in the water kills two men, Peter and Carla are plunged into a living nightmare as a massive tidal surge traps them and their friends in a battered, unstable building.

While the storm rages through the night, they discover something horrifying swims between them and escape, just waiting to attack anyone within reach.

They need to make life or death decisions to survive.

But first, they need to make it to morning.

Inspired by real events, A Dark and Rising Tide is part of Debra Castaneda’s Dark Earth Rising series of standalone novels. Listen to the books in any order.

©2023 Debra Castaneda (P)2024 Debra Castaneda

Chilling

When a massive storm hits, a group of locals decides not to evacuate and buckle down to wait it out. What they don’t know is that there’s something in the water. A horror that’s come in with the storm unlike anything they’ve ever experienced.

My favorite horror stories are those that don’t just instill fear but that also have strongly written characters. The cast of survivors were well-fleshed out and not only brought the horrors to life but explored the themes of grief, loss, friendship, and survival.

This book is an experience, and though this was my first piece by this author, it’s not going to be my last.

"Riveted to the voice of Jesse Ganteaume"

Reading has become more difficult to focus on as my age has increased. The narrator of this book caught my attention & held it to the end. It was like listening to a movie I couldn't see, yet was able to visualize.
I enjoyed hearing this book.

Stay out of the water!

I'm a sucker for ocean horror, and DebraCastaneda brought it with this one. It has everything you could ask for. A small town with interesting characters? Check. Unique and terrifying creatures ready to kill you? Check. The feeling that, as humans, we are nothing when compared to the gaping maw of nature? Check.

The plot felt fresh and multi-layered, and Castaneda was deft in continually dialing up the tension as things went from bad to worse to MUCH, MUCH worse. This was a story I could actually see playing out in real life.

It's also a tale about grief, friendship, and learning to live again in the face of terrible loss.

This was my first book by Castandea and I look forward to reading more of her work!

Absolutely creepy story

Just finished reading this one and I’m still in awe. This was an absolutely incredible read. I’d say I can’t even imagine what it would be like, but no need… because this book is so perfectly crafted that it pulls you into the story nearly immediately. From the smells of the beach air to the lap of waves on the sand… this book is so visual and anxiety inducing, so much so that you may catch yourself pulling away from the book for fear the pages will loose a sea beast. The ocean is vastly unknown and one can hardly dispute that things we have never seen exist in the deepest depths. This book details what very well could happen if something unknown found it’s way to land. Brilliant horror story.

Wow!! We're impressed!

What a unique storyline! Hubby and I listened to this together, and we both really enjoyed it. A "disaster" theme with creepy sea creatures trapping you in your home - what more could you want? We appreciated that we could feel the suspense and emotions, picture the horror and could grasp what was happening like we were watching a suspenseful thriller.

We also liked that the characters were such unique individuals. Each had a story of their own, and it was nice to read just enough personal details about each one without losing track of what the story is about. It was the same throughout the book - enough well-worded details regarding the beach location, the close-knit community, the catastrophic storm, and the horrific creatures so that it felt like you were there; however, not so many details that you grew bored and wanted to skip ahead to get to the good parts! (In other words, no rambling like I currently am.)

I'll just end with being glad that we stumbled across this great book. It was hard to stop listening, and we plan to check out the other books by this great author!!

Great grief and found family horror tale

I loved how this story explored grief and found family. I just wanted more creature time!!