100 fathoms below … cunning and malevolent.
Trapped in enemy territory and hunted by Soviet submarines, tensions escalate and crew members turn on each other. When the lights go out and horror fills the corridors, it will take everything the crew has to survive the menace coming from outside and inside the submarine.
In the dark.
Combining Tom Clancy’s eye for international intrigue with Stephen King’s sense of the macabre, 100 Fathoms Below takes readers into depths from which there is no escape.
“100 Fathoms Below is deliciously creepy and deeply unnerving. Kent and Kaufmann take a real bite out of the horror genre with this killer of a book!”—Jonathan Maberry, New York Times bestselling author
“[A] chilling, tension-driven thriller…Readers will not be able to turn away.”—Publishers Weekly
“Full of claustrophobic horror…and hardcore evil, 100 Fathoms Below creates a powerful sense of place and a tension that festers in your gut throughout.”—Christopher Golden, New York Times bestselling author of Ararat
“Between potential attacks from enemy boats and the paranormal danger lurking among the crew, readers will wonder which will destroy the USS Roanoke first.”—Booklist
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100 Fathoms Below is deliciously creepy and deeply unnerving. Kent and Kaufmann take a real bite out of the horror genre with this killer of a book!
Claustrophobic Cold War combat with plenty of vampires, 100 Fathoms Below is what would happen if The Hunt for Red October had a baby with Salem’s Lot and it joined the navy.
A fairly creative story and leaves it open for a sequel.
100 FATHOMS BELOW is the depth where sunlight no longer penetrates the sea. That depth and further is where you’ll find submarines and that’s where the USS Roanoke attempted to locate the new class of Russian sub-supposedly in development. Unfortunately, the Roanoke encountered some problems accomplishing their mission.
Set in 1983, during the height of the cold war, the Roanoke and her crew are going about day to day submarine life. Not everyone gets along in such tight quarters, but they make do for the good of the ship. When Petty Officer Stubic becomes ill, the crew isn’t worried, they have a medic to help with such things. But thereafter, as officer after officer sickens, and as lights keep getting smashed out on each deck, the crew begins to get frightened, and rightfully so. Will they survive whatever it is that’s on their ship? Will they find the new Russian sub? You’ll have to read this to find out!
This is my first book from these authors and I’m happy to say that I enjoyed it immensely. It’s a fun story and it’s fast paced with lots of action. I enjoyed the fact that several of the character’s names in the book are actually the names of authors I recognize, so that added a bit of fun as well.
What I thought was slightly lacking was character development-I could have used a bit more to add to the depth of the cast. However, I understand this book isn’t trying to be a literary classic, and what we do have here is some creature feature fun!
100 FATHOMS BELOW is probably just what you expect it to be, if you’re looking for underwater, claustrophobic, B-movie-type fun. If that’s what you are in the mood for reading right now? Go ahead, take the plunge: Dive! Dive! Dive!
Recommended!
*Thanks to NetGalley and Blackstone for the e-ARC of this book in exchange for my honest feedback. This is it.*
Full of claustrophobic horror… and hardcore evil, 100 Fathoms Below creates a powerful sense of place and a tension that festers in your gut throughout.
The tension never lets up in this white-knuckle thrill ride. You can feel the pressure of the freezing cold ocean bearing down on you, feel the terror as the bodies pile up. I couldn’t stop reading — I had to know what horrific thing waited around the next corner, behind the next hatch of the USS Roanoke. This book will make you gasp — and scream.
As a horror fan, I have to say I enjoyed this historical fiction. The authors did an excellent job of pulling me into the tight confinement of a submarine. The lingo and detali of the sub is a testament to their knowledge of the Navy and helped create a believable.
I’m a big proponent for diversity in fiction and loved the nod to Phillipino and Louisiana lore. Between the very real threat of war with the Russians and the supernatural elements, the tension runs high. A great read that I recommned for readers of the genre.
I got this book immediately after I saw the author’s post about a review stating vampires in a submarine being unrealistic. First of all, it’s a freaking fantasy novel, anything goes. Why wouldn’t there be vampires on a submarine? If anything, it’s totally plausible and a fantastic idea. Not to mention that the book is superbly written and plotted to the smallest detail without a fail.
The authors did such an amazing job with everything. This story could not be better. It is scary, creepy and the mystery of it is chilling. Well, it starts with mystery and then grows into a full blown horror. And it does not stop until the last page.
The characters are developed to the perfection and the gradual world building is brilliant. The authors make the reader feel like they are part of the story. I read the story in one breath, biting my nails, feeling so scared I were to be the next victim. I felt like I was there, under water, in the dark, together with the crew, fighting for survival.
And vampires are not fluffy friendly sexy creatures that reader can fall in love with and cheer for but truly abhorrent creatures that know nothing but causing death and destruction. This was refreshing for a change. Don’t get me wrong, I am not against vampire romances, but every now and then, I enjoy a good horror story. And this one was without exaggeration one of the best out there.
I am grateful to the hateful reviewer for their negative review almost as much as I am grateful for the authors writing this story, as I probably would not have discovered this book otherwise. This book is one of my all time favourites and I highly recommend it.
I loved it, could not put it down.
I just couldn’t get through this book. I was at page 75 and the book still hadn’t gotten going.
This book was a great new twist on the vampire genre! Highly recommended!
I found 100 Fathoms Below to be an interesting read. I was intrigued by the premise of vampires trapped with humans in a submarine. I mean…it’s perpetually dark, no sunlight anywhere. What better environment for vampires to live. And yes, this was a great element, but I found myself becoming more intrigued by the descriptions of life by the military on a submarine. The author does a great job at setting the stage for the story. I learned a lot of names used by the military for everyday things. I’ll let you read the book to find out, but I think you’ll also find it quite interesting. The vampire story was good. Not the best I’ve ever read. There was a few thrills and chills, but the military life seemed to be the main character in the story. Not that it makes this a bad book. Not at all. I just wasn’t looking for something so deeply “military”. But that being said, once I started I wanted to finish it through to the end. The characters were well flushed out and you felt a connection to them. I think my one critique would be to have had the “green eyed queen” a bigger part of the story. She seemed to be a pivotal character in the story, but she was never really brought fully to,life. Just really eluded to at the end. By why this green eyed girl working in a ….oops, almost gave part of the story away. Give it a read. It’s fun, quick, and you’ll learn a thing or two about military life.
Incredibly terrible.
I seriously doubt if the author has spent more than ten minutes even talking to anyone who has served on a submarine. Minimal, if any, research of Navy ratings is evident by stating that Stewards servethe officers in the wardroom. Steward rating was removed and combined into Commissarymen rating in the early 1970s.
The notion of a character as obvious as a vampire going unnoticed or unreported onboard is redicilious !!!
I enjoyed the underwater suspense aboard the sub. Throw in the vampires, and the fun begins. Great characters and story. A movie in the future?
I admit, I wasn’t excited at first. Vampires? Haven’t they been done to death? But though I haven’t read any of Kent’s work before, I’ve read and enjoyed all of Kaufmann’s other novels, so I figured I’d give it a try. Glad now that I did. For an inventive writer, there’s always something new to be done with an old trope. And fortunately, there are no tortured Byronic souls or sparkly emo vampires here – these creatures are purely monstrous predators.
In 100 Fathoms Below, the atmosphere of fear and claustrophobia is beautifully evoked. As a landlubber myself, I can’t vouch for the accuracy of Kent & Kaufmann’s depiction of the submarine and its procedures and jargon, but it certainly seems authentic and convincing. The characters are deftly drawn – even those who, like the crusty ship’s captain might at first seem to have been sent up from central casting will reveal their own unique aspects. The story starts at a fairly moderate pace, but the tension builds quickly, and once the real action starts, the pace never lets up, confronting the protagonists with further problems, injuries and horrors at every point. Don’t start reading this at night if you need to get up for work in the morning, because it won’t let you go until the very last page.
(There’s also a new and original twist on the vampire mythology, which I won’t describe, because spoilers.)
With the crew trapped in close quarters beneath the waves away from the sun, unable to surface, communications to the outside cut off, and being preyed on by nightmare monsters, 100 Fathoms Below will appeal to fans of the film Alien, Niles & Templesmith’s 30 Days of Night, or Dan Foley’s Intruder.
100 Fathoms Below is in the “horror-story-in-a-confined-space” genre, in this case, a submarine on a dangerous, secret mission out of contact with any help. It was a quick, entertaining read so I gave it 3 stars, but I didn’t really connect with any of the characters and couldn’t put it in the special category of books I’d read again and again.
Creepy, slow burn. Truly enjoyed it…!