The Deep

Alma Katsu

Mar 2020 · Sold by Penguin

About this ebook

From the acclaimed and award-winning author of The Hunger comes an eerie, psychological twist on one of the world's most renowned tragedies, the sinking of the Titanic and the ill-fated sail of its sister ship, the Britannic.

Someone, or something, is haunting the ship. Between mysterious disappearances and sudden deaths, the guests of the Titanic have found themselves suspended in an eerie, unsettling twilight zone from the moment they set sail. Several of them, including maid Annie Hebley, guest Mark Fletcher, and millionaires Madeleine Astor and Benjamin Guggenheim, are convinced there's something sinister--almost otherwordly--afoot. But before they can locate the source of the danger, as the world knows, disaster strikes.

Years later, Annie, having survived that fateful night, has attempted to put her life back together. Working as a nurse on the sixth voyage of the Titanic's sister ship, the Britannic, newly refitted as a hospital ship, she happens across an unconscious Mark, now a soldier fighting in World War I. At first, Annie is thrilled and relieved to learn that he too survived the sinking, but soon, Mark's presence awakens deep-buried feelings and secrets, forcing her to reckon with the demons of her past--as they both discover that the terror may not yet be over.

Brilliantly combining the supernatural with the height of historical disaster, The Deep is an exploration of love and destiny, desire and innocence, and, above all, a quest to understand how our choices can lead us inexorably toward our doom.

Ratings and reviews

What an incredibly brilliant idea for a narrative. The titanic, on it's own, was such an incredible feat of modern engineering, and it's ultimate demise, such a timeless tragedy. Katsu created with The Deep, something that can also be considered timeless, in it's melding of history with horror; factual, and non-factual character depictions with the added allure of the paranormal. Annie Hebbley survived the infamous sinking of the Titanic in 1912, and after a brief stint in an asylum, where she attempted to ignore it's grip on her mind, she registers for a nurse aid position aboard the newly minted Brittanic (a sister ship to the Titanic, and an ocean-bound hospital liner for those injured in the first world war). Simultaneously, we experience both Annie's timeline on the Titanic, and her present-day on the Britannic in 1916. Annie's time spent on the first ship was defined by more than just it's tragic end, as a specific group of guests convince her that mysterious instances aboard are the work of paranormal entities. Years later, on her second sailing, Annie comes face to face with one those guests, one that she had thought she'd lost forever, both physically and emotionally. The impossibility of it brings back both dark memories, and a sinister threat that they thought they left behind. Even while I was reading The Deep, my mind strayed to the author's backlist titles that I would have the pleasure of reading once I was done. Katsu's writing, for me, was true storytelling. It was immersive, and deliciously mysterious, it brought to mind the narratives of the greats like Christie, and Conan Doyle. I'll admit that, alike the aforementioned authors, the joy was in the writing itself, and not so much the genre it was promising. The 'horror' aspect was minimal, and served mostly as a decorative background for the in-depth character explorations that took the forefront. I became so heartrendingly attached to so many of the backstories, and present stories, in this narrative—I could read an entire book on Caroline Fletcher or Madelaine Astor. I can't wait to become completely entranced by Katsu's future work!

I'm excited to be a part of THE DEEP blog tour with The Fantastic Flying Book Club from March 10th - March 16th, 2020! I received an ARC of this book from G.P. Putnam's Sons via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review. Thank you! In no way does this affect my rating or review. All included quotes have been taken from an ARC and may not match the finished publication. Content Warning: Adult sexual content, Adultery, Death of a minor, Near-drowning, Gambling, Drug use (Cocaine), Illness, Thievery, Disaster (ship sinking), Injury due to war, Body horror, Suicide, War, Miscarriage "The troubled mind can never know itself. That is the sad truth of madness." The Deep is inspired by the story of Violet Constance Jessop, a survivor of both the Titanic and Brittanic tragedies in the early 1900’s. Entwining elements of the paranormal makes this naturally eerie tale all the more so. Author Alma Katsu proves her capability at writing an enthralling story historically based and detailed tha

The side characters were way, way more interesting than the main drama. Once the titanic sinks and their perspectives fade away, the story really falls off its hinges. The idea was great, but The Deep's execution falls very flat.

About the author

Alma Katsu is the author of The Hunger, The Taker, The Reckoning, and The Descent. She has been a signature reviewer for Publishers Weekly and a contributor to The Huffington Post. She is a graduate of the master's writing program at the Johns Hopkins University and received her bachelor's degree from Brandeis University. Prior to the publication of her first novel, Katsu had a long career as a senior intelligence analyst for several U.S. agencies. She lives outside of Washington, D.C., with her husband.