A little while back I was asked by The Machinery Magazine if I wanted to take part in their YouTube channel launch by doing a Google autocomplete interview about books and bookworms. Of course I said yes, and today they launched the channel and my video!

Have a look and let me know what you think!

The Deep by Nick Cutter – REVIEW

I read a paperback edition of The Deep.

Genre: Horror

Publisher: Gallery Books/Pocket Books

Published: July 28th, 2016

Pages: 512 (paperback edition)

Audiobook length: 12 hrs and 30 mins

Synopsis by the publisher:

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.

But far below the surface of the Pacific Ocean, a universal healer hailed as “ambrosia” has been discovered. In order to study this phenomenon, a special research lab has been built eight miles under the sea’s surface. But when the station goes incommunicado, a brave few descend through the lightless fathoms in hopes of unraveling the mysteries lurking at those crushing depths…and perhaps to encounter an evil blacker than anything one could possibly imagine.

The Review

"Any horror book that can bring forth all the spectre of feelings that The Deep did 
for me, has definitely earned a good amount of praise."

***

I bought The Deep for two reasons:

1. I read The Troop by him last year and thoroughly enjoyed it.

2. Stephen King blurbed it on his Facebook page.

Both of these reasons needless to say had my expectations set pretty high for this novel. And the potential for it to crash and fall with all that weight hanging on its cover was pretty big. Thankfully The Deep had the strength to carry at all straight through.

Nick Cutter does an amazing job with showing the reader all the different sides to his characters. They are complex and with a lot of depth and good backstory, which all makes them very interesting to follow. And all the more because we gradually get to know their past as the story progresses.

I especially enjoyed Luke, Al and little LB. I would’ve loved to have gotten to know Al even more, but I can definitely see that there weren’t really room for it in this book.

Now for anyone who loves the early works of Stephen King, The Deep will probably be a good match. It has that old school horror feel to it, and what makes it so good is the mystery of what is lurking down in the deep. The way you don’t really know what it is, what it looks like or how it will affect the characters. It makes the story interesting the whole way through.

The pace to was just perfect for my taste. It flowed so easily and had my wanting more throughout. I brought the book with me everywhere and had trouble putting it down. It’s been a while since I’ve felt like that about a current read.

I want to mention that The Deep is not the novel for you if you’re squeamish about blood and gore. It’s very graphic and morbid at times. But anyone who’s got a soft spot for the wonderful morbidity of good horror, I would say; go grab it!

I can’t remember the last time a horror book made me cry, but The Deep (very surprisingly) had me blinking like hell on the subway so that I wouldn’t have makeup all over my face before I got to work.

Any horror book that can bring forth all the spectre of feelings that The Deep did for me, has definitely earned a good amount of praise.

I loved The Deep for it’s story, it’s ending and it’s writing. It was just a pleasurable read from beginning till end and I can’t wait to read Nick Cutter’s next book.

If you want your own copy of The Deep, click on the logos below:

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Have you read any good horror books lately? Or do you have a horror favorite? Please let me know in the comments 🙂

August 2016 – Wrap Up

Sometimes You Just Have to Bake

Today was not one of my best days. I just felt tired and slightly ill all day. Had a headache creeping up on my all day at work and it just didn’t want to let go! But as the positive person that I try to be, I tried my best to have a big smile on my face and pretend like I wasn’t in any sort of pain. It sort of worked, but as soon as I got home, had my dinner and Leander went out to play with some friends after he finished his homework, I just got so tired. I considered taking a nap, but felt like I had way too many things that I had to do. I wanted to cram in a little bit of writing, but my brain just wasn’t able to put words down onto paper at all, so I gave that up.

I stood a full ten minutes just staring out the window before my body started working without the mind really paying attention. It went to my cupboard and started picking out ingrediens for vegan cinnamon swirls. I then started to listen to one of my current listenings on Audible (which is Bird by Bird by Susan Bennett, if you were wondering) and then I just started baking. There was something so therapeutic about it. I definitely rediscovered my love for food and baking after I decided to go vegan, and the meditation of baking is just something that happened out of the blue. I tried a few recipes and then it just happened by itself. Now I find myself getting lost in the textures, the smell and taste. The joy of sharing what I make with friends, family or coworkers just gives me so much joy!

So my not so great day turned into two trays of cinnamon swirls! Not so bad! Not so bad after all 🙂