Bob McGough

Bob McGough writes rural fantasy shaped by Southern folklore, small-town grudges, and the unstable talents of his recurring wizard Howard Marsh. The Depth Of The Water belongs to the Jubal County Saga and contains two linked tales set in Alabama’s fictional lost county. In the title story, Howard follows the trail of a missing young woman whose search for a god has led toward an uncanny presence in deep water. The companion story, September Doves, asks him to identify the strange force troubling a child and the connection it holds to an older family history. McGough uses Howard’s limited resources and unreliable judgment to keep the supernatural close to back roads, local families, and practical consequences. The Depth Of The Water consequently expands Jubal County without abandoning the intimate scale that defines the series. Its paired structure lets one volume explore two corners of the setting while continuing Howard’s difficult effort to act responsibly with magic he does not always control.