The Tarn — Bruce Jones

Ryder Hammond had always been a city kid and a reasonably happy teenager, and he balked when his mother sent him to her small Kansas hometown for his senior year of high school to stay with his aunt and uncle. But Ryder soon found himself in the middle of a strange conspiracy in the Kansas hamlet of Tarotown, where a beautiful, lonely outcast named Willow holds the key to the true identity of the peculiar townspeople and the secret of the monstrous inhabitants of the murky green body of water known as The Tarn...

First in the series, The Tarn Creature Trilogy.

See what this British Amazon.com customer said about THE TARN in his 4-star review:

4.0 out of 5 stars AS ALWAYS WELL WRITTEN AND A PAGE TURNER!!!!, 12 Oct 2011
By Mr. S. A. Hooker - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)
This review is from: The Tarn (A Ry and Willow Horror Thriller) (Kindle Edition)
I don't know how Bruce Jones does it but I find I can never put his books down. Always gripping from the get-go and never a disappointment with characters as well defined as these.

The Tarn jumps the genres and I'm a) happy with that and b) not going to label this book as a particular type. Read it, is what I will say. Good central lead character, a great narrative that shows rather than tells (the mark of a good author), that there is something wrong with the picture in this book.

Hard to put down and really wanting to be read in one go, I doubt this book will disappoint. Would have given a full five stars but I felt the build up was better than the conclusion but then again, the ending is perfect.