The Waterman by Robert Derry
Review

Publisher: Austin Macauley Publishers
Print Length: 312 pages

My Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

Synopsis

Terry Stubbs is a young man getting old before his time and is haunted by a face that invades his dreams. His life is on the rocks after failing to find his fortune on the trading floors of the ruthless city of London. Jake Harvey is a successful salesman on his way up the ladder, but his world will never be the same again, now that the nightmares have started.

The same dreams. The same nightmares. Different people.

A waterman from seventeenth century London lurks like a troll beneath the old London Bridge, reaching out across the ages to tug at his victims. Infiltrating their lives. Reeling them in.

A journey through time that will make you think twice, before you ever pay the ferryman again.

Review

A viscerally stunning piece of work that sends chills straight to your bones.

Robert does a fantastic job of drawing you in with his picturesque prose and then begins to deliver a real-page turner. This book was not what I was expecting by a long shot but I was left feeling pleasantly surprised by this. A historical ghost story soaked in suspense.

Robert very clearly did his research when writing this book as the detail and accuracy with what he writes with is phenomenal. 

The three characters that you follow are Terry Stubbs, Jackie and Jake. All three characters are facing a difficult time in their life but lead very different lives, the one thing that links them all together is the nightmares. The nightmares threaten to spill over into the realm of reality, leading the characters to a frantic search to understand why they are all suffering from the same dreams and where the dreams originally began.

Once you open up this book, there is no way you're going to want to put it down. I was so eager to find the answers that time slipped away from me and I was really with the characters yearning for answers to these mysterious nightmares.

Robert delivers one final juicy twist that left me stunned. I love historical fiction but I haven't read one quite as engaging and accurate as The Waterman, this is definitely one you should add to your TBR pile. 

Many thanks to Robert for gifting me a copy of The Waterman in an exchange for a fair and honest review.

Buy your copy here:

AustinMacauley|Blackwell's|Amazon

About The Author

Robert Derry is working as an HR consultant in England. He got his education from Lancaster University before he moved to the city of London. There, close to the River Thames, he wrote his first novel. His book The Waterman was also nominated for the 2021 Novel London Literary Award. In his free time, he supports Aston Villa Football Club and NFL. He is currently living in Somerset, England with his wife, Tina, their two children and two cats.

Click here to visit Robert Derry's website

Follow Robert Derry on Twitter at: @derry_rob