The Mercy of the Tide

Written by Keith Rosson

Narrated by Joshua Saxon

“Rosson is a talent to be watched, and Riptide is one of the most immersive fictional settings in recent memory.” - Jason Heller, NPR

Riptide, Oregon, 1983. A sleepy coastal town, where crime usually consists of underage drinking down at a Wolf Point bonfire. But then strange things start happening—a human skeleton is unearthed in a local park and mutilated animals begin appearing, seemingly sacrificed, on the town’s beaches. The Mercy of the Tide follows four people drawn irrevocably together by a recent tragedy as they do their best to reclaim their lives—leading them all to a discovery that will change them and their town forever.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Meerkat Press
• Release date: Jul 6, 2020
• ISBN: 9781946154668

Reviews for The Mercy of the Tide

[paul · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

The ending bumped this up to 5 stars. This is a bleak, dark story. Compounded mistakes, small town with the inability to handle the harbinger that they have uncovered.

[T Green · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Loved this mystery / thriller. The characters were well-developed, the writing is absolutely stunning, and the plot was interesting. Dark with elements of Native American folklore, a tinge of Alt-History, and surprising, imaginative conclusion.

[nooiniin · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

A parable about abuse of power and the ultimate victory of the individual. As AngelaJMaher already said: Powerful prose fitting short fiction rather than a full-size novel, where it made for a rather strenous read. The world building defied suspension of disbelief, torture and murder scenes were over the top. What with the message being rammed home with a sledge hammer, I could not bring myself to finish.

[angelajmaher · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

A dystopian story of struggle and mystery. Wonderfully strange and original.And yet, I struggled with it. The literary style is masterful but doesn't lend itself to extended reading. Mostly I could only tackle one chapter at a time. The descriptive prose is wonderful, but overwhelming when used to this degree in a long work.

[linda.a. · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Alchemy can be defined as the process of taking something ordinary and transforming it into something extraordinary and, in a nutshell, this captures the essence of Eugen Bacon’s totally enthralling storytelling. Since first being introduced to it when I read Claiming T-Mo (her 2019 debut novel) and then my subsequent reading of various collections of her short stories and other novels, I’ve come to enjoy and appreciate her eloquent, lyrical and passionate use of language, her portrayals of convincing, memorable characters, her ability to create stories within stories, to seamlessly blend genres and to inexorably draw me into her fictional world-building.These previous experiences meant that not only was I feeling excited about reading Mage of Fools, but that my expectations were already high! So, I’ve been delighted to discover that not only has she lost none of her magic touch, but I think that this is her finest novel yet. As I think the publisher’s synopsis gives enough clues to intrigue potential readers, I don’t want to risk introducing spoilers by going into too much detail about how the story unfolds so will focus my reflections on what made it such a rewarding, and enchanting, a read for me. The story is divided into eight sections (Prologue, Jasmin, Ujamaa [the omnipresent corporation which controls all aspects of life for the citizens of Mafinga] The Royal Household, Atari, The Resistance, Denouement and Epilogue) and each of the main sections is divided into short chapters. I found that this construction worked very effectively to tell Jasmin’s story through a gradual portrayal of the background to the horrors she, her children and fellow-citizens are facing in the dark, dystopian world of Mafinga. Although it’s clear from the beginning of the story that Atari, the mysterious sorcerer, is an all-powerful, malign character who wields enormous influence over the king, it isn’t until more than halfway through the story, that the reader discovers who he is and how he ended up in Mafinga. In less confident hands this sudden switch from sections which had Jasmin at their heart, to one in which she didn’t appear, could have felt disruptive but instead felt perfectly timed. The tension-inducing two-page prologue begins at a future point in Jasmin’s story before pausing to rewind and offer snapshots of what has already happened and what is yet to come. This powerful and intriguing introduction immediately drew me into her world, the remaining chapters kept me there and, finally, the one-page epilogue served as a reminder that good stories can never truly end because the reader will continue to wonder what the future holds for the characters. Brave, resourceful Jasmin is a wonderful character who, even though she struggles to remember what life was like before, and is still mourning the loss of her husband Godi, is determined to continue using his now forbidden story machine to remind herself, and tell her much-cherished children, stories of a better world. I loved all the literary allusions which threaded their way through the storytelling, the blend of contemporary literature with ancient folklore providing a reminder that storytelling is ageless and serves many functions. The descriptions of her interactions with four-year-old Omar, in his ‘all-over flying dragon jammies’, and two-year-old Mia in her two-piece unicorn ones, provided not only some delightful moments of lightness, but also served as a reminder of the lengths a mother will go to protect her children. Although the author’s dystopian world of Mafinga is an imaginary one, much of the power of her story lies in the fact that, with its depictions of a totalitarian regime which pays lip-service to equality whilst practising menticide (be warned, some of the descriptions of the brutality employed to control the population and discourage rebellion are truly horrific), of the devastating effects of climate change, of the inequalities in society (most of the citizens are living in shipping-containers whilst a small, elite group enjoys a life of palatial luxury), it is a depressingly recognisable one. The marketing categories are listed as ‘Afrofuturist, fantasy, dark fantasy, science fiction and dystopian’ but whilst it’s true that there are elements of all these genres in Eugen Bacon’s novel, it’s the creative skill with which she weaves them together which make this such an affecting story to read. Yes, it’s dark and disturbingly brutal at times but it’s not without moments of humour, hope and a belief that a better future is possible and I have no hesitation in recommending it. If you’re already familiar with the author’s writing you’ll need no persuading but if you aren’t, I think Mage of Fools would make good introduction to her captivating storytelling.

[suebaldwin12 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

couldn't finish, the use of adjectives was over the top and incredibly irritating, when a simple description would do the author pads it to the point of silliness, every sentence seems to need major elaboration, when it actually doesn't - she needs a good editor.

[tinac1_1 · Rating: 1 out of 5 stars]

I’m not sure if I started reading this when I was too tired but this story hasn’t grabbed me, yes the language and how it is put together is interesting but I found no joy or hope in the first few chapters so in the end I gave decided not to finish it, a rare occurrence for me.

[viennamax-1 · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Ujamaa is not only a strange place to live in. It's a place where the sun is deadly and freedom to the uttermost eradicated. Why? Well, Atari from Exomoon - a strange guy who had a really poor childhood - has landed the spot and transformed it into a communistic bunch of sociopaths. Enters Jasmin meeting the Queen... Sci-Fi at its best mixed in with very poetic language. Good stuff for every freedom fighter!