The Gulf

A Novel

By: Rachel Cochran

Narrated by: Stacy Gonzalez

Length: 12 hrs and 23 mins

Publisher's summary

“Exquisite and gripping. . . . The Gulf is a page turner to be savored; Cochran is a master of both prose and plot.”—Ilana Masad, author of All My Mother’s Lovers

In this electrifying debut literary thriller, set on the gulf coast of Texas in the 1970s at the height of the women’s liberation movement, a closeted young woman attempts to solve her surrogate mother’s murder in a tight-knit, religious small town.

In Parson, Texas, a small town ravaged by a devastating hurricane and the Vietnam War, twenty-nine-year-old Lou is diligently renovating a decaying old mansion for Miss Kate, the elderly neighbor who has always been like a mother to her. Mourning her brother’s death in Vietnam, Lou dreams of enjoying a more peaceful future in Parson. But those hopes are crushed when Miss Kate is murdered, and no one but Lou seems to care about finding the killer.

The situation becomes complicated when Joanna, Miss Kate’s long-estranged daughter and Lou’s first love, arrives in Parson—not to learn more about her mother’s death but for the house. Her arrival unearths sinister secrets involving the history of the town and its residents . . . revelations that may be the key to helping Lou discover the truth about Miss Kate’s death and her killer.

A gorgeously written, gripping story of forbidden love and devastating secrets that is a surprising twist on the traditional small-town story, The Gulf is a riveting and unsettling mystery that holds up a mirror to the values—and failures—of America.

©2023 Rachel Cochran (P)2023 HarperCollins Publishers

Beautiful Story and Characters

I couldn't stop listening to this story - it took you along for the ride to learn the many nuances of the characters and their story. Loved it! (Also, beautifully narrated!)

Soo well written

This is one of the best books I've listened to in a long while. Characters well developed, intriguing plot and engaging. Highly recommend!

A Latticework of Sapphic Gothic Noir

Parsons, Texas isn't a real small gulf coast town, but it is true to the spirit of life as a queer person in the south. Twisted, terrifying, and rife with open secrets you simply "miss" growing up. Details in plain sight, yet lost to a fog of misremembered half truths under the deceptive illusion of limited perspectives. This story thrives in the grey areas... is built on them. Cochran's sense of mystery feels more "real" than a Hollywood plot twist, because the pivotal clues aren't mcguffins but a gradual transformation of a limited snapshot of a person into a three-dimensional (and deeply flawed) vision of who that person really is... or who they always really were.
The Gulf is an incredible book. A slow burn that rewards its reader. A noir that shows how it feels to exist in the stranglehold of a small town where everyone knows everyone else, but nobody really sees one another.

Beautiful work

This story captures life in a small beach town touched by tragedy. The characters are real and their issues both reflective of the time, and timeless. The mystery kept me guessing to the last.

The PERFECT summer read

I’m a mystery/thriller junkie who goes through several books a week. I rarely leave reviews, but the stunning, intricate, and clever plot, combined with the richly-layered characters and spooky setting were so so captivating that I finished this book in a day. Definitely more than worth a credit!

Mysterious Death, Town Secrets, Hidden Memories

Louisa abandoned as a child on Aunt CeCe’s front steps with her brother Robby. Parsons,TX is a town full of secrets and the first is who killed Kate Darnell? Louisa had been working to fix up the historic home Kate bought but now the mystery that surrounds the house and Miss Kate will twist everything Lou knows as the past reveals secrets and truth comes into light all is unearthed in this debut novel by Rachel Cochran. I couldn’t put it down!

Just okay

The story started slowly. The main character had an immature sense of what she was and wasn’t responsible for. Leaving a child creates trauma, and she repeated that trauma by influencing her girlfriend to stay with her for months, without her own child. But ultimately I wasn’t convinced by the pull that the past held for her.