The Mercy of Drowning

In the rain-choked archipelago of the Pacific Northwest, a disgraced former social worker infiltrates a secluded island cult that worships the sanctity of lies. When its charismatic leader prepares a mass ritual drowning to liberate his flock from the "burden of objective truth," one undercover operative must weigh the cost of honesty. Set against the fractured moral landscape of modern America, where a viral subway death exposed the chasm between vigilante justice and empathy, this novel dissects a community where necessary fictions become sacred shields—and where the final truth may be nothing but water filling the lungs.