Flat Water Book Review

Full disclosure: I was given a free advance reader copy of this book by Author Marketing Experts in exchange for an honest review.

Content warning: this review discusses trauma and shark attacks.

There are plenty of books that feature an “unlikeable” protagonist. They might do stupid things, treat others poorly, or a combination of both. Having this kind of main character is not a bad thing. If done right, they can be compelling to read, especially with understanding why they do the things they do. A case in point is the protagonist from Flat Water by Jeremy Broyles. Monty from this novel is an interesting lead, who is forced to deal with the trauma of witnessing a shark attack on his brother.

Flat Water is about a man who has to confront the complex and painful loss that drove him away from his hometown and now demands his family. Called back to California for his sister’s wedding, Monty Marinnis has to make a road trip from Nebraska to California. This is also a journey through memory, one that’s complicated by the presence of Charlotte, his loving, but increasingly frustrated wife. Monty has concealed from her the horrifying details of his family’s fracture and how he remains haunted by what he saw as a teenager. The Marinnis family lost their eldest son, Max, in a shark attack while Monty watched helplessly. Since that day, he has yearned to answer two questions that persistently on his mind: why do bad things happen to some people but not others and why are they selected to suffer? While in California, Monty will be confronted with hard truths that rise like a shark from the depths. Faced with these realities, he will have to choose between acceptance and self-destruction.

The novel doesn’t have chapters per say. It has sections named after six different kinds of sharks since Monty memorizes facts about that kind of fish to combat his trauma in the short term. They are long, but they have places, in which people put their bookmark in when they’re done reading for the time being. Also, each section begins with Monty remembering before, during, and after the shark attack.

The main focus of this novel is Monty. He may not appeal to every reader because of his actions and how he treats others. He’s deep into his thoughts when he and his wife Charlotte arrive in his hometown of Flat Water. Monty ignores almost everyone around, especially his spouse. She loves him and tries to help him confront his fears of being by the water, but to no avail. To be fair, the trauma of witnessing that shark attack was that great, and he dealt with it by fleeing California to Nebraska. Also, it seemed like their relationship moved pretty fast, so it’s up in the air if Monty truly loves Charlotte. Plus, he does some stupid things like jumping off a pier with a girl that he knew from town. These tested my patience with him. 

Despite my grievances with the character, Monty is compelling. The focus of the story is him confronting his trauma, but Broyles gives him a snarky personality that covers up the torment he’s going through. He has some snappy lines. For example, when he loses his chips at a Las Vegas casino, he says, “It could be worse…I could be the victim of a shark attack. But what are the chances of that ever happening, right?” (p. 200). 

Luckily, he does have a realization about why it’s hard for him to deal with his brother’s shark attack. Unfortunately, it’s too late because he made some idiotic decisions beforehand. 

One would think that he should have gotten counseling, but if he did, we wouldn’t have this story. He deals with it by learning facts about sharks and spewing them when the moment is right. It also seems like his family is more of the confront-the-thing-one-is-afraid-of type. In addition, if there’s one thing that I’ve learned from Before I Let Go by Kennedy Ryan, it’s that people will go to therapy when they are ready. Monty wasn’t. 

The one thing that I would complain about is the pacing. I felt that the first and last third of the novel were well paced. But, the second part, in which Monty and Charlotte arrive in California and stay with his mom, was a bit slow. Not much happens during that third outside of Monty slowly confronting why he feels traumatized by the shark attack. The pacing picked up when Max’s friends invited Monty and Charlotte to a party and remained consistent for the rest of the book. The last third was easily the best part of the book.

Flat Water by Jeremy Broyles is a good example of having an “unlikeable” character. Monty makes some dumb choices and may push the people close to him away, yet he’s still an interesting person as he demonstrates how not to deal with a traumatic experience. But then again, do we expect people to have the perfect response when something horrific occurs (*cough The 23rd Hero by Rebecca Ann Nguyen)? I would recommend it to those who have dealt with grief and loss and are in the proper headspace as well as to readers who like reading about flawed characters. There’s nothing wrong with having such a protagonist as long as they are compelling.

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