Tappan Lake by Trisha N McAfee

Tappan Lake has always seemed quiet; wooded, peaceful, untouched. The discovery of a Jane Doe near the lake, followed by Mara stumbling out of the forest, bloodied and disoriented, forces the small Ohio town to confront something it has long chosen not to see.

Sheriff Dalton begins piecing together fragments of Mara’s shattered memory. As the investigation deepens, long-buried secrets surface, and the attacks around Tappan Lake and the surrounding forest escalate.

A pattern begins to emerge, one that suggests a serial killer is operating in the area. Suspicion falls on passing truckers who move through town unnoticed, and on a local man named Red Dutter, a reclusive backwoods farmer known for his conspiracy-filled rants.

But as Dalton closes in, the case begins to fracture. What once felt familiar turns dangerous. And when a sudden blackout plunges the psychiatric ward into darkness and a violent attack follows, everything Dalton thought he understood comes undone.

The evil haunting Tappan Lake was never gone.

It was waiting, beneath the surface.