[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-detail-129657-en":3,"doc-seo-129657-105":30,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":92},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"success",{"doc_id":7,"user_id":8,"nickname":9,"user_avatar":10,"doc_module":4,"category_id":11,"category_name":12,"doc_title":13,"doc_description":14,"doc_content":15,"file_id":16,"file_url":17,"file_type":18,"file_size":19,"view_count":20,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":11,"is_downloadable":11,"audit_status":11,"page_count":21,"language":22,"language_code":23,"site_id":24,"html_lang":23,"table_of_contents":25,"faqs":26,"seo_title":27,"seo_description":14,"update_tm":28,"read_time":29},129657,5909887256941,"Levi","https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_9964176cb1d06d4a9deccf72a44ae3dc",1,"Story & Novel","The Drowned Girl - Prologue - Dark crime novel","A dark, emotionally charged crime story unfolds through immersive, atmospheric scenes that blur the line between menace and introspection. In the opening prologue, Oksana stands where land ends and black water meets an equally black sky, moving through an eerie landscape of stone, reflections, and rituallike solitude. Her entry into the tarn becomes a moment of forced communion—sensory, unsettling, and intimate—while personal losses and looming conflicts remain shadowed just out of reach, setting a tense, suspenseful tone for what follows.","Praise for David Mark  \n‘Dark, compelling crime writing of the highest order ’ Daily Mail‘One of crime fiction’s most distinctive voices’ Chris Ewan‘David Mark is up there with the best’Mari Hannah‘Gripping story lines steeped in emotion and menace’ Mel Sherratt‘Compelling and harrowing’Daily Express  \n‘More twists and turns than a corkscrew through the eyeball’Val McDermid‘An extraordinary talent…I adore how he writes’M. W. Craven‘Dark and compelling with characters you will never forget’ Elly Griffiths‘Exhilarating and inventive…a wonderfully descriptive writer ’ Peter James‘David Mark’s books are always taut, intelligent page-turners’ Abir Mukherjee  \n[OceanofPDF.com](OceanofPDF.com)  \nAlso by David Mark  \nThe Guest House  \nThe Buried Saint  \nInto the Woods  \n[OceanofPDF.com](OceanofPDF.com)  \nThe Drowned Girl  \nDavid Mark  \n[OceanofPDF.com](OceanofPDF.com)  \nFirst published in the UK in 2026 by Pellerin Books This edition first published in the UK in 2026 by Pellerin Books Copyright © David Mark, 2026  \nThe moral right of David Mark to be identified as the author of this work has been asserted in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act of 1988.  \nAll rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the prior permission of both the copyright owner and the above publisher of this  \nbook.  \nThis is a work of fiction. All characters, organizations, and events portrayed in this novel are either products of the author ’s imagination or are used fictitiously.  \n9 7 5 3 1 2 4 6 8  \nA catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.  \nISBN (PB): 9781807470104  \nISBN (EB): 9781807470111  \nCover design by Ben Prior  \nTypeset by Siliconchips Services Ltd, UK  \nPellerin Books Ltd  \n42 Hawksley Road  \nLondon, N16 0TJ  \n[www.pellerinbooks.com](www.pellerinbooks.com)  \n[OceanofPDF.com](OceanofPDF.com)  \nFor my dad,  \nwho let me read Jaws at an impressionable age  \n[OceanofPDF.com](OceanofPDF.com)  \nContents  \nCover  \nPraise for David Mark  \nAlso by David Mark  \nTitle Page  \nCopyright  \nDedication  \nEpigraph  \nPrologue Chapter 1  \nChapter 2  \nChapter 3  \nChapter 4  \nChapter 5  \nChapter 6  \nChapter 7  \nChapter 8  \nChapter 9  \nChapter 10  \nChapter 11  \nChapter 12  \nChapter 13  \nChapter 14  \nChapter 15  \nChapter 16  \nChapter 17  \nChapter 18  \nChapter 19  \nChapter 20  \nChapter 21  \nChapter 22  \nChapter 23  \nChapter 24  \nChapter 25  \nChapter 26  \nChapter 27  \nChapter 28  \nChapter 29  \nAn exclusive preview of The Guest House Chapter 1  \nAcknowledgements  \nAbout the Author  \nJoin the Pellerin Books Reviewer Community [OceanofPDF.com](OceanofPDF.com)  \n‘In that day, the LORD will punish with his sword – his fierce, great and powerful sword – Leviathan the gliding serpent, Leviathan the coiling serpent; he will slay the monster of the  \nsea.’  \nIsaiah: 27:1  \n‘It is the phantom of our own self whose deep affinity and profound influence on our state of mind either damns us to hell or uplifts us into heaven.’  \nE. T. A. Hoffman,‘Der Sandmann’  \n[OceanofPDF.com](OceanofPDF.com)  \nPrologue  \nOKSANA STANDS AT the place where the land runs out. Above black water, black sky. Piles of slate lie heaped amid slimed stones, their copper-green surfaces casting reflections like so much shattered glass. A yellow moonspills amber pendants and chains of pearl upon the dark skin of the tarn.  \nThe cave is to her back, a Rorschach of spilled ink upon the rutted face of the high cliff. From some angles, the hollows form the likeness of a skull – empty eye sockets and splintered teeth. Oksana has seen the tourists standing at the opposite bank, comical as they peer at their phones and through their viewfinders, trying to find the right angle to make the cave find its reflection and recreate the same haunting image that has brought them to this eerie, desolate spot. Few find w","cbCaidUmgkxhh6AE","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaidUmgkxhh6AE","pdf",2276623,5,202,"English","en",105,"# Contents\n## Prologue\n## Chapter 1\n## Chapter 2\n## Chapter 3\n## Chapter 4\n## Chapter 5\n## Chapter 6\n## Chapter 7\n## Chapter 8\n## Chapter 9\n## Chapter 10\n## Chapter 11\n## Chapter 12\n## Chapter 13\n## Chapter 14\n## Chapter 15\n## Chapter 16\n## Chapter 17\n## Chapter 18\n## Chapter 19\n## Chapter 20\n## Chapter 21\n## Chapter 22\n## Chapter 23\n## Chapter 24\n## Chapter 25\n## Chapter 26\n## Chapter 27\n## Chapter 28\n## Chapter 29\n## Exclusive preview of The Guest House (Chapter 1)","[{\"question\":\"What is the setting of the prologue in The Drowned Girl?\",\"answer\":\"Oksana stands at the edge where the land ends into black water beneath a black sky, near a cave on a high cliff and eerie piles of slate among slimed stones.\"},{\"question\":\"Who is Oksana in the opening scene?\",\"answer\":\"Oksana is the central figure in the prologue, experiencing the place as her sanctuary while moving into the water with heightened, sensory focus.\"},{\"question\":\"What tone does the prologue establish for the novel?\",\"answer\":\"The prologue establishes a dark, tense, and menacing atmosphere through vivid imagery, isolation, and an intimate yet unsettling physical immersion in the tarn.\"}]","The Drowned Girl - Prologue - Dark crime novel | PDF",1786107026,311,{"code":4,"msg":31,"data":32},"ok",{"site_id":24,"language":23,"slug":33,"title":13,"keywords":34,"description":14,"schema_data":35,"social_meta":87,"head_meta":89,"extra_data":91,"updated_unix":28},"the-drowned-girl-prologue-dark-crime-novel","",{"@graph":36,"@context":86},[37,54,69],{"@type":38,"itemListElement":39},"BreadcrumbList",[40,44,48,51],{"item":41,"name":42,"@type":43,"position":11},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",{"item":45,"name":46,"@type":43,"position":47},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":49,"name":12,"@type":43,"position":50},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/story-novel/",3,{"item":52,"name":13,"@type":43,"position":53},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/the-drowned-girl-prologue-dark-crime-novel/129657/",4,{"url":52,"name":13,"@type":55,"author":56,"headline":13,"publisher":58,"fileFormat":61,"inLanguage":23,"description":14,"dateModified":62,"datePublished":63,"encodingFormat":61,"isAccessibleForFree":64,"interactionStatistic":65},"DigitalDocument",{"name":9,"@type":57},"Person",{"url":41,"name":59,"@type":60},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-08-25","2026-08-07",true,{"@type":66,"interactionType":67,"userInteractionCount":20},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":68},"ViewAction",{"@type":70,"mainEntity":71},"FAQPage",[72,78,82],{"name":73,"@type":74,"acceptedAnswer":75},"What is the setting of the prologue in The Drowned Girl?","Question",{"text":76,"@type":77},"Oksana stands at the edge where the land ends into black water beneath a black sky, near a cave on a high cliff and eerie piles of slate among slimed stones.","Answer",{"name":79,"@type":74,"acceptedAnswer":80},"Who is Oksana in the opening scene?",{"text":81,"@type":77},"Oksana is the central figure in the prologue, experiencing the place as her sanctuary while moving into the water with heightened, sensory focus.",{"name":83,"@type":74,"acceptedAnswer":84},"What tone does the prologue establish for the novel?",{"text":85,"@type":77},"The prologue establishes a dark, tense, and menacing atmosphere through vivid imagery, isolation, and an intimate yet unsettling physical immersion in the tarn.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":52,"og:type":88,"og:title":13,"og:site_name":59,"og:description":14},"article",{"robots":90,"canonical":52},"index,follow",{"doc_id":7,"site_id":24},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":93},[94,97,101,105,109,114,119,124,129,132,136],{"id":11,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":12,"show_sort_weight":95,"slug":96},90,"story-novel",{"id":47,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":98,"show_sort_weight":99,"slug":100},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":53,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":102,"show_sort_weight":103,"slug":104},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":20,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":106,"show_sort_weight":107,"slug":108},"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":110,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":111,"show_sort_weight":112,"slug":113},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":115,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":116,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":118},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":120,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":121,"show_sort_weight":122,"slug":123},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":125,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":126,"show_sort_weight":127,"slug":128},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":127,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":130,"show_sort_weight":127,"slug":131},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":133,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":134,"show_sort_weight":133,"slug":135},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":137,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":46,"category_name":138,"show_sort_weight":20,"slug":139},19,"General","general"]