A teen discovers the horrifying truth behind his town's healing river in Thirst, a disturbing, highly immersive YA horror novel from U.K. author Darren Simpson, makin his North American debut.
Every year the people of Maimsbury sacrifice an animal to the River Yeelde. In turn, the Yeelde will "guide boats and tend to springs," allowing Maimsbury wealth and safety far surpassing that of neighboring towns. Fourteen-year-old Gorse wishes the river would bring back his friend, Burdock, who disappeared five years ago. Instead, Gorse finds this year's sacrifice, a ram, washed up on shore. The elders explain this must mean "the river has had more than its fill." But something feels wrong to Gorse, who has vague memories of the river rejecting the sacrifice the same year Burdock went missing.
Meanwhile, Faye, a girl from nearby Dauntley, finds work in exchange for lodging in Maimsbury to give her mother "one less mouth to feed." Faye, who grew up hearing about the town's "somewhat odd" folk yet "very best" produce, is unaware of their pact with the Yeelde. When a cloaked trio tries to drown her, however, she fears she is being hunted and seeks help from a seemingly trustworthy Gorse.
Simpson uses eerie folktales and unsettling nursery rhymes to bare the town's treacherous history and depicts a violent battle against paranormal entities and townsfolk loathe to untangle themselves from an insidious benefactor. A tangible desperation underlies Gorse's grief-fueled decisions, Faye's "molten fury," and the inordinate selflessness both demonstrate as age-old consequences plague them. Maimsbury's wild forest ("a vast, motley beast of blood and claw") and "fug... of corruption and death" yield a chilling, sentient atmosphere in this satisfying folk horror tale. --Samantha Zaboski, freelance editor and reviewer