The Deep Mass Market Paperback – July 28, 2015

This is my third Nick Cutter book, and after that extended trial, I've decided probably my last. Ill try to share why in the following comments without giving away any spoilers, but if you're the type that likes to enter into a book with zero expectations or foreknowledge, be warned some things may give you an idea of the books narrative and plot.The GOODCutter writes a fine voice, realistic and very relatable, with his characters or at least his main ones. He gives just enough info to help you invest, and the inner dialogue/monologue of his protagonists feel quickly at home in your head. Likeable, generally "good" every-men who are easy to connect with.Another strong point is pacing. Cutter drives the narrative at fairly breakneck speed, with short chapters that often end in cliffhangers that have you hurrying on to the next chapter.As mentioned, very much a page turner! And if that's all your looking for, this might be an enjoyable read.The NOT so good -After three books, I believe I've sussed out Cutter's modus operandi...and its a bit lazy and non-edifying.In the books I read, they followed the same path - set up a great premise and potential story, spend a little time building the world and establishing the characters, then a little less time getting them to a particular place....then basically halt the plot development for the rest of the book and just move from one predictable horror trope scene to another. This goes on forever...then the book ends. Dourly.I mean, there's only so many times you can read about the main character encountering something turning into "gelatinous ooze", and his mind "gibbering in fear". Its like taking a short, interesting trip through the countryside...to a pigsty, and then spending days just wallowing around in the muck. One disgusting pile of muck is about the same as any other, but we are subjected to scene after scene of it.During all this extended muck-wallowing, nothing happens to the plot. Causation, motive, new information, twists or surprises are in very short supply, if any...again, one gelatinous oozing object/character is pretty much the same as the other, if they don't reveal anything about the plot or the characters.In this particular instance, it takes place at the bottom of the ocean, with an ancient malevolent, unknowable entity screwing with everyone and everything. Basically, "Event Horizon", except at the bottom of the ocean instead of the far reaches of space, and not nearly as cohesive.WARNING - The next part might be a bit spoiler-y, though I won't give away any specifics.One of the MO's that have held constant in the three Cutter books I've read is that there is basically no redemption in them, for the characters or the readers. They tend to be likeable protagonists who find themselves in a life or death struggle with unknowable evil - a common trope. But Cutter seems to display a very sadistic side in that there is hardly ever any "wins" for his characters through the book. He grinds them down, defeat after defeat, grinding and grinding until there is nothing left to grind. And then it ends.I love me a good tragedy, and it can be a very effective narrative in the horror genre as well. However the best tragedies are felt more deeply when they are experienced by a hero who has striven heroically and lost. I feel - very subjectively - that Cutter just seems to enjoy torturing his characters till they're used up, like a sadistic child with a magnifying glass at an ant hill.One wants for a LITTLE redemption at some point!And so because of these pros and cons, I give The Deep three stars...and probably say farewell to Mr. Cutter having space on my Kindle.

Truth: I bought this book because my favorite author has a quote on the cover. Clive Barker is no lightweight in the horror genre but I read his two words like a dare. Now, this novel will live rent free in my mind until I die. Sounds dramatic but its oh so true. Be prepared when you read it, it will stay with you. It touches the deep recesses of your mind. If you are claustrophobic or thalassaphobic, beware. Everything inside these pages is slightly suffocating in all the worst ways. Initially its a nagging concern, something is off, it worries you. It evolves into full blown, pulse pounding pain and fear. I use all these words as heavy handedly as I can. This book will rock you to your core. I could not put it down even knowing it would not end well...and it truly did not end well. All our fear of the unknown is not really unfounded

Note: If fatphobia is triggering for you, just skip this review and the book altogether. It’s really bad.Nick Cutter’s The Deep: A Novel introduces us to Dr. Luke Nelson, a veterinarian. Although he hasn’t seen his brother, genius scientist Clay, in years, he’s snapped up by the government to help out with a project Clay is involved in. Clay is 8 miles down under the surface of the ocean in the Mariana Trench, studying a possible miraculous cure-all agent they call ambrosia. There’s a disease going around called “the ‘Gets”–everyone who catches it starts forgetting more and more, until they finally forget to breathe. The hope is that ambrosia might be the one thing that cures it. Clay and two other scientists are trying to harvest some ambrosia to study. The problem is, the folks up top have lost contact with the little facility they have down there (the Trieste), and one of the last things Clay transmitted was a bizarre-sounding appeal for Luke to “come home.” One of the other scientists came up on his own and was found quite horrifically dead. The folks in charge hope that Luke will be the key to finding out what’s going on, and he’s quickly sent down to the Trieste with Lieutenant Commander Alice “Al” Sykes.I love it when the weird stuff starts happening early on in a horror or paranormal novel. We all know it’s coming; it’s overly coy to keep it out of reach. The Deep dives right in, with the ‘Gets, the ambrosia, and the insanity of sending three scientists 8 miles below the ocean’s surface. When Luke and Al get down there, things have already gone very, very wrong. One of the two remaining scientists seems to have gone insane. True, this can happen when you’re alone, in the dark, in such an inhospitable place, but this is something else. Clay doesn’t seem all that odd, but I mean, this is Clay–he’s always been impassive, cold, and uncaring about anyone except himself. As he says, why would he have sent for Luke? Luke can’t do anything for him. There are very weird things going on in the various labs, but most of the doors are locked and Luke can’t tell what’s going on inside of them.The insane and weird events build nicely, but there was at least one stretch toward the end where I felt like it wasn’t really ramping up fast enough. It got over that, though. There are a lot of memories that Luke spends his time falling into–apparently it’s something about the Trieste, or whatever else might be down here with the ambrosia. Thus we see into Luke’s life quite often. It does become relevant, I promise. He’s had a hard time of things–his son Zach disappeared some years ago. And he and Clayton did not exactly have a normal upbringing.This is where I tackle the thing that pissed me off about this book. Luke and Clayton’s mother. She’s a horrifying monster of a woman, capable of terrible things. She’s also a walking, talking veneer over the face of some serious fatphobia. The details of her fatness are almost lovingly lingered on and very obviously meant to make her seem more disgusting and monstrous. Nearly every time she’s brought up there’s a nod to her fatness whether it’s relevant to anything or not. When she trauma-eats after a very violent event, even that is made to be disgusting. Then there’s a brief mention of a man who killed a bunch of children, and of course he’s labeled “rotund.” In Nick Cutter’s world, fat equals evil. Fat equals disgusting. Fat equals disturbed. People who are fat abuse children, molest children, and kill children.It’s a shame, because this is a really creative book other than that. I love how things work out in some very unexpected ways. However, there’s a seriously major plot point that never gets at all wrapped up–it drops away into nowhere after being worked up into something that seems very unnatural.Content note for a fair amount of animal harm, because Clay has no morals and experiments on animals, even referring to each one as “it.” There’s also off-the-page child death and molestation, and of course a bit of gore.

Oh be still my beating heart! I’ve just finished The Deep and I’m sat here wondering just what the actual hell I have just read?! This has been my first read in the horror genre for many years and god what a book to have picked. This book was Bone- Chillingly terrifying, my heart wanted to escape from within my chest it was beating that hard. The book has been described as a mix of The Abyss and The Shining and that comparison has nailed this story. This is classic horror writing at it’s very best – Gruesome, Real and Frightening. The story develops very human emotions to fear with psychological elements. This story very much packs an enormous punch and it leaves you feeling winded and off – balance.The World has become riddled with “The Gets”A plague has overcome the earth where it manifests itself physically with pock-marked skin that develops into forgetting small things – like where you left your keys, and develops into forgetting major things like how to drive and finally when your body forgets how to exist and you die. This triggers the main story of what is happening below the ocean – 8 miles down. A substance has potentially been discovered in the deepest recesses of the ocean, further than any human could possibly survive, it’s deadly and crushing. A protected lab has been constructed but at a terrible cost where three scientists will examine and test this wonder substance. Can it be a cure?Human’s weren’t built for this. There’s a reason nothing exists down here. Or nothing should.Without examining the horrendous goings on within the lab, there are terrible things that could go wrong down there. The pressure alone would tear them apart, there are deadly creatures that roam the deepest depths of the ocean. Terrible creatures…ugly…Psychological Elements – Claustrophobia, Isolation and ParanoiaThese elements play out throughout the story in glorious HD. You are 8 miles beneath the surface, the mere pressure of the water and the contained way the characters were kept in would be claustrophobic as hell. They haven’t seen daylight in god knows how long and they only have each other and tonnes of water around them for company. No wonder they each fall into madness with their arms outstretched – Or do they? Is it actually some other supernatural force at work here? One scientist openly talks about holes appearing in the lab walls, of it having an exorable pull towards it. How can a hole appear in the wall and not have the water crush them into a pulp?FlashbacksThis is I think where the author really comes into his own with this story. It is classic horror at its absolute best. The main character Lucas often has flashbacks to his childhood and just how terrible his mother was to both Lucas and his father. It’s this type of writing that reinforces the notion that we are all a product of our upbringing. Those monsters that you were damn sure were under your bed or in your closet – what if they were actually real?Overall, this was a read with one eye open type of book. If you are squemish then this isn’t a book for you. It’s a horror story what would it be if there wasn’t death, blood, gore and suffering?

The Deep is a frustrating book. It starts off so well, with a promising storyline, witty dialogue and sharp characterisation, but then all becomes murky and muddled once on the Trieste, with a chaotic blurring between reality, dreams and flashbacks. An alternative POV or two would help to add perspective and an occasional comment from the surface would help, too. As it is, the last half of the book descends into a tedious horror fest that's frankly a bore.

This book was trying so hard to be terrifying it became a mockery of itself.The same ‘scary’ words popping up every chapter to make sure we don’t miss how scary it all was.The main character went through the whole story tethering at the brink of fainting out of fear.All characters were brutalised (including a dog) in a fashion that could be devised by per-teen telling spooky stories round a campfire.The concept was interesting, I admit but the execution not worth a bother.

Imagery: 2/2 wow did this book take me on a wild imaginary ride, the descriptions were so grotesque and vivid.Flow: 2/2 wonderfully written, amazing ability to toe the line of creepy and gory without turning the reader off.Pacing: 2/2 there's always something happening, never a dull moment and no wasted words.Story: 1/2 so close to a clean sweep for me, the only reason it lost a point here is because some readers may feel like there isn't enough closure.Enjoyment: 2/2 My most enjoyable read in a long while. I laughed, I literally cried (LB no!), I even gagged a little bit.

'Real horror', as a genre - frightening, perturbing, horrific as in gory and repulsive, and nerve-rackingly suspenseful - seems to have gone out of fashion. There used to be lots of first-rate authors doing it, apart from Stephen King, whose comment on a different book by Nick Cutter appears on the cover of The Deep. But most authors once known for horror, have edged away from scary/gruesome/paranormal - perhaps at the behest of their publishers, maybe at least partly because they themselves have run out of original themes that haven't been done before - into other realms such as 'straight' mystery/thriller, graphic novels, or gentle fantasy. Not so Mr. Cutter. This is the most disturbing, frightening novel I've read in a long time, and certainly delivers on originality, and not telegraphing what's going to happen next (not that you really want to know, but like picking scab, or a hated addiction, you can't leave it alone), or how it's going to end.That said, it's not particularly well-written in my opinion. There are some glaring mistakes which irritate, and at least one which seriously threatens suspension of disbelief. For instance, it's hard for me to believe in a character who is supposed to be a top biologist, who repeatedly refers to the worker bees in a colony/hive as 'drones'. That's just wrong, and I don't care if the fellow is supposed to be losing his mind - it's not a mistake any biologist, or even somebody with basic common knowledge of bees, would make, and to me, it's infuriating.But if that sort of thing doesn't bother you, and you just want to read some scary and deeply unsettling fiction, here it is!