Quiet, introspective, and elegantly written.
Cotwell’s striking debut blends emotional intensity with psychological insight, tracing a man’s physical and emotional drift toward reckoning and renewal. Mark, a middle-aged tech entrepreneur, has spent years chasing the elusive promise of startup success, gradually sacrificing intimacy, presence, and rest. At last, with his company momentarily stabilized, he whisks his wife and daughters to Maui, a gesture of repair more than relaxation. In a harrowing turn, Mark is separated from his group and cast into the open ocean with no equipment, no way to communicate, and no immediate hope of rescue. Mark must battle the elements—and his own inner demons—to survive.
Cotwell shifts the novel’s tone with remarkable finesse, from observational family drama to spare, psychological survival narrative. Mark’s ordeal is not sensationalized; Cotwell avoids clichés and instead excavates the interior life of a man forced to reckon with his past. The physical realities of hunger, dehydration, and disorientation are deeply felt, but it’s the emotional unraveling—Mark’s memories of fatherhood, guilt over missed moments, the unresolved strain with Cecilia—that deliver the deepest cuts.Cotwell’s prose is measured and deliberate. He writes with a quiet precision that favors psychological depth over melodrama, using restrained language to capture both the beauty of the natural world and the tension simmering beneath domestic life.
Rather than relying on plot-driven suspense, the novel builds emotional intensity through small moments and internal realizations. Dialogue is realistic and often tinged with unspoken conflict, while interior monologue carries much of the novel’s emotional weight. There are moments of hallucination, despair, and dark humor. And yet, for all its starkness, the story retains a quiet grace. Mark’s love for his family is not heroic or overstated: it’s aching, vulnerable, and grounded in small, remembered gestures. The final chapters circle back to the core question: how do we balance the pull of personal ambition with the needs of those we love? What is success worth if it leaves emptiness in its wake? Can love survive long silences, missed moments, and years spent elsewhere—mentally or physically? Cotwell doesn’t offer easy answers, but he renders the struggle with honesty and compassion. Fans of The Dog Stars by Peter Heller and A Speck in the Sea by John Aldridge and Anthony Sosinski will find much to admire here.
A spare and emotionally resonant novel about marriage, ambition, and the thin line between success and solitude.
Pub date April 22, 2024
Benthic Press
ISBN 979-8990583702
Price $21.95 (USD) Hardcover, $13.95 Paperback, $3.99 Kindle edition
