Reviewed by Alice DiNizo for Readers' Favorite

Harbor is a horror story of the sea reclaiming its own. In 2004, in the island fishing village of Domaro, Sweden, the book's setting, six-year-old Maja disappears while on an outing to the local lighthouse with her parents, Anders and Cecilia. After surviving the terror of this event, Anders and Cecilia's marriage crumbles; Cecilia moves away, and Anders turns to drink. Anders eventually moves back to Domaro and to his grandmother, Anna-Greta, and her longtime lover, Simon. Anna-Greta, one of Domaro's village elders, is aware that something is wrong, really wrong, but doesn't want to share what she thinks or knows, even with Simon. Anders is haunted by his past when he and Cecilia were young. Back then, two teenage misfits, Henrik and Bjorn, disappeared. Now they are back, as ghosts, and are up to no good whatsoever. Meanwhile, Anders, in his quest to find his daughter, Maja, realizes that people are affected by drinking the sea water, which seems to be cropping up right below the island's surface. Where did Henrik and Bjorn disappear to and from where did they come? Is Maja there as well? Who will survive as the harbor water freezes, and Domaro disappears beneath the waters?

Harbor is an extraordinarily well-crafted horror story that will engross its readers. The events that transpire within its pages come close to possible in this world of tsunamis and earthquakes. The translation from the book's original Swedish by Marlaine DeLargy is first-rate. The author, John Lindqvist, informs readers at the book's beginning that the setting for Domaro and the lighthouse at Gavasten have been under water for tens of thousands of years. From this underwater landscape, he has fashioned a story with totally believable, and sometimes downright scary, characters that the reader will not forget.