This book was very interesting. I was intrigued throughout the whole book just because I wanted to see what Erin would do next. It definitely caught my attention in the beginning and I was anxious to see how it would end.

Wow!!! Gone Girl and Girl On A Train have nothing on Something In The Water. This book begins with dirt flying. Erin is working on a documentary about prisoners that will be paroled soon and what they want to do after they leave the prison environment. Erin and Mark are engaged to be married. Shortly before the big event, Mark is let go from his job as a financial advisor. Understandably, some things about the wedding must be trimmed back. One thing they both agree on though is to keep their honeymoon in Bora Bora. Instead of the original 3 weeks, they will pare it down to 2 weeks. While enjoying Erin and Mark find something in the water that will change their lives forever. Something In The Water makes the couple question how well they know themselves, how well do they know each other and how well do they really know others. What choices would you make? Terrifying psychological thriller and a great read.

Something In The Water is difficult for me to review as there wasn't much original about it and it was one of those books where the outcome was a little too overtly foreshadowed throughout the beginning chapters. Those two issues, just compounded my frustration with the lead character, Erin, who made so many ill-conceived decisions throughout the novel that it was honestly just hard to swallow. Erin and her husband find "something in the water". Literally almost every decision she makes after that point is what ANY reader can see is the wrong one. In most thriller novels, there are one or two moments like that, which if few enough, the reader can forgive. In Something In The Water, it happened too frequently for me to forgive. It was enough to make me want to quit reading multiple times. Alas, I have a problem quitting any book I have invested time into, so I did finish it. The ending was ok.

Full disclosure, I had my hopes way up high for this novel when I added it to my TBR list over a year ago after reading that Reese Witherspoon's production company had bought the film rights for it. It sounded so good! Therefore, my disappointment was a bit greater than it would have been if this had just been a novel I picked up without any built up anticipation. I think most readers will enjoy this as a routine thriller to pass a few hours with this summer. I ultimately decided to give the book three stars rather than two because after it was over, I determined the book wasn't aiming to be high literature, just a soapy, fun summer-thriller. And based on that description, Something In The Water was enjoyable enough.

A newlywed couple decides to keep a suitcase of diamonds and cash they find while scuba diving off the coast of Bora Bora and the inevitable results ensue.

The lead character in this story was very annoying. She just couldn't leave well enough alone. A lot talking about trust but none given. The boyfriend was always saying everything is fine, but of course it wasn't. The story was too slow moving and too much detail and information about things that weren't important to story. The ending seemed to come out of nowhere.

This novel just grabbed me and I couldn't let go if I wanted to and when it was done I was left in this bewildered mess like what just happened? Definitely recommend this if you need some adventure in your life...but need it safely through books.

Erin and Mark are excited to go on their honeymoon to Bora Bora. It's an expensive trip that they can't afford, since Mark has recently lost his job. (It's hard to feel sorry for this couple as they talk about being nervous about losing their million dollar house and having to downsize their lavish wedding. They clearly don't live in the real world, so it's difficult to connect with them.) Without providing any spoilers, they find something while on vacation that could make a huge difference in their lives, but keeping it could clearly put them in danger.

Erin's poor decision-making skills lead to most of the tension in the novel, but also to a lot of frustration for the reader. It's hard to imagine anyone making the decisions she does, so it stretches credulity a bit. It's a bit cheesy, and definitely has some unbelievable moments, but overall it's a fun little page-turner.

I enjoyed this book. I read this is a first novel for Ms. Steadman. Well, she did a remarkable job. I couldn't put the book down, I needed to know what would happen next. The characters are spot on. A naive young bride and the man she looks up to as her husband. The hardened criminal showing kindness I'm trying to help her. All mesh well to tell the story. The storyline ran smoothly. Awesome book.
5 Stars

Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to preview Something in the Water by Catherine Steadman. A young couple, Erin and Mark, are getting married. They have their stuggles, but things change dramatically when Mark loses his job. The wedding plans change, but they still can go on their honeymoon to Bora Bora. When they are snorkeling, they come across a bag and Mark goes under to see what might be down in the water. He discovers a plane with the passengers on it - and Mark says they are "bad people". They open the bag and discover money, jewels, and usb/phone - and figure out that there is a Russian connection to the bag.
Erin and Mark keep the bag - but nothing comes without a price. Erin and Mark discover that this bag brings a fortune but also a fate. Can they get away with this without anyone discovering who they are......or will they be "found out"...
Really good! Written in first person - Erin - the reader takes the journey in Erin's mind and this takes it to a new level - I really couldn't put this down to find out what was really going on...Recommend.

Received this from NetGalley and the publisher as an advanced reader copy in return for an honest review! It's hard to let you know what this is about, without giving any spoilers. Erin and Mark are newlyweds on their honeymoon. While snorkeling, they find something in the water that will change their lives and their relationship forever. I will be honest, when I first started reading this book, I was not sure I was going to like Erin. When you read the book you will understand. As I kept reading though, I slowly started to understand where things may be going. She did very frustrating things at times, but due to those things, the book kept me on the edge of my seat. Although in my head I said I would never do those things, or my husband wouldn't, if you really put yourself in their place you start to wonder..
I would hope that I would do the right thing. Highly recommend this book for fast-paced suspense! And for those that like their books without bad language and detailed sex scenes, this is also a book for you. I missed neither. I can't guarantee no bad language but I don't recall any.

Erin and Mark are sickeningly happy. The kind of couple that has sex every single day and it's always amazing, who have pet names and miss each other when they're apart, who risk their lives for each other. The kind of couple you hate just because they are so happy.

But you can't always see what's lurking below the surface.

Just as they are starting their lives together as a married couple, they find "Something in the Water" during their honeymoon that changes everything. Thus begins a sequence of events that is as riveting as it is unbelievable. I admit I had to suspend my disbelief in order to get past the fact that some rich Russian thugs were hunting them down AND the police were investigating Erin in connection with terrorism, all while they are opening Swiss bank accounts and selling a bag of diamonds and going about their regular everyday business. Simultaneously. Within the space of a couple of weeks. But, I suppose, "That's the way life works, isn't it—nothing, and then everything at once." Although farfetched, having that many problems all at once makes it more difficult to figure out who the "bad guy" really is.

I found myself cringing at Erin's naiveté and mentally smacking her upside the head for being so dumb/impulsive/thoughtless/secretive/risky. She knew everything she was doing was incredibly stupid, yet she kept chugging along. Turning on the phone was the worst possible thing she could have done...everyone who's watched Law & Order or NCIS knows that. Trusting and confiding in Eddie was a huge gamble. And how did she not realize immediately that Patrick wasn't from the prison? Hell, taking the bag in the first place was far from a brilliant idea. But even I didn't see Mark's betrayal coming until right before Erin realizes it herself.

In the end, everything fit together perfectly: Erin had a perfectly believable explanation, and she didn't have to come clean about the bag or the plane crash or anything they'd done. Everything except Mark. Did he really love her? (He had to have loved her—it's not like she was rich from the beginning, to justify marrying her and then betraying her.) If he did love her, how could he have betrayed her like that? What was his ultimate plan—to kill her, or just disappear with the money, without a trace? When did he come up with this plan—in the middle of their honeymoon? And why did he turn on her out of the blue? It's not like he could have been planning that for the entirety of their relationship, and he couldn't have known anything like that would ever happen. Or did he just decide to seize the opportunity when it presented itself? And if so, why did he even marry Erin at all? Oh, and, one other thing: What the heck was on that flash drive?!

I did find parts of this novel tedious: Erin's long inner monologues (with the same questions over and over), the educational info dumps (the significance of the size of champagne bubbles?), lengthy dialogue with no interruption (no one talks that long without doing something!), the fully transcribed phone conversations (we don't need to hear them from hello to goodbye). That said, it was still an excellent book, one I may have to read again later to pick up on the subtle hints I'm sure I missed before.... and I will definitely pick up Steadman's next book!

I was really disappointed in this book. After the prologue I’d thought I had found another amazing thriller.... but I was wrong.

The entire book just seemed too drawn out, too much happened, and there were too many unnecessary events and details.

It felt like the author tried too hard to mislead us. The ending also fell flat. And while I’m curious about the news event that takes place when the book ends, I don’t plan to get the follow up book if there is one.

The dreams of one woman for that perfect marriage to that perfect man begin to unravel as their lives together are about to begin and a seemingly incredible find becomes a living nightmare of bad decisions and a tangled web of deceit and betrayal.

Erin is in love. Mark is the perfect man for her. They are getting married, they will start a family, but everything begins to fall apart when Mark loses his job and Erin’s dream wedding becomes just that, a dream, but concessions must be made, right? At least that vacation to Bora Bora is still on, although for a much shorter time. Who knew their financial prayers would be answered at the bottom of the sea or that Erin would begin to live a life filled with lies and risks or that a convict would become her mentor in crime? Will Erin recognize herself when all is said and done? Will she recognize Mark?

Catherine Steadman hasn’t just created a twisted tale of greed, she has done so with characters that really aren’t all that likeable. Erin is fairly self-centered, and while Mark appears genuine at first, there is something just not right about him, he almost seems like a cardboard cutout…but there is a reason for that…I will say, I loved Eddie, he was what he was, no excuses, no lipstick to pretty himself up.

SOMETHING IN THE WATER by Catherine Steadman is a jagged and gripping tale of intrigue that will test the integrity, honor an ability to twist events to suit the purpose of not only the characters, but readers as well as we must stop to wonder, “What would WE do in Erin’s shoes?”

I received a complimentary ARC edition from Ballantine Books

Publisher: Ballantine Books (June 5, 2018)
Publication Date: June 5, 2018
Genre: Mystery | Thriller
Print Length: 352 pages
Available from: Amazon | Barnes & Noble
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I enjoyed this book quite a bit. The first chapter grabbed the reader by the throat and practically dared you not to keep reading.

This story of a young couple takes place over the course of just a few months, beginning with the wife, Erin, burying her husband in the woods in October and then goes back to July to tell how they got to that point. We follow them through their engagement, marriage and honeymoon in Bora Bora. During this time the husband, Mark, loses his job and we follow Erin as she works producing a documentary about three prisoners about to be paroled from prison. After the couple’s honeymoon, their lives are changed and things really get interesting.

I thought the author did an excellent job with this book. The pacing was fast, the characters were well developed and I especially liked that it was written in the first person, which seemed to add an extra layer of tension to the story.

The book had the potential to be a fast-paced thriller, and for the most part, it kept me entertained. The reader gets to know, Erin, the narrator very well but she has the main flaw of being too curious for her own good and her poor judgment left me frustrated at every dumb stunt she pulls. In this day and age, she should know that smart phones have SIM cards, that they can be tracked via location, yet she still boots it up. Her clumsy efforts to cover up each step she makes are for the most part, ineffective. And it is never really explained why there is so little interest from the perps to finding the bag of goods she and her husband found in the water. (They only wanted back a flashdrive when there were millions in gems and cash to be recovered?)

Plus, why does she trust a prison inmate she interviews for her documentary after only one meeting? She confides in a criminal who has obviously been keeping tabs on her with his outside contacts, which should raise some red flags. Yet she throws all caution to the wind in trusting his associates?

The newlyweds seem very happy and very much in love for most of the book. Yet, we learn very little about Mark, the husband. His motivations in the last part of the book are never explained or make a whole lot of sense. Were these two ever in love to begin with? It just left me confused. Especially when the ending felt rushed, like the author just wanted to wrap it up.

This plot could have seemed a little outlandish, but I felt like the casual narrative tone helped normalize it. It helped build the tension, instead of feeling melodramatic. I like that. I felt invested.

The ending didn’t come as a complete surprise, but there are few other storylines that made me wonder how about their relevancy and whether maybe my initial suspicions would be wrong. They weren’t but there was enough to make me second guess myself along the way. What didn’t turn out to be relevant to the conclusion wasn’t useless though. Everything served a purpose to the story, not just to misdirect the reader.

Yikes. Ending up reading this in one go and stayed up till 3 in the morning. Addicting from the first page and though a bit predictable I was still surprised at the end. Definitely recommend.

The story starts out in the present time, but goes back three months to tell what led to Erin being in the woods digging a grave. Erin and Mark are newlyweds who are very much in love, but dealing with some financial issues. The wedding was planned and mostly paid for, so they get married and go on their honeymoon. Oon this trip they find "something in the water." The something changes everything and the twists begin. While you know the ending pretty much from the beginning, you need to read what led up to the grave digging to really know how you feel about Erin, Mark, and what they find in the water. I am giving this book 3.5 stars rounding to 4.

What a fun book. A tad on the unbelievable side but it didn’t stop me from enjoying this story. A honeymoon, a surprising discovery and characters that you didn’t know whether to trust. It was a quick and satisfying book. I was rooting for Erin and really liked her character through the conclusion. Great book to take along to the beach. Just don’t go scuba diving!

This story starts out grabbing the readers attention and doesn't let go until the end of the novel. Full of drama and excitement, this is the story of Erin and Mark, two newlyweds who make a discovery that changes their lives. The story is part flashbacks to before they were married and continues on in the time after they make their discovery and start to make some interesting life choices. I really enjoyed the suspense of the story and found myself wanting to holler at the main characters more than once for the decisions they make. Thanks netgalley for this arc in exchange for my honest review.