The Deep

Product Information

the only disappointment i had with this book is that we didn't get more about the 'gets - the plague that inspires the whole undersea research situation in the first place. because that's what fascinated me from the beginning - the symptoms of the plague that had me rapid-fire self-diagnosing: Before I begin my review of this novel, there are many trigger warnings I found while reading that I wanted to let everyone know about. They are… I almost couldn’t handle the body horror of THE TROOP but the stuff that really got to me was the deliberate cruelty toward some of the animals/insects (the lovingly depicted sensation of popping the eyeball, for example.) But mutations and decompression jelly, I can probably do.

As far as the comparisons to The Thing, Alien, and The Abyss, I would say this successfully rips off all three without adding anything new to the spirit of those films. Fate Worse than Death: What happened to Zach. Abducted by the Fig Men and brought down to their world, where he's slowly been changed into a Humanoid Abomination.A strange plague called the ’Gets is bringing about a slow-apocalypse, in the form of a disease in which people start to forget. A kind of accelerated Alzheimer's that eventually leaves the host brain-dead. The only hope lies deep beneath the Pacific Ocean, in the Mariana Trench. A new substance has been discovered called "Ambrosia" that could be a cure for the disease. The Deep is set to hit bookstores a little under one year following The Troop (January 2015), I worry that I may get spoiled by a steady stream of Cutter material. Either way, I can’t wait for book three. Disturbing dreams begin on the descent...childhood nightmares of a cruel and disgusting mother, aka Battle-Ax Beth, and worse, the millipede memory, (for me the most disturbing part of the story) that brings with it a painful, guilt ridden and heartbreaking loss. "Come Home Daddy."

I've been a lifelong fan of horror and the older I get, it seems to me the harder it's getting to scare me and to get my hands on the good stuff. One positive thing about this sad development is that it's forced me to venture out into other genres and try new things and find new loves. My first love however -- my one true love -- will always remain horror. It's in my DNA (literally probably because my parents were huge fans of things going bump in the night). I was weaned on the stuff, and on the stuff I shall die. Finally there is Al, a woman who pilots the submersible that takes down to the Mariana Trench where The Deep is set. Her defining characteristic? Um, well, she's a woman, I guess. We barely see her and she only shows up to move what little plot the book has along. When she meets her end, you barely notice or care. This did have some genuine moments of horror that were well written, gross, and enjoyable so I'm bumping this one up to 1.5 stars. A mysterious disease dubbed “the ‘gets” is ravaging the human population. Starting off slowly, it hinders your ability to remember where you parked or where you left your wallet. In time, it advances to the point where you forget to breathe and your heart forgets to beat.

Publication Order of Standalone Novels

I’m not sure if knowing what to expect made a difference, but I thought The Troop was way less disturbing than The Deep. I’m still curious about Little Heavens but I may need a break. This is a very dark book in tone and description. The plot might seem to be one thing, but it turns out to be another thing entirely. It’s about the grotesque fears we harbor as children and then as adults ; how we embrace those fears through memory and or forgetfulness. One warning: As with the other book that I have read by this same author, there are many scenes of animal mutilation and experimentation, etc in here. Some are hallucinations of a character, perhaps, while others, eh, ?? Either way, they are very graphic and very disturbing to animal lovers. That is why my stars are reduced in part. This one had quite a bit more. If you are like me and sensitive at all to that type of content, tread with caution.

There is a specific depth you'll hit where the soul finds it impossible to harmonize with it's surroundings. Access-restricted-item true Addeddate 2020-01-08 21:24:40 Boxid IA1755508 Camera Sony Alpha-A6300 (Control) Collection_set printdisabled External-identifier Wouldn’t you know it? An alleged cure has been discovered. Thing is, it can only be harvested from the bottom of the Marianas Trench. Eight miles beneath the ocean? Not an easy commute. A station is set up thereabouts, for an elite team of scientists to explore a life-saving membrane that seems, shall we say, cryptic.

But hey, Clayton’s in the watery beyond, calling out for Luke. So, he heads on down, more out of curiosity than necessity. A morbid curiosity, as he’s interested in what good could possibly come of it. But as he looks at the world around him, he figures it couldn’t be much worse below sea level. Plus, he’s escorted down there by Alice Sykes, a US Navy Lieutenant Commander who isn’t hard on the eyes. And if we’ve learned anything from horror books and movies, we know that the odds for a sexy rendezvous are not beyond reason. Yes there are plenty of descriptions of gross things, but when you don't care about the characters, the gross things are far less interesting. Writing about gross things is easy. See this book for that. Writing about characters you care about is a lot harder. See Stephen King for those. Determined to simulate a true-to-life remote island scenario, Tim makes sure to remove any form of communication to the mainland. However, he does bring along a radio because there had been warnings of a potential storm. On the first evening of the trip, Tim notices a boat arriving on the island. Not expecting visitors for another two days, Riggs is wary of the stranger, who, upon inspection, is inhumanly malnourished but otherwise non-threatening. The stranger tells Tim that he needs help and is ravenously hungry. After deliberating, Tim allows the man to rest on the couch inside for the night, but not before telling the boys to stay in their room. I loved how Cutter made the Trieste feel like a character in and of itself, which reminded me of how The Overlook Hotel feels in The Shining. I was so worried about the dog in this story, literally the WHOLE TIME, that it made it impossible for me to enjoy it.

Lean and crisp and delightfully over-the-top. Think Tales From the Crypt, think early Crichton, think King on coke....Disquieting, disturbing, and it’s also great fun to read.” I'll start by saying that while Cutter's first book, The Troop, wasn't a perfect book, it was at least a decent one that left me curious to see what the author would come up with next. Let's just say I'm in no way curious about Cutter's third book. Frankly, you couldn't pay me to read it after slogging through The Deep. Luke is ferried to research station Hesperus which floats atop the deepest point in the ocean, the Mariana Trench, six miles below. Two miles under that in the Challenger Deep is the Trieste, a tube-like station constructed by robots. This is where Luke's brother, the prodigious molecular biologist Clayton Nelson, is working. A primitive gelatinous substance which Clayton has dubbed "Ambrosia" has been discovered on the ocean floor and promises a cure for every human disease, including the 'Gets, as well as immortality. Lucas is turned off from living. He’s been this way since his son mysteriously disappeared, many years ago. We think we know dark. Nope. Not darkness like this, knowing and ageless and cunning. The sheer pressure of living underwater seems to play with one's thoughts, twisting them into mutations of what is real and true. As your mind starts slipping gears, it's hard to know if you are screaming or laughing. Mindless nattering, shrieking and gibbering - they play all the scarier because you aren't quite there yet. Never fear, you are headed in the right direction, soon now.

Table of Contents

Hellish, grotesque imagery abounds. You are going to see some crazy, deeply unsettling stuff. Trust me. I was half expecting the Cenobites from Hellraiser to show up at some point. A strange plague called the ‘Gets is decimating humanity on a global scale. It causes people to forget — small things at first, like where they left their keys, then the not-so-small things, like how to drive or the letters of the alphabet. Their bodies forget how to function involuntarily. There is no cure. I hated Clayton with every single fiber of my being. And while I do not need to like every character, any character, actually, this went above and beyond. Luke, our protagonist, has a genius brother, Clayton, who is currently conducting research for a possible cure eight miles beneath the surface of the Pacific, down deep in Marianas Trench. The problem is that the scientists stationed in the underwater research lab called the Trieste have been incommunicado and now one of them has surfaced in a not so pretty state. The last communication that the on surface team received came from Clayton, urging his brother Luke to come on down. That doesn’t mean it’s a bad book, or a bad ending. Overall The Deep is actually quite good; an effective horror yarn, well-versed in atmospheric tension and a good dose of mutation-style gore.