It’s been a while since a book was able to scare me. Like, I don’t want to read this alone in my house in the dark scary. Don’t get me wrong; horror is still my favorite genre to read and write. Books just often lack the visceral power naturally found in visual mediums, so it can be tough to really strike fear into the hearts of your readers. Enter: The Deep by Nick Cutter.
If you read my review of Cutter’s The Troop last year, you already know that he’s a stellar writer with a deranged (the best kind) imagination. The Deep is right on par, combining elements of madness (AKA the “sea sillies”) with the terrifying mysteries lurking within the Mariana Trench.
One of the best parts of reading a Cutter book is having no idea where the story will end up. For example, The Deep begins with a global sickness referred to as “the ‘Gets” ravaging humanity and causing people to forget everything they’ve ever known, including how to breathe. The only person who can do anything about it? Luke Nelson, veterinarian. Not really, but he’s the only person who can connect with the person who can do something about it.
In an effort to fight the ‘Gets and save humanity, countries have banded together to build a station beneath the Pacific Ocean, in the Mariana Trench. Then, weird things start happening. I went into the book thinking, Okay, this forgetting disease is pretty scary, like Super Alzheimer’s, and I thought that was going to be the true horror of this story. By the end, however, the ‘Gets is a distant footnote.
The scientists aboard the underground lab haven’t been heard from in a while, and the last message received was from Luke’s brother, a brilliant (and mean) scientist who doesn’t speak to him, asking him to come down. So, down Luke goes, hopefully to encourage his brother to take a break from the maddening conditions—and inadvertently discover the horrors unfolding beneath.
Cutter includes several twists that really amp up the story’s stakes. Most compelling is the book’s central theme about the balance between true, ethical scientific inquiry and selfish, curiosity-based experimentation with no plan to pull back if necessary. How does science know when it has gone too far?
Things I enjoyed about The Deep:
- Cutter’s incredible use of detail, specifically in his descriptions of things that are entirely fictional. I was able to see everything he described.
- The very realistic relationship between the brothers, one of whom is likely neurodivergent.
- I was so in tune with the experience the main character was having that I found myself flipping back through the pages and asking myself questions like, “Wait, how long have we been down here?” and “Was that there the last time we were in this room?”
- A completely new thing to be afraid of. I always appreciate it when horror authors come up with things beyond the traditional monsters.
- The goodest doggo in the whole world.
Things I didn’t enjoy about The Deep:
- The trope of the abusive, terrible person being fat and disgusting. It’s not the end of the world, but it is one of the things that kept me from giving the book five stars.
- I wasn’t clear on what ultimately happened to the MC’s son.
Overall, this was an incredible read, and I highly recommend it to everyone!
⭐⭐⭐⭐
