The Deep
Ratings28
Average rating3.2
Sweet and thrilling. The ending did get me, I didn't see it coming exactly, but I was close. Worth a “spooky” read if you don't mind the switching between characters or time lines.
The Deep is a great historical fiction horror novel combining elements of gothic fiction with history to produce a chilling and compelling book. Alma Katsu (The Hunger) demonstrates her prowess as a researcher in this book, as well as her ability to write the supernatural. Unfortunately this latter element was somewhat diminished by the book's pacing. I think this novel could have been 50-100 pages shorter and been even more effective. I wanted more dread. More fear. It wasn't really scary. Still, The Deep was a great book with winning prose and a historical feel that's sure to delight readers interested in a gothic tale on the sinking of the Titanic.
I was expecting this to be a horror historical, but in the end I felt the paranormal element was very underplayed. The horror elements are there, but firmly in the background. There's no real sense of rising fear or dread, and the eventual revelation is delivered in a very matter of fact way, with no sense of supernatural awe. So we are left with a historical novel about the Titanic. In those terms it is decent enough, but probably not one I would have chosen to read. There's nothing particularly new about the depiction of upper class luxury, but some of the below decks stuff is good. I was particularly taken with the subplot involving the two boxers, which could have made a decent novel on its own.
3/5 - I didn't especially like this, but I can see that other people will. It just didn't chime with my tastes in the way I'd hoped.