A sensitive loner on the run from his past.

A rebellious young heiress with a death wish.

A bridge brings them together … a mystery can tear them apart.

Following a life-shattering accident, conscience-stricken Will Archer seeks refuge in a small Ohio River town, where he plans to live out his life as a virtual hermit. But a chance encounter with Essence Warner, orphaned daughter of a jazz saxophonist and an aristocratic socialite, entangles him in a quest to discover the truth behind the cold case of her parents’ mysterious deaths.

As Will deciphers clues, he becomes romantically entwined with Essence, forming a relationship that draws him into a sordid underbelly of small-town existence that threatens his own life. At the same time, he uncovers a dark secret that could set Essence free from her own path of self-destruction—or does she have a plan of her own?

Soft as Water is a novel about bridges—between strangers across a river—and the dangers of mutual attraction when worlds divided by race, wealth, and culture collide. In the end, though, the novel offers a glimmer of hopefulness that survivors of trauma—physical, emotional, and sexual—can transcend their circumstances and find redemption through connection.

‘Soft as Water’ is the latest novel from the pen of Ohio-based author, B Robert Conklin. We meet our anti-hero, Will Archer, who after a traumatic incident, has left his old life behind and started afresh in East Orange, West Virginia. He is to be the new curator of a local museum, dedicated to the memory of Jamaal Waxman, an up-and-coming sax musician. Will takes up residence in a boarding house run by the eccentric Mrs Gossett and appears to be sharing his lodgings with the ghost of Jamaal who had lived there previously.

The second chapter introduces another thread and we quickly learn things about Will from an alternative perspective. We meet relatives and acquaintances from his past and discover why he decided to rebuild his life in the anonymity of a small town where no one knows about his notoriety.

Our second lead is Essence, a young woman with complex issues, not least being stuck between two grandmothers with contrasting views on her deceased parents’ relationship and their subsequent deaths. Will finds himself drawn to Essence but is he a pawn in her strange game? It also appears someone wants to discredit him with his employer.

Throw into the mix a couple of semi-tame tigers, an overprotective bodyguard, a rather dizzy museum assistant, an ex-boyfriend of Will’s wife, Abbey, along with a sinister man who has tried to befriend Abbey and we have all the ingredients for an unusual off-beat story.

I will confess that for many chapters, I was unconvinced by this tale. It was fast-moving with strong prose but I felt the plot was a tad flimsy. However, my patience was well and truly rewarded as the action gathered pace and a nineteen year old mystery was laid bare. There are definitely clues along the way to help the reader beat the author to the dénouement but I was still very shocked by the turn of events.

The author has used a sprinkling of dark humour along with a smattering of the supernatural to bring the reader into a strange world where emotions run high and extreme reactions are commonplace. The ending was a little ambiguous but a fitting conclusion to the whacky plot. This book definitely grew on me and I award a well-deserved four-and-a-half stars.

B. Robert Conklin lives in Columbus, Ohio, where he enjoys the unpredictable moments of family life with his spouse, three kids, four cats, and two ferrets. His credits include stories in Blue Moon Literary & Art Review, THAT Literary Review, and Kestrel, with another accepted for inclusion in The Strong Stuff: The Best of Fictional Café, Volume II.

With a teaching background in composition and literature, he has also co-authored a college textbook to help emerging writers connect with their world. In a different medium, he practices the craft of cartooning. An End to Etcetera is his debut novel, which has placed as a finalist in the suspense category of the 2023 National Indie Excellence Award contest.