I was provided a complimentary copy of this book by NetGalley. I was not compensated for this review and all thoughts and opinions expressed are my own. I was not required to write a positive review.
The Glades by Angela Hunt Published by Hunt Haven Press on October 13, 2026
Genres: Fiction / Christian / General, Fiction / Thrillers / General
Pages: 332
Format: ARC, eBook
Source: NetGalley
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When Katherine Armstrong arranges a birthday weekend on her husband's private island in the Everglades, she plans for everything: the guest list, the menu, the flowers, the careful distance between herself and the dark water beyond the dock.
She does not plan for the storm.
By nightfall, the power is gone, the mainland is unreachable, and something in the mangrove shadows has begun to move. Katherine has spent years building a life that looks flawless from the outside. Now, with her children beside her and the water on every side, she will have to decide what that life was actually worth.
Sixty years earlier, a World War II veteran named Conrad Boone made a decision on these same waters — one that seemed containable, even necessary, at the time. He passed the consequence of that decision to his family. They learned to live with it. And the island learned to keep its secrets.
Until the storm.
The Glades moves between a Florida that no longer exists and a Florida that is drowning in its own inheritance, between a man who thought he could manage what he'd done and a woman who never knew there was anything to manage. What lives beneath the water has been patient for sixty years.
It will not be patient much longer.
Can I complain for just a moment? Why do I ask? I’ll complain where and when I want. But I think it is a valid complaint, and I wonder if anyone else has experienced this and pray it’s not a new theme in writing. This is the second newly published book I’ve read in just about as many months that just read awkward. Omniscient people, especially children, that seem to always do the thing the way they do it. Short, almost staccato sentences. While they do help build the idea of tension and suspense, they drag away from truly building a story that you can immerse into. While I was gripped by the slow-burn tension that is this book, I feel like I missed out on getting to know the real characters because they were sometimes omniscient and many times dulled by the aforementioned complaint.
Two families intertwined by a dark, deadly, kinda illegal secret for three generations. It started simply enough with a wealthy man who thought he could do whatever he wanted because . . . money, and a poor man who just wanted to support his family. And like these things do, it got out of hand. Tragically out of hand. I did struggle, initially, with the dual timeline and keeping the characters straight, but once the idea of the story settled in- the thing you are meant to figure out but not yet know how it’s going to play out- I was a lot more engaged. I loved that I wasn’t told all the things I needed to know. I was shown those things to some degree, and given all the info I needed to figure it out without having to be obviously shown.
It’s hard to think that I read a thriller that met all the qualifications I like in a thriller and was also a slow burn. There was no in-your-face rapid chaos. It built over time- generations, actually- planting seeds for an outcome you knew was coming but wasn’t sure how it was coming. I felt like the ending was a bit rushed while still not giving a neat little bow on everything perfectly ordered. Angela Hunt has proven you can write a thriller with threads of faith, not being overly graphic, and still build tension in a way that is masterful. I kept turning pages, way past bedtime, because while I knew I needed to know. And that is what makes a great book.
About Angela Hunt
Christy Award winner Angela Hunt writes for readers who expect the unexpected. Her books have sold nearly six million copies worldwide, and her more than 175 titles range from picture books like The Tale of Three Trees to nonfiction to novels that move from the ancient world into modern suspense.
Along the way she has collected the Christy Award, several Angel Awards from Excellence in Media, and Gold and Silver Medallions from Foreword Magazine‘s Book of the Year Awards. Romantic Times Book Club and American Christian Fiction Writers have both given her Lifetime Achievement Awards. Her novel The Note became a Hallmark Channel Christmas movie.
She holds a master’s and a doctorate in biblical studies, plus a Th.D. That scholarship is the bedrock of her biblical fiction.
Angie is fascinated by animals, medicine, psychology, unexplained phenomena, chickens, and “just about everything” except sports. Books have shaped her life from the start. In fifth grade, she learned to flirt from Gone with the Wind.
She and her husband live in Florida with Very Big Dogs, a habit she blames on too many viewings of Turner & Hoochand The Sandlot. One of their mastiffs was once named the second-largest dog in America on national television. The honor came with a trip to Manhattan, a stretch-limo tour of the city, and an autograph session at the airport. The dog signed with his paw.
When she isn’t reading or writing, Angie teaches at schools and writers’ conferences. She will also talk about her dogs and chickens. At length.
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