Darcy pleasantly surprised me with her deep-sea horror, and if I had to say in retrospect which of her books I enjoyed the most, it would probably be this one.
I love horrors set at sea or in the depths of the ocean, but I haven't read many of them so far. I spent a long time trying to remember what I had read with this theme and I thought of Jaws, The Swarm, and The Beast (about a squid).
However, the wreck of an old ship that lures people to explore it and offers, besides an extraordinary experience, also deadly danger — that was something for me.
The author dispenses tension excellently, we follow the story from multiple angles, where we have the opportunity to look back retrospectively at what was actually happening on the ship before it sank, what destruction haunted all the inhabitants of the ship. I have to say that the so-called "scratching disease" gave me goosebumps.
The team led by Cove, who is supposed to bring footage for a television adaptation, was also entertaining. The characters were very nicely portrayed and there were even some touching moments.
When it came to the actual encounter with the inhabitants of the ship, I wasn't entirely comfortable, partly because I myself love water but am terrified of the depths and what may lurk in them. The thought of not being able to resurface, of slowly running out of oxygen and remaining in the underwater darkness is terrifying. However, just so I'm not only praising it, I would have trimmed the most horror-heavy passages a bit; at one point it felt unnecessarily long (repetitive) and lost a bit of momentum, but then it picked up again into action and to a satisfying ending, which I am very pleased with.
For me, truly the best book by the author so far, I warmly recommend it.
Rating: 4*/5
9📚/2025
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