BLACK CORAL

A chance discovery in an alligator-infested pond sets diver Sloan McPherson, of Florida’s Underwater Investigation Unit, on the path of a monstrous serial killer.

Tasked with retrieving a corpse from a car that’s run into Pond 65, Sloan dodges the resident amphibians long enough to emerge successful. In the process, she finds something far more horrifying: a sunken van that a more extended second dive reveals is the final resting place of four teenagers who vanished 30 years ago. It would be bad enough if their deaths were the result of reckless acting out, but it looks more and more like murder times four. Informed of Sloan’s discovery by her boss, UIU head George Solar, the victims’ parents act out their grief by yelling at each other as Sloan watches, eager to move on. But although Florida’s waterways offer apparently endless riches for underwater investigations, this case won’t let her go. Ethan Rafferty, a schoolmate who hung out with the four victims half a lifetime ago, fingers a possible perpetrator: Sleazy Steve, who he’s pretty sure got possessed by a demon they were all pursuing. The further along the trail to Sleazy Steve Sloan and Scott Hughes, the newest member of the UIU team, get, the uglier the case looks and the hungrier other law enforcement agencies are for a piece of it. At length, Sloan’s hot-trigger reaction to a particularly condescending Broward County detective gets her booted off the task force, then placed on administrative leave, even as she discovers more and more victims.

A relentless nail-biter whether below or above the waterline. Even the setbacks are suspenseful.