The Shallow End of the Pool [Paperback]

Adam-Troy Castro (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2008

Resolution. Reason. Respect.
Among U.S. couples marrying today, roughly 40% will divorce. About half of those will have children at the time of the split. Ensuing ugliness will engulf the lives of both divorcees and offspring. They can in most cases expect years of legal battles, deceit, rage, depression, baiting, vitriol, manipulation, and hurt.
Perhaps there is another way, a better way. A way that allows for resolution, reason, and respect. An agreement, of sorts, but one that confronts rather than masks the myriad troubles at hand. Lays them all out on the table. Settles the issues once and for all in an honorable arena. Something direct. Fair. Final.
Adam-Troy Castro, Hugo/Nebula/Stoker-nominated author of the SF novel Emissaries from the Dead, brings you a brutally horrific tale of the ultimate settlement in the battle of broken-hearted wills in a new novella from Creeping Hemlock Press. Petty power-plays have been cast aside. The façade of decency is shelved. For one blistering week in an abandoned desert motel, there will be no excuses, pleading, or games. Only resolution, reason, respect.
And blood.

Editorial Reviews

Review

THE SHALLOW END OF THE POOL does in fifty-six pages what it takes Bret Easton Ellis' LUNAR PARK four hundred pages to do--essays the immense and terrible pain parents are capable of inflicting upon their children. And it does so with a hellova grueling whallop. ...A relentless, powerful little book. --Jack Ketchum, author of THE GIRL NEXT DOOR

This beautifully written, brilliantly conceived, and bare-balls-original novella isn't just a roller-coaster ride, it's the Blue Angels at Mach 10 as seen from the cockpits of all four jets at the same f*cking time. --TM Wright, author of THE LAST VAMPIRE and STRANGE SEED

Reminiscent of Fredric Brown's ARENA taken to the nth degree fused with a kind of hyper-Fight Club for a new millennium, Adam-Troy Castro's The Shallow End of the Pool is a blistering, bizarre, fury-packed bit of familial ultra-violence. Sure to twist your head to the snapping point! --Tom Piccirilli, Author of THE COLDEST MILE and THE FEVER KILL

About the Author

Adam-Troy Castro made his first professional sale to Spy Magazine in 1987. Since then, he's written 15 books and more than eighty short stories. His multiple award nominations include BABY GIRL DIAMOND (nominated for the Bram Stoker Award), OF A SWEET SLOW DANCE IN THE WAKE OF TEMPORARY DOGS (nominated for the Nebula), SUNDAY NIGHT YAMS AT MINNIE AND EARL'S, THE TANGLED STRINGS OF THE MARIONETTES (nominated for the Nebula), THE FUNERAL MARCH OF THE MARIONETTES (nominated for the Hugo and the Nebula), and THE ASTRONAUT FROM WYOMING (a collaboration with Jerry Oltion, nominated for the Hugo and Nebula and awarded the Seiun).
Adam-Troy's other books include 2008's EMISSARIES FROM THE DEAD (Harper Collins Eos), the first in a series of interstellar murder mysteries featuring his prickly investigator Andrea Cort. Another Andrea Cort novel, THE THIRD CLAW OF GOD, is scheduled for 2009 from the same publisher. His short fiction has been collected in Lost in Booth Nine, An Alien Darkness, A Desperate Decaying Darkness, Vossoff and Nimmitz, and Tangled Strings. In his spare time he writes regular book and DVD reviews for SciFi magazine and SciFiWeekly.
Adam-Troy, who married the divine Judi on 25 December 2002, lives in Miami with his wife and four cats. Updates, artwork, rants, and reviews can be found at sff.net/people/adam-troy.

Product Details

• Paperback: 56 pages
• Publisher: Creeping Hemlock Press; Limited/Numbered/First Edition edition (January 1, 2008)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0976921758
• ISBN-13: 978-0976921752
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.8 x 0.2 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,114,828 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3.0 out of 5 stars Confused and Confounded, February 17, 2011

By 

Lionel W. Gibbons - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Shallow End of the Pool (Paperback)

I don't know if it is just me or not but I thought this was going to be quite a different story than it was. From reading the description of this novella:

Resolution. Reason. Respect.
Among U.S. couples marrying today, roughly 40% will divorce. About half of those will have children at the time of the split. Ensuing ugliness will engulf the lives of both divorcees and offspring. They can in most cases expect years of legal battles, deceit, rage, depression, baiting, vitriol, manipulation, and hurt.
Perhaps there is another way, a better way. A way that allows for resolution, reason, and respect. An agreement, of sorts, but one that confronts rather than masks the myriad troubles at hand. Lays them all out on the table. Settles the issues once and for all in an honorable arena. Something direct. Fair. Final.

Petty power-plays have been cast aside. The facade of decency is shelved. For one blistering week in an abandoned desert motel, there will be no excuses, pleading, or games. Only resolution, reason, respect. And blood.


I was under the impression that this would be a fight to the finish between bitter spouses. I am not going to spoil the read for others but that is not what happened. The writing was very compelling and I did not dislike the novella but needless to say, I was disappointed.