From the national bestselling author of The Troop–which Stephen King raved “scared the hell out of me and I couldn’t put it down….old-school horror at its best”–an utterly terrifying novel that pits the mysteries of The Abyss against the horrors of The Shining. A strange plague called the ‘Gets is decimating humanity on a global scale. It causes people to forget–small things at first, like … forget–small things at first, like where they left their keys…then the not-so-small things like how to drive, or the letters of the alphabet. Then their bodies forget how to function involuntarily…and there is no cure. But now, far below the surface of the Pacific Ocean, deep in the Mariana Trench, an heretofore unknown substance hailed as “ambrosia”’–a universal healer, from initial reports–has been discovered. It may just be the key to eradicating the ‘Gets. In order to study this phenomenon, a special research lab, the Trieste, has been built eight miles under the sea’s surface. But when the station goes incommunicado, a brave few descend through the lightless fathoms in hopes of unraveling the mysteries lurking at those crushing depths…and perhaps to encounter an evil blacker than anything one could possibly imagine.
“Fans of unflinching bleakness and all-out horror will love this novel….Each new shock is freshly disturbing” (Publishers Weekly, starred review).more
This was by far the most explicitly gruesome book I’ve ever read, but in such a good way. I picked this up when I saw Stephen King recommended Cutter’s other book, and it didn’t disappoint. “Deep Blue Sea” meets “The Shining” meets “The Thing,” and I was either totally grossed out or totally terrified the whole time.
Cutter does a great job tapping into your individual, run-up-the-stairs-when-it’s-dark-in-case-someone-is-chasing-you fears, and that’s not something I feel with a lot of horror writers.
Four out of five stars because some of the plot elements were just a little too “come onnn, really?” (the dumb character who goes into the dark basement unarmed when he’s almost positive that’s where the bad guy is lurking in a horror movie).
Deeply cerebral and psychological; many mutilations of animals (warning) and unreliable narration due to circumstances; very tense and plays to the dark, deep, and restricted amount of space. Not an easy read but well crafted. I felt spun right round! Whew.
Recommended for those who thrive on this type of horror.
Cutter goes deep with the gore and visceral creepy crawlers in this horror book that’s more claustrophobic than anything else. How can a book be claustrophobic? I’m not sure, but the author does a great job of making you feel trapped with nowhere to go. Solid read. Will def try out the troop which I hear is fantastically
The Shining meets The Thing in a claustrophobic horror set at the bottom of the ocean.
I had read Nick Cutter’s previous book, The Troop, and enjoyed it as a body-horror/creature-feature type deal, and was interested in what else he had to offer.
This book does not disappoint in regards to the phycological horror going on here. On a research station 8 miles down at the bottom of the ocean, a lot of gnarly things are going to happen. There are great monster moments, scary & thought provoking existential crises, and heart-wrenching flashbacks.
So why not a higher rating? 2 reasons.
1. The characters. The protagonist, Luke, is the only one I really gave a damn about. Which is good, but the fact that I just didn’t care what happened to the other characters involved is not so good. I wanted to root for Luke, and it would have worked better if there was more going on with the supporting characters so as to lift him up, but instead I just wanted their ends to come quicker.
2. The set up of the book had no payoff. The reason they are at the bottom of the ocean was to find a cure for a horrible disease called The ‘Gets’. The disease could have been a story in and of itself, and it does serve as the launching pad for the rest of the book, but its just so underplayed and then never utilized again it really felt like a waste. Especially with a certain revelation at the end.
Those 2 things were kind of disappointing, otherwise would have been a solid 4. But I really like Nick Cutter’s prose, description, and imaginative monster creations that inhabit this story. Those elements are extremely strong.
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I loved the characters and thought, Clayton, the genius older brother was written very well, but the main character was my favorite, though, atm his name escapes me. The setting, under the sea, was quite detailed. I had a bit of trouble with the actual depth at which this story took place, as eight miles below the surface is outrageously too deep. Nick’s writing is clever and I found myself skipping backward 15 seconds every once in a while, so I could hear some of his clever lines twice. I loved the ending.
This book is creepy as hell. And the narrator did an excellent job of making this even scarier. I was listening to it on a walk (at night) and nearly jumped out of my skin when a bird squawked near me. And I loved it! It’s hard to find a book that really scares me and this one did it. The claustrophobia, the terrifying visions, the gory violence, and the fact that they were 8 miles below the surface of the ocean. Oh and the narrator’s voice and the way he made everything ten times scarier.
There is a lot of gory violence and one of the characters experiments with animals. Let’s just say he isn’t exactly humane. The end is amazing. I kept thinking it was over and what else could there be. I also thought I knew how it would end – I was wrong.
(Audiobook)
The Trieste is an Underwater station built by the government in the middle of The Pacific Ocean to study a miraculous substance discovered at the ocean bottom. Three scientists are selected to take the 8 mile trip to the bottom of the ocean and live on the station while they study the substance. A mysterious message from one of the scientists triggers the government to contact the brother of that scientist to help in deciding what is going on with him.
I’d heard a lot of hype about this book. For me it was good until the last third. It went off in a crazy direction and I hated the ending. I liked the premise and the suspense the story invoked. I will give this author another go in the near future.
Nick Cutter writes scary stuff….really scary stuff.
His Little Heaven and The Troop are just as good as The Deep.
However this story is original and somewhat reminiscent of Steve Altens Meg series with underwater locations.
This story revolves around mysterious characters isolated in The Deep…of course where no one can hear you scream.
With apologies to Alien.
Entertaing to be sure.
Great book to delve into! Never knew what was going to happen next!