Swallowing the Muskellunge drops you into a brutal and uncanny world where Black families in the late 1700s try to carve out a life in a landscape full of danger, superstition, and raw human fear. The story follows London Oxford, his son Abner, and the Wright family as they navigate violence, prejudice, mysterious deaths, and something darker hiding in the woods and rivers. The book mixes historical fiction with unsettling folklore, and the result is a journey that twists between real-world cruelty and eerie, mythic threats.

The writing hits with a quiet confidence, yet it never lets you rest. Scenes that start with simple family troubles drift into something tense, then something dreadful, then something almost magical. I found myself leaning in and frowning at the page, not because the prose was hard, but because the emotions were sharp. O’Brien has a way of slipping horror into places that should feel safe. Kitchens, barns, small paths, quiet rivers. The fear creeps in slowly. I kept thinking, I know these people, and I don’t want anything to happen to them, yet trouble keeps finding them. Some moments even made my stomach turn, especially when the book turns toward the threats against Abner or the strange shadow creatures near the river. It all felt personal.

What struck me hardest, though, was the mixture of cruelty and tenderness. I felt anger at the unfairness thrown at London and his family, and I felt warmth in the smaller human moments that kept them standing. A father reaching for his son after a violent scare. A mother snapping at the world because she is scared of losing everything. Those scenes felt raw. The conversations are messy and real. People stumble through their choices, and you see their flaws, yet you can’t help rooting for them. O’Brien’s ideas about freedom, belonging, and survival sit right under the surface. They poke at you in quiet ways. I loved that.

This is a gripping story that digs into both the mythic and the human. I would recommend Swallowing the Muskellunge to readers who enjoy historical fiction with grit, folktale shadows, and characters who feel painfully real. Anyone who likes stories that blend lived struggle with something uncanny will find a lot to chew on here.

Pages: 371 | ASIN: B0G1J3C3HQ