Set in our time frame, Kristine Rusch does a fabulous job of incorporating modern life with the mystical world of fantasy life. Seavy County on the Oregon coast is home to many forms of aquatic fantasy life and has been under the care of the Buckingham women for generations. Lyssa Buckingham however only ever wanted to "normal" and after high school graduation fled Seavy County and everything her family had stood for and protected for centuries. Creatures who have lived on the periphery of regular life but whose existence is roughly accepted by the locals even if it isn't spoken about abound in this isolated area of the Oregon coast, protected by a high mountains and a small sheltered bay.

Married to a rich man whose family refuses to even acknowledge Lyssa and their daughter Emily, life has taken a vicious turn, with Reginald Walters becoming psychotically violent and culminating in his death from fire all in front of his young daughter. Lyssa knows that she must now return to Seavy County if only so that her daughter can learn how to control the powers she carries. Lyssa will need help from both her Mom, Cassandra, and her Grandmother Athena to protect, teach and nurture Emily.

Both Cassandra and Athena had had visions that portend awful things but neither can tell what exactly they will bring they only know that Lyssa and Emily will play an integral part.

Discovery of the dead body of a fish woman on the beach, another body of a water sprite in a flooded creek and Lyssa's return in a storm so bad all the highways have been closed is only the beginning of the strange things to come. There is something coming and it's got the mystical creatures in a deadly panic, something that has its roots in a disaster from 30 years ago.

The story unfolds with layers of secrets, old hurts and the necessity for all three women to open up to each other, because the consequences of not relying, trusting and working together have become dire, not just for the fantasy population but for the very humans who live and work in the cove.

Kristin Kathryn Rusch has an incredible talent for layering her stories with real human emotions and her character development is second to none. Her characters are as multi-faceted as the fantasy creatures and their secrets just as intense. This is a marvelous story with such a terrific modern day setting that plays beautifully on the supposition that most legends are indeed grounded in reality and those legends must have gone somewhere, why not Anchor Bay in Seavy County Oregon? An excellent novel especially for those who enjoy fantasy mixed with a modern time line.