#1 NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • A shocking discovery on a honeymoon in paradise changes the lives of a picture-perfect couple in this taut psychological thriller debut—for readers of Ruth Ware, Paula Hawkins, and Shari Lapena.“A psychological thriller that captivated me from page one. What unfolds makes for a wild, page-turning ride! It’s the perfect beach read!”—Reese Witherspoon (Reese’s Book … read!”—Reese Witherspoon (Reese’s Book Club pick)
NAMED ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR BY GLAMOUR AND NEWSWEEK • FINALIST FOR THE ITW THRILLER AWARD
If you could make one simple choice that would change your life forever, would you?
Erin is a documentary filmmaker on the brink of a professional breakthrough, Mark a handsome investment banker with big plans. Passionately in love, they embark on a dream honeymoon to the tropical island of Bora Bora, where they enjoy the sun, the sand, and each other. Then, while scuba diving in the crystal blue sea, they find something in the water. . . .
Could the life of your dreams be the stuff of nightmares?
Suddenly the newlyweds must make a dangerous choice: to speak out or to protect their secret. After all, if no one else knows, who would be hurt? Their decision will trigger a devastating chain of events. . . .
Have you ever wondered how long it takes to dig a grave?
Wonder no longer. Catherine Steadman’s enthralling voice shines throughout this spellbinding debut novel. With piercing insight and fascinating twists, Something in the Water challenges the reader to confront the hopes we desperately cling to, the ideals we’re tempted to abandon, and the perfect lies we tell ourselves.
Praise for Something in the Water
“Superbly written, clever and gripping.”—B. A. Paris, New York Times bestselling author of Behind Closed Doors
“Deliciously dramatic.”—Entertainment Weekly
“Thrilling . . . the perfect beach read.”—PopSugar
“A dark glittering gem of a thriller.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)
“Arresting . . . deftly paced, elegantly chilly . . . [Catherine] Steadman brings . . . wit, timing and intelligence to this novel. . . . Something in the Water is a proper page-turner.”—The New York Times
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Yowza. I actually listened to this one, but I had to clear my day today to finish it because I was so into it. Very suspenseful. Also, I’m not going deep sea diving any time soon.
Wow, this book grabbed me and wouldn’t let go. So compelling, with a fascinating female protagonist. But scared my pants off and sometimes I had to put down to breathe.
When a young British couple decides to go to Bora Bora for their honeymoon, they don’t expect to find a suitcase in the middle of the ocean while scuba diving… This suitcase has the potential to change their lives in more ways than one.
A fast-paced original thriller and a perfect book to read by the beach!
Something in the Water had me from the first chapter. Well, more accurately, from the first line. I have to say that the opening line is one of the strongest that I’ve come across in the genre. Catherine Steadman doesn’t ease us into this tale, she pulls us in head first. From there our narrator, Erin, takes us back a few months to give a bit of context to where she is when the story opens. The pace does slow down some during the next few chapters and I’ll admit that at times I was tempted to skim. Thankfully, I resisted that temptation because there are some important things revealed even though I didn’t realize that until later. Once Erin and Mark find what is in the water, the pacing picks up and it’s a mix of twists, doubt, and frustration. Yes, frustration. Erin frustrated me to no end with her actions. There were points in this book that I seriously wanted to shake some sense into this woman. In fact, if it were a movie, I would’ve been talking to her – What are you doing? That’s not going to end well! Stop! Don’t do that! Then we have her husband, Mark, who comes across as a controlling jerk almost from the very beginning. For two people who are seemingly so much in love, these two spend a crazy amount of time keeping secrets from each other. Oddly enough, the most open person in the story is Eddie, who happens to be in prison. Yes, he’s a criminal. Yes, he does favors, but he also expects a return on that investment.Yes, I absolutely loved Eddie!
My advice – read this one. Read every word and pay attention. Then when you get to the conclusion, look back and count up how many aha moments you missed. And when you’re done with that, take a few and really think about how it all played out and ask yourself if given the same set of circumstances, would you make the same decisions as Erin.
I was a bit disappointed that some questions don’t really get answered. At least not completely, but everything considered, I’m not sure I’d want all of those answers if I were in Erin’s shoes.
Looking for a fast, intriguing, edge-of-your-seat, crime thriller? Here it is! It wasn’t anything like I expected from the title… especially while reading during “Shark Week”, but I finished it in two sittings & loved the Bourne Identity feel it had! @catsteadman is not only a talented actress (I watched her on Downton Abbey), but she is also a beautifully expressive writer & I can’t wait to read more of her work! Loved this suspense novel & highly recommend it! .
I was intrigued from the opening scene: a woman digging a grave, and while I did figure out the mystery toward the middle, I was completely engaged by the characters and their relationships and the wonderful and easygoing writing style that somehow managed to convey friendliness even as it wove in these kind of darker under notes of something sinister and eerie lurking just off-scene. If you love stories of suspense, I highly recommend this one.
Oh, man, did this take me on a journey! I couldn’t put it down. It was entertaining and I even enjoyed the bad decisions the MC made, because I wanted to know where they would lead her. It’s funny when an ordinary person is forced to face extraordinary circumstances. Who are we, really?
This is the tale of newlyweds Mark and Erin, who honeymoon in Tahiti and find something in the water that will change their lives forever. Do they do the right thing? Or does greed take over? How do you justify taking what doesn’t belong to you? The story is told entirely by Erin, and I really enjoyed the writing style. It was conversational, Erin just telling her side of the story as it goes along. Well, actually it begins with her digging a grave at the end of their story, so she backs up to the beginning and tells you how she got there. It was an attention-getter for sure.
I read this in little bites, and it seemed like every time I had to put the book down there was a good part. The story was clever, but our narrator was not. I wanted to keep reading to see how Erin was going to get herself out of the latest mess she managed to get into. It was a good book, but not a thriller that keeps you on the edge of your seat. Some parts dragged along, and the ending, well, let’s just say it was definitely an unsatisfying end to a good book. The book themes included mystery, murder, intrigue, deception, trust and love. All in all, it was a good read if you can get past the end.
I absolutely loved Something in the Water, a stunning debut… Superbly written, clever and gripping.
An unbearably tense debut with a knockout premise, Something in the Water had me hooked from the very first sentence. Thrilling and thought-provoking, it’s the perfect beach read. I devoured it!
This book started off with a bang. I was hooked after reading the first two lines and thought I was in for a real treat. While I was invested as a reader in the characters and plot, the writing was less than stellar. Some parts felt like they were literally copied and pasted from Wikipedia – lots of irrelevant details shared which didn’t move the story forward at all.
The premise for the book was excellent, but, for me, it just fell flat because of the writing and all of the unnecessary details.
I do know some people absolutely adored this book and would recommend it for thriller fans.
Everyone will tell you that opening lines need to hook the reader, and Steadman certainly manages to do that with this entry, dated Saturday, October 1: “Have you ever wondered how long it takes to dig a grave? Wonder no longer. It takes an age. However long you think it takes, double that.”
The story is narrated by Erin, a documentary filmmaker whose first major project will follow three different prisoners before and after incarceration. She’s also engaged to be married/gets married to Mark, who was living large until he lost his job in finance. Despite that, they jet off to Bora Bora for their honeymoon…and that’s when everything begins to change.
As Erin guides readers through her life from July 8 to October 3, her first person narrative has the cadence of everyday conversation. You can almost imagine sitting with her over a cup of tea as she says, “And then xxx happened,” and you find yourself on the edge of your seat, waiting for more.
A psychological thriller that’s as much a study in human nature as it is gritty suspense, Something in the Water will have you reading late into the night, Netflix abandoned. A stunning debut. 5 stars.
This novel began slowly. The author described the deeply romantic couple living in Great Britain. He was an investment banker and she was an aspiring documentary film maker. The couple was planning their wedding, receptiomn and romantic honeymoon to Bora Bora when he loses his job. The wedding goes forward with a modified reception and the happy couple leaves London for the Pacific island. Once situated in their quarters at a luxury hotel they began planning events in which they would participate. There were beach parties, hikes with others in the lush island forest, romantic dinners and a scuba diving adventure. It was on the scuba adventure that the pace of the story changed suddenly as the couple came upon a huge “circle” of what appeared to be papers. They delayed their return to the hotel and decided to do another dive right there. What they discovered was a crashed jet – with five dead bodies and more. . .the mystery begins and I won’t say more because I wouldn’t want to ‘mislead’ you. Just keep reading and I’m sure you will enjoy!
If I don’t see it coming…its a good one. And this one did surprise me.
I listened to this via Audible. It was really hard to stay focused during the unnecessary long descriptions. It did not matter what was going on in the story, the long descriptions seemed to take away from that particular moment. I could not help but think just get on with it as I was listening to her descriptions, particularly with the Glock. I did like the author’s performance and felt she portrayed her characters well. If the descriptions were not so long in some parts I feel this story could have has some potential.
This is the first book written by Catherine Steadman, she also narrates, and it’s pretty good! I think her editor could have done a better job, (the book is a little wordy) it’s a little predictable, but overall suspenseful and with a couple of good, unexpected twists and turns and some good characters, I spent a few hours lost in this story. I did not like the main character, Erin, but I like that, I like delving into the good, bad and ugly, if you get my meaning!
Erin and Mark run into some very interesting, very dangerous, very life changing things on their honeymoon on the gorgeous, isolated, romantic island of BORA BORA! Do yourself a favor, settle into your favorite reading place, get your snacks and read/listen to this book, you won’t be able to stop reading until you get answers…….
Thank you for sharing your talent, I cannot write a review (as you can see), much less a book!
I REALLY wanted to love this book from the moment I read the discription. And it did start off with a bang. Erin and Mark are just getting married and have been together a while, doing lots of things as a happy couple. They go to Bora Bora on their honeymoon. Erin is telling the story. It starts off with her digging a grave, telling how she wonders how deep it needs to be. She’s burying her husband. Next we are taken back to where it all began, before the wedding. This is great, I’m thinking. But it got so weighed down with her droning on and on. I found myself skipping through parts of it around 30% of the book. I think it was mainly because I wasn’t crazy about the characters. Erin was so annoying. Mark was ok but not as developed as I would’ve liked. That being said, if you have the patience to wade through all the details, the ending will knock your socks off. The beginning and ending are wonderful. So intense. It makes you wonder just how well you really know someone.
This book was interesting but certainly not one of my favorites The characters were very interesting. I was hooked all the way up until I finished it.
We all think we know our own boundaries. We all think we’d do the right thing. But what if the opportunity for the perfect crime appeared right in front of your eyes? How many rules would you break in pursuit of the perfect life? Catherine Steadman’s debut novel, Something in the Water, is as scary as it gets. This terrifying morality tale is guaranteed to keep you up at night.
“Have you ever wondered how long it takes to dig a grave?” And you’re off…from the very first chapter I was hooked! Fish on! Something in the water is provocative and intriguing, with an incredibly fascinating female protagonist. I almost stopped reading I was so frustrated with her actions but I pressed on and, wow! just wow! I’m so glad I kept reading. After I moved past some of her questionable decisions, I couldn’t put it down. This was one of those books I stayed up late to read, and woke early to finish. You will never see the twist coming. It is so beautifully mapped out, you’ll wonder how you missed it. Bravo Catherine!