Deep Down (Hallie Michaels)
Deep Down is a pleasing story, which begins with Hallie trying to convince herself that everything is normal after the battle she fought in September (in Wide Open, 2012). Then her father asks her to check up on their neighbor, Pabby, whom she finds sitting on the front porch with her house surrounded by black dogs—invisible black dogs—apparently, the harbingers of death. Then Hallie’s boyfriend, Boyd, gets brought into the story. Hallie comes across an accident in the middle of nowhere that seems to be a precise recreation of the one in which Boyd’s wife died seven years ago. She acquires a black dog of her own. People start disappearing. She has dreams about a strange man who says the walls are getting thin. Eventually, it becomes obvious that Boyd’s problems, and hers, are inextricably linked and she must take a grave risk to repair the damage. Stylistically, the execution is occasionally awkward, but Hallie is, overall, a solid character that will carry the story through its rough patches. --Regina Schroeder