What really happened on Rattlesnake Island in the summer of 1987? Investigative reporter Marley Kassell wants the true story behind the cult-like rumors of a supernatural creature and a dozen boys killed in the water. She is determined to flush it out, if only the one person who survived agrees to tell her. For almost four decades, Grady Whitmore has remained silent about the horrors he endured as a teenaged juvenile delinquent shipped from a Boston detention center to a remote island on a sprawling Maine lake. Meant to expose them to the great outdoors and foster independence, the trip is doomed from the start, as though some unspeakable evil loomed. In granting Marley his first ever interview, Grady sweeps her into a gripping tale of terror unleashed by a monster with shark-like teeth and a serpent’s body, hunting their canoes from beneath the water, and striking them down one by one. Marley free-falls into Grady’s past, back to 1987, his memories as spellbinding as they are wicked. His account of being spared from the savage creature’s unthinkable violence almost writes itself. And, she wonders, is this preternatural beast stalking Rattlesnake Island still out there? "Rattlesnake Island by Jennifer Vaughn is an absolutely fantastic, visceral plunge into psychological and physical horror that is presented through cleverly inserted flashbacks as Grady reveals his trauma to Marley. Vaughn's writing is taut and immersive, and we get a true feeling of the claustrophobic stress of isolation and the raw fear of facing something beyond comprehension. What makes this novel especially great is not merely its terrifying premise, but how convincingly it delivers Grady's emotional unraveling through the incremental parceling out of events. The dialogue is natural, the pacing remains at full throttle, and the atmosphere is deeply unsettling. Vaughn skillfully works up an escalating sense of dread, beginning with a lightning flash that Grady views as an omen, then allowing the rest of the horror to creep up organically. Readers looking for horror that dares to be both intelligent and merciless won't be disappointed. Very highly recommended." -- Asher Syed, Readers' Favorite