The Deep Published by Transworld Digital by Alma Katsu
on March 10, 2020
Genres: Adult, Fiction, Horror, Historical
Pages: 320
Source: Netgalley
Format: ARC, eBook
Find the Author: Website, Twitter, Facebook, Goodreads, Instagram, Pinterest
Also by this author: Dark Stars: New Tales of Darkest Horror
Find the Book: Amazon | Barnes & Noble | Goodreads
ISBN: 1473564492
Rating:
Someone, or something, is haunting the Titanic.
This is the only way to explain the series of misfortunes that have plagued the passengers of the ship from the moment they set sail: mysterious disappearances, sudden deaths. Now suspended in an eerie, unsettling twilight zone during the four days of the liner's illustrious maiden voyage, a number of the passengers - including millionaires Madeleine Astor and Benjamin Guggenheim, the maid Annie Hebbley and Mark Fletcher - are convinced that something sinister is going on . . . And then, as the world knows, disaster strikes.
Years later and the world is at war. And a survivor of that fateful night, Annie, is working as a nurse on the sixth voyage of the Titanic's sister ship, the Britannic, now refitted as a hospital ship. Plagued by the demons of her doomed first and near fatal journey across the Atlantic, Annie comes across an unconscious soldier she recognises while doing her rounds. It is the young man Mark. And she is convinced that he did not - could not - have survived the sinking of the Titanic . . .
One of my favorite kinds of stories are fiction stories that take place in an historical setting. Something realistic that the author made their own with fictional elements. So, of course, I couldn’t wait to read The Deep.
The fact that the author used real people in this book, helped me to connect to the story.
Annie Hebbley, who was a maid on the Titanic, is an enigma at first. All we know is that she’s spent her time in an asylum since the sinking of the Titanic and seems to be suffering from something–either supernatural or not, we don’t know right off. Soon, Annie embarks on a journey on Titanic’s sister-ship, the Britannic during WWI. She’s there with fellow-Titanic survivor and friend, Violet Jessop.
After the suspiciously supernatural events that took place on the Titanic, Annie soon finds herself in another situation very similar. I don’t want to give away too much, so I’ll stop there with the summary.
First and foremost, I have to say that I legitimately enjoyed Ms. Katsu’s writing. It was engaging and suspenseful in all the right places. There weren’t any boring places that I felt the need to skip over; I was hooked through the whole story.
The only issue I had with this one is that I didn’t fully engage with the characters. I’ve always been more engrossed in character-driven stories as opposed to plot-driven. And, unfortunately, for me, The Deep falls into the latter category. That doesn’t take away from the quality of the story, however. Just the overall enjoyment for me, personally.
Because while I may not have enjoyed that cast of characters as much as I’d hoped, I was really very impressed with the way Ms. Katsu wove the fictional and realistic aspects of the narrative together.
Also, it wasn’t predictable in the least. Which, is no easy task, in my mind. Most stories are pretty telling from the beginning and they don’t leave much joy in the end when you get to the climax.
I’ve heard wonderful things about this author’s other works, and I’m eager to read more!
About Alma Katsu
Alma Katsu is the author of The Hunger, a reimagining of the story of the Donner Party with a horror twist. The Hunger made NPR’s list of the 100 Best Horror Stories, was named one of the best novels of 2018 by the Observer, Barnes & Noble, Powell’s Books (and more), and was nominated for a Stoker and Locus Award for best horror novel.
The Taker, her debut novel, has been compared to the early works of Anne Rice and Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander for combining historical, the supernatural, and fantasy into one story. The Taker was named a Top Ten Debut Novel of 2011 by Booklist, was nominated for a Goodreads Readers Choice award, and has been published in over 10 languages. It is the first in an award-winning trilogy that includes The Reckoning and The Descent.
Ms. Katsu lives outside of Washington DC with her husband, musician Bruce Katsu. In addition to her novels, she has been a signature reviewer for Publishers Weekly, and a contributor to the Huffington Post. She is a graduate of the Johns Hopkins Writing Program and Brandeis University, where she studied with novelist John Irving. She also is an alumni of the Squaw Valley Community of Writers.
Prior to publication of her first novel, Ms. Katsu had a long career in intelligence, working for several US agencies and a think tank. She currently is a consultant on emerging technologies. Additional information can be found on Wikipedia and in this interview with Ozy.com.
