The deep

A weird book that comes across more like a film than a novel. The vast majority of its words are spent describing one or another montage of horrifying imagery that it feels like there's barely enough left over to serve as a plot. The pounding, relentless misery of it does create an effective atmosphere, but it also limits the emotional impact of the horror. The world of The Deep is one of ceaseless suffering both above and below the water, and so the relative difference in texture between the two doesn't give the reader much to grab onto beyond the images in and of themselves.

The blurb plugs this book as “The Abyss meets The Shining,” which isn’t a lie, but there’s a lot of John Carpenter’s “The Thing” in here and a big Clive Barker streak as well.

This book has a simple but immediately appealing premise. The world is being swept by an Alzheimer’s-like disease, and a potential cure has been located at the bottom of the ocean. Top scientists begin researching a mysterious cure-all substance dubbed “ambrosia” at a hastily-assembled research station at the bottom of the Marianas Trench. Initial results are promising, but after a cryptic message from below, communications between the station and its tender ship are disrupted. Hoping to reopen the lines of communication with Clayton, one of the genius scientists below, his younger brother Luke is flown in and ferried down to the station by Alice, an experienced Naval officer. Horror inevitably ensues.

While I found the premise extremely engaging, the first half of the book was more than a little frustrating. There are regular flashbacks and dream sequences that take the reader back to Luke’s past, including his abusive childhood and the traumatic disappearance of Luke’s young son. The length and frequency of these flashbacks irked me, as the undersea setting was so creepy and atmospheric. It seemed like every time something interesting happened down below, the reader gets dragged up to the surface and into the past. Happily, everything pays off at the very end.

This book is pretty gory and nasty (a perk for me, but not for all readers), but it makes excellent use of a fascinating setting. Highly recommended to horror fans, especially those fascinated by the deep sea.