The Deep

i absolutely adored the troop, so i was fairly excited to tear into the deep; it's a nice follow-up, and i plummeted through the final 250 pages to reach the satisfying--and pleasantly ambiguous--ending.i hafta start off with saying that a lot of the deep is an examination of how one copes with the loss of a child, something that, as a parent, i both can't imagine what that would be like and yet imagine it all the time. it's sort of the downside of parenting, fear for your children, because once they arrive, everything is tied up in them. now, i try to sort of let go of these fears so that i can be a happy, unencumbered parent, and, for the most part, i think i'm successful. but i do find value in exploring these heartbreaking, worst-case scenarios, and one such scenario occurs in cutter's incisive sophomore horror novel. i won't pretend that it's not tough to read, but it really drums my empathy for the protagonist, luke. i don't know what it's like to lose what he has, but i sure as hell can appreciate how all-encompassingly devastating it would be.i also enjoy horror fiction about insane oceanic depths, weird, dark entities, and extreme body horror, and the deep provides ample amounts of all of these things. the deep tells us of a world besieged by a pandemic that is killing everybody. sequestered deep within the mariana trench, a team of scientists seek to utilize a recently discovered substance with seemingly amazing recuperative properties, to cure the disease. however, something sinister is in the deep with them. when the brother of one of the scientists and a military person arrive to see what's broken radio contact between the undersea research station and the surface, we get a front row seat for the horror.and it is pure, gruesome, mind-bending, delightful horror.cutter's writing is possessed of dark, razor-sharp thoughts and images. he brilliantly sets the scene on the trieste--the deep sea research station--and uses the structure to it's fullest, nightmarish effect. our primary proagonists, who have just arrived, quickly start to go completely crazy, which further helps to frame how nuts the scientists who've been living down here have become. what i really liked was that their madness wasn't generalized, but rather borne out of the specific incidents--traumas--of the character's lives. it added heft to their eroding sanity, and made me, as the reader, desperate for them to keep it together. i really like cutter's use of metaphor and simile, as he masterfully describes images, sounds, scenarios, and feelings with great effect.while not as gruesome as the troop, the deep is pretty @#$%ing gross, no doubt. while i don't think gore is essential everywhere, there is a time and a place for the grand guignol approach, and cutter clearly feels like that time is in his books. i agree. for me, grue helps to frame what the people experiencing the horror are feeling; i want to see what they are seeing so that i can understand. cutter pulls no punches, and he has a gift for very visceral and resonant description.i also want to give cutter major props for really characterizing the dog, lb. she is fully realized, and her thoughts and feelings are shared without an excessive sense of anthropomorphism. cutter writes her respectfully and meaningfully. making the main character a vet only adds to the animal-friendly vibe, one where other-than-human animals are almost imbued with a sense of true agency. this rarity is important to me.i look forward to reading more nightmares from nick cutter, who really goes for the jugular, and, in doing so, really does a complete job of mauling the reader. brave and meaningful, it'll take me some time to recover from reading the deep.

So, let me say I tried to give this 4 1/2 but for some reason it won't let me.Spoilers ahead.The book is fantastic, and has a lot of moments that are genuinely disturbing and horrific. For the first time in a long time, I felt myself genuinely creeped out by the prose in a book as opposed to just entertained. The author does a fantastic job at weaving that idea of fear and insane imagination we all have at what might be lurking in the dark, and the sadistic mind dialogue we give those monsters. The monsters in this case, however, are real.I do, however, have a few criticisms. The disease which is the narrative trigger, the Gets, turns out to be a red herring that has nothing to do with the insanity happening on the station and the Fig Men didn't even create it. As they say, it happened to be a lucky coincidence for them. I absolutely HATED this, especially as the disease doesn't transmit in any natural way (fluids, airborne, contact, etc). It made no sense to me and also is one thing I thought was a massive missed opportunity for the author to really lean into the godlike, sadistic power of these monsters...they can't escape their prison but they can still touch the world enough. It would show they're so inhuman, that they were willing to cause a worldwide plague to just lure one man down into the dark so they could play and escape. It just irked me.Also, this book is bleak as hell. There is no happy ending and nothing happy along the way. Do not read it if you're in a dark place at the time, because you may not make it out.Ultimately despite my gripes, the book is still fantastic and should be read. Just have a video of puppies or something waiting when you get done.

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.

First book from Nick Cutter that I've read and absolutely loved it! Very well written, pictured every disturbing thing that happened in this novel

Can't recommend it enough. Must read

A really good read, I finished it in two days! The imagery is horrifying and the story is excellent. I found the characters really compelling and I really cared what happened to them as the story developed. Admittedly when I first read the ending I didn’t love it but I thought about it for days after and now I think it’s perfect. I can definitely recommend

This book couldn't be titled better. Characters and plot are so deep, and the author takes no shortcut in order to build tension and haunt our dreams, waking or sleeping. Really loved it. Lovecraft meets Jules Verne.