336 pages
English language
Published June 17, 2023 by MTV Books.
Whalefall is a scientifically accurate thriller about a scuba diver who’s been swallowed by an eighty-foot, sixty-ton sperm whale and has only one hour to escape before his oxygen runs out.
Jay Gardiner has given himself a fool’s errand—to find the remains of his deceased father in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Monastery Beach. He knows it’s a long shot, but Jay feels it’s the only way for him to lift the weight of guilt he has carried since his dad’s death by suicide the previous year.
The dive begins well enough, but the sudden appearance of a giant squid puts Jay in very real jeopardy, made infinitely worse by the arrival of a sperm whale looking to feed. Suddenly, Jay is caught in the squid’s tentacles and drawn into the whale’s mouth where he is pulled into the first of its four stomachs. He quickly realizes he …
Whalefall is a scientifically accurate thriller about a scuba diver who’s been swallowed by an eighty-foot, sixty-ton sperm whale and has only one hour to escape before his oxygen runs out.
Jay Gardiner has given himself a fool’s errand—to find the remains of his deceased father in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Monastery Beach. He knows it’s a long shot, but Jay feels it’s the only way for him to lift the weight of guilt he has carried since his dad’s death by suicide the previous year.
The dive begins well enough, but the sudden appearance of a giant squid puts Jay in very real jeopardy, made infinitely worse by the arrival of a sperm whale looking to feed. Suddenly, Jay is caught in the squid’s tentacles and drawn into the whale’s mouth where he is pulled into the first of its four stomachs. He quickly realizes he has only one hour before his oxygen tanks run out—one hour to defeat his demons and escape the belly of a whale.
Whales don't have hands, but if they did they would look miniscule in comparison to the hamfistedness of Failwhale.
This short novel, described as a scientifically accurate thriller about a scuba diver swallowed by a sperm whale, was not for me. It seemed to be chapter after chapter of either repetitive daddy issues, long-winded descriptions of diving and diving equipment, or tedious descriptions of escape attempts. The writing was marred by flourishes clearly meant to ramp up tension but which just became extremely annoying. I almost put it down multiple times, but forced my way to the end. I wish I hadn't bothered.
A good book might reveal something about yourself that you didn't know already, but I think a good book can also reinforce something you already knew about yourself. For me, it is the fact that I never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever want to go scuba diving.
This book was marketed as Horror/Thriller for some reason, but I think this sits squarely in the Wilderness Survival genre, which I've read before. Unlike The Revenant or The North Passage however, this extreme scenario didn't take place over days or weeks, but more like 90 in-fiction minutes that I honestly found quite harrowing (I'd never imagined the phrase, "palm meat" before, and I don't think I want to again).
But there's more going on than just the pivotal moment literally depicted on the (very cool) cover. Our protagonist is a bitter teenager who had a very difficult relationship with his father that …
A good book might reveal something about yourself that you didn't know already, but I think a good book can also reinforce something you already knew about yourself. For me, it is the fact that I never, ever, ever, ever, ever, ever want to go scuba diving.
This book was marketed as Horror/Thriller for some reason, but I think this sits squarely in the Wilderness Survival genre, which I've read before. Unlike The Revenant or The North Passage however, this extreme scenario didn't take place over days or weeks, but more like 90 in-fiction minutes that I honestly found quite harrowing (I'd never imagined the phrase, "palm meat" before, and I don't think I want to again).
But there's more going on than just the pivotal moment literally depicted on the (very cool) cover. Our protagonist is a bitter teenager who had a very difficult relationship with his father that jostled some very deep, specific, and uncomfortable memories of my own dad. Paternal disappointment and filial spite run deep in this story, and hoo boy that hit way closer to home than I was expecting.
Chapters are extremely short - the page count is very deceptive on this one - and are titled by how much PSI is left in the scuba tank. So the first several chapters before we even get in that water are all titled "3000 psi", but the first time that changes (chapter "2974 psi") I'm already stressing out, and Murphy's Law is essentially the secondary antagonist here.
I've seen some other reviewers complain this is just "daddy issues inside a whale", which comes across to me as someone using humor to deflect from addressing a difficult topic. I found that using what honestly is one of the most unique survival scenario I've come across in a long time as a vehicle for exploring grief within an in-fiction time limit was super novel, and executed extremely well. Gonna be thinking about this one for a while.
Not really what I expected given what I’ve read about it beforehand (ie. that is praises itself to be scientifically correct etc) but it ended up being a good read. I enjoyed it. The book is a 50/50 mix of family trauma and getting swallowed by a whale. The whale plot is kind of entertaining and so is the buildup of it. The family trauma is kind of flat to be honest, but the author manages to ties them together quite nicely.
Wow. Just, wow. It's such an intense book, and it reads so quickly that I had to keep reminding myself to actually read the descriptions of all the awful things Jay endured. But, the story is so much more than just a harrowing thriller about being eaten alive. It's a eulogy, an examination of fatherhood and childhood and the canyon (deep sea trench?) between those experiences. It's about grief and about trauma, about misunderstanding and miscommunication. It's a prodigal son story from the stomach of a sperm whale.
I think I'll be buying this one. It's going to require a thorough re-read someday.
