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Book Review: The Deep by Nick Cutter

The Deep by Nick Cutter

Pocket Books, 2015

ISBN: 978-1-4767-1774-6

Available: Paperback, mass market paperback,  library binding, Kindle edition, audiobook

 

With his second novel, The Deep, author Nick Cutter has his modus operandi firmly established: keep the number of main characters to five or less, put them in an isolated setting, add in a biological menace to terrorize the characters, and a dash of blood, and voila, you have a thriller/horror novel.  It’s the formula he uses, and he does it very well.  This book moves at a fast clip: no lengthy expositions or wasted time.  It’s a good thriller from one of the better writers of the genre.

 

The plot: it’s present day, and the human population is being ravaged to extinction by a new disease called the ‘Gets.  The only possible hope for a cure lies in a research station at the bottom of the Marianas Trench in the Pacific, in the form of a new sort of biological organism.  As the book opens, contact with the three scientists at the research station has been lost.  Luke Nelson is the brother of Clayton Nelson, one of the scientists trapped on the bottom.  For reasons unknown to Luke, he’s brought in to make the trip to the bottom and re-establish contact with Clayton and the others.   Once he gets to the station, mayhem results.  The biological organism is not what it seems, and it bends reality for all the humans, causing deadly results.

 

Most of the book takes place in the claustrophobic environs of the research station. The characters quickly realize they are trapped in a station where reality and fantasy, through their dreams and nightmares, quickly meld together: distinguishing between them becomes almost impossible.  Cutter’s skill really shines here.  You start to feel claustrophobic on reading some of the sequences, such as the ones with characters trapped in corridors or ducts.  Add in the terror the characters feel from the creatures (or figments of their nightmares) pursuing them, and you have a first rate thriller.  The descriptions are perfect: Cutter really lets you feel the emotions of the characters as they struggle to survive.  The backstory on Luke Nelson and Clay Nelson is filled in with chapters interspersed throughout the book that reference a point in their lives growing up.  As it turns out, those chapters are not just asides for understanding the characters, but play a part in the overall story thread. These chapters do help flesh the brothers out, but they won’t change your thinking about them.  They are pretty much good or evil: there’s very little in-between.

The only drawback to the book is the ending, which felt rushed and seemed confusing, asking more questions than it answered.  After over 480 pages of excellent writing, the last 10 just felt tacked on.  Outside of that, this is an excellent thriller/horror novel, recommended for adults and teens alike.

 

Contains: violence, mild gore

 

Reviewed by Murray Samuelson

 

Posted on October 26, 2018 by , Reply

Book Review: Into the Drowning Deep by Mira Grant

Into The Drowning Deep by Mira Grant
Orbit Books,2017
ISBN-13: 978-0316379403
Available: Hardcover, paperback, Kindle edition, audiobook, audio CD

Mermaids? Scary? If you’re familiar with Mira Grant(aka Seanan McGuire), author of the Feed series, you know she’s capable of some horrific storytelling. In Into the Drowning Deep, the sequel to her novella Rolling in the Deep, Grant has reinvented a creature that most people don’t take seriously into a terrifying monster. The novel is scientifically based, utterly plausible, and rich in characterization– and it will make the reader cringe every time a dark corner is turned. Into the Drowning Deep is as frightening as Aliens and as mind-bending as Jurassic Park, with the lyrical prose only Grant is capable of writing.

The plot goes something like this: Imagine, an entertainment corporation that seems part reality-show machine and part “Umbrella Corp,” sent a cruise ship into the heart of the Pacific, towards the Mariana Trench, in search of a fictional beast they believe will steer millions straight through televisions into their pockets. Except, of course, something goes wrong and everyone on board goes missing. Only a secret video and splatters of blood remain.

Victoria is a marine biologist whose sister was one of the victims on that first boat. Now, Imagine wants Victoria to be a part of the second voyage, to prove that mermaids actually exist. She’s grouped with a college professor who’s devoted her life to cryptozoology, the woman’s husband and Imagine guru, a pair of deaf twin sisters who are geniuses in their given fields, and a plethora of other characters. Not one of the secondary personalities is poorly drawn; everyone has a backstory that works here without it overwhelming the story.

The ship has its own mysteries, and things obviously go wrong, but not in a typical “bad horror movie” way. The creatures find them and all hell breaks loose, but not in a manner that’s expected. Fans of Grant’s Feed series know that blood and gore will not be avoided, yet it is not exploited, either. Despite the carnage, the cast and crew of the ship remain committed to solving this sci-fi horror mystery of the hows and whys of the mermaids, and not just surviving them.

With very few parts that lag, Into the Drowning Deep rolls through the currents fast and hard, pushing the reader to keep up. While deftly pacing the story so the reader knows what’s going on and why, Grant also captures the lives of the characters in a manner that most cannot. Even the unlikable people evoke sympathy from the reader, and the suspense is genuine because of it. While not as hardcore and explicit as Michael Crichton, the science rings true. It is fascinating, teaching the reader about the mysteries of the deep sea and what we don’t know– yet.  Recommended.

 

Contains: gore, violence, sex.

 

Reviewed by Dave Simms

Posted on May 26, 2018 by , Reply

Book Review: Z-Boat by Suzanne Robb

Z-Boat(Z-Boat Book 1) by Suzanne Robb

Permuted Press, 2013

ISBN-13: 978-1-61868-2-345

Available: Trade paperback, multiformat ebook edition (Kindle,Nook, Smashwords, Kobo)

Experienced submarine captain Brian Kingston has accepted a search and rescue mission– a simple enough job for him and his crew. The huge payoff– half up front and half upon completion– is enough to silence any warning thoughts. The target is The Peacemaker, one of the most impressive submarines in any fleet, that is essentially an underwater laboratory. A distress call had gone out from the scientists inside, sent to study decayed things underwater, and Kingston’s orders are to find The Peacemaker, obtain an unidentified item and collect any survivors.

The idea behind Z–Boat was really cool. In addition to the events of the rescue mission, the personality conflicts and intensity of emotions in a closed environment built up the tension, and I wondered how the story would play out in the submarine. While the action was fast-paced, it didn’t feel like the story took off until well into the book. Too much time was devoted to setup and background: I wanted to get on the zombie sub long before the author let me.

The description was well-done, and the characters Robb developed were interesting, although there were so many characters that occasionally they blended together for me. The biggest issue is that the book needs editing. There are multiple instances of missing words and odd turns of phrase that really made it tough for me to get into the story. There were also a couple of instances where the captain’s name, Brian,  was misspelled as “Brain”: funny and ironic but not appropriate. Overall, Z-Boat is an okay read with an interesting scenario that needs a bit more work. I have not read this author’s work in the past.

Contains: Gore, Swearing

Reviewed by Aaron Fletcher

Posted on December 31, 2015 by , Reply
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