i feel like this would've done so much better as a fun little horror movie on the syfy channel that you happen upon while flipping channels and give it a shot and end up having a good time. but as a book it was just soooo much longer than necessary. also re: vanna's backstory reveal/the explanation of what was found in her journal...i see what was trying to be done, i appreciate the tragedy of it all, but it just fell flat for me. it didn't really hold interest as a reader and wasn't something i was DYING to find out the truth about because of how little it's brought up throughout the dives. ( )

A very slow burn supernatural thriller. Kinda hard to stick with in the beginning, but eventually had me gripped. Descriptions and style of writing made me feel like I was diving with the characters. ( )

I am officially on the Darcy Coates bandwagon. This was a creepy, claustrophobic read with a great final act. ( )

Ok, here is the thing. I loved this book, I really did. I thought the concept was great, the switch between the historical account and the account of the divers headed to the Arcadia- all of it was great.

And there was even a really good twist at the end! I loved the characters, I liked the plot, I liked the horror aspects- but there is ONE part of the book, one MAJOR aspect of the book that was never explained or revealed and that is why I didn't give it high marks.

SPOILER WARNING!!!!

Ok, so the crux of the book is zombies- plain and simple. And it's cool! But it's never explained WHY or HOW or WHAT caused the zombies to come to life with the dive team there. There are a few ideas given- like it was a curse + oxygen? Or something like that and I just feel like- if I'm going to give the book my time and stick with it for nearly 500 pages, then I need to at least figure out why the zombies are the way they are. I liked the book, I really did. I think the undeveloped plot of the zombies was just- not it for me. I just want more explanation.

tldr: I want less silt and more explanation. ( )

I don't think even Stephen King, (who I love), can equal Darcy Coates when she is in her grove when it comes to writing the perfect story dripping with suspense and horror. I have only read one book by her that I gave less than 5 stars. The very idea that anyone would want to deliberately and willing go 300 feet down in the ocean was almost horror enough for me. But what they encountered there only added to it. The time periods switched from 100 years ago when the Arcadia went down to modern time when the diving team found more than they bargained for and encountered something that should only have inhabited their nightmares. This is truly a scary, edge of your seat nightmare. Are you brave enough to take a trip on the SS Arcadia? ( )