The book starts off with a hook: the lead character/narrator is digging a grave and burying a body. Then she says she is going to go back and start the story from the beginning. Okay, I'm interested! I did like that the narrator seemed to be actually talking to the reader. In the opening, she says, "I’m not a bad person. Or maybe I am. Maybe you should decide? But I should definitely explain. And to explain I need to go back. Back to that anniversary morning, three months ago."

This keeps up for a while, where it seems like she could be telling the story from her present, until later in the book, where she starts speaking in the present tense, saying something about "yesterday," when the plot has not yet caught up with where she started, if that makes sense. On October 1, she says she's going to tell the story from the beginning, then on September 23, she mentions something she did "yesterday." I know, I know, it's nitpicky, but I really did like the premise of the narrator retelling the story to the reader, and that killed it.

There were also some random details that it was obvious were shoehorned into the story only because they would be relevant to the plot later. Almost like the author got to a certain event and realized that the character needed some prior knowledge, so she goes back earlier in the story and shoves in a detail in a really weird, unnatural way. There were other details that were supposed to be important to the plot that were incorrect, and the author probably should have researched a bit further.

It's not often that I get fed up with a character, but Erin just annoyed me. She's the kind of person who can't leave well enough alone; if there's a thread, she must pull at it until the entire sweater unravels. I think that almost everything that happened was entirely her fault, but she is ignorant to that fact, or just doesn't care.

Overall, I can't say I regret reading it, but it was disappointing, and I don't think I would recomend this to a friend.

I'm giving this book two stars only because it DID keep me reading until the end, just to figure what in the world happened that led up to the events in the first chapter. But the bulk of the book was the character making dumb decisions, and the ending just fell flat, in my opinion.

Erin is a documentary filmmaker on the brink of a professional breakthrough, Mark a handsome investment banker with big plans. Passionately in love, they embark on a dream honeymoon to the tropical island of Bora Bora, where they enjoy the sun, the sand, and each other. Then, while scuba diving in the crystal blue sea, they find a duffle bag floating in the water, which they later find out is filled with enough money to change their lives. Mark, having recently lost his job, and Erin worried about all the sudden financial pressure they will face, make a decision that will trigger a devastating chain of events.

Could the life of your dreams be the stuff of nightmares?

From the first page, the book swept me off the floor. In the opening scene, Erin is burying her new husband Mark, who was murdered for a reason, as Erin tells us – the reader – we would understand. From that moment curiosity wanted the best of me: I had to know what could lead a new bride to commit murder of a husband she dearly loved. Although the book slowly builds up to the climax, it is nonetheless filled with details that kept me interested enough to keep on reading. Erin is a lovely, relatable woman. She could easily be any of us, your average GI Jane. She is smart, thinks fast on her toes, and her husband Mark is totally her match on every level. The unfortunate lay-off of Mark from the financial institution for which he works, and the discovery of roughly two million pounds during their honeymoon, soon leads them to make choices, one after the other, that sink them more into the criminal world. As they try their best to pocket the money, and guarantee a simple and happy life, both Erin and Mark soon find themselves dealing with killers, cops and perhaps even the Russian Mafia itself. Mark wants to back off, leave the money behind, but Erin can’t let it be. Their happiness depends on that money, or so she thinks. Will it be worth it? As much as they are making decisions to not get caught with the money that isn’t theirs, Erin and Mark also reveal themselves as individuals first and as a married couple who is on the same page throughout the novel. It is as much a story about partnership as it is about criminal minds. After all, there is a fine line between good and bad, and the couple reminds us of that.

I must say that for a first thriller novel, Catherine Steadman did a wonderful job. Her main character Erin takes us through each scene as if we were there. It is easy to get lost in the story, and to forget that this is just fiction. The pace is pretty good too; when you least expect it, there is a cliffhanger waiting for you. The story eventually climaxes at the end, when Erin is battling for her life. I honestly did not see the end coming, not in the way the book started anyway. All my assumptions and accusations came down shattering, and I was not the least displeased. There are a few books that still are able to surprise me at the end. And Something in the Water is definitely one of them.

If you love a good thriller/mystery book – you should pick up a copy of Something in the Water. It will make your day. Kudos to Catherine Steadman on a wonderful work. I am looking forward to read more of her work in the future.



Thank you to NetGalley, and Random House Publishing Group – Ballatine for an ARC of Something in the Water by Catherine Steadman, in exchange for an honest review.

Amazingly suspenseful all the way through. Impressive that the author also a successful actress. Dialog, characters, and plot masterfully drawn.

Erin has everything going for her. She's about to get married to a gorgeous, successful banker named Mark. She has great friends and mentors who have helped open doors for her in her burgeoning career as a documentarian. And after months of planning, research, and drowning in red tape. she's about to start her first solo documentary about three prisoners who are about to be released. Life is good for Erin and Mark. 

Until the honeymoon. 

While in Bora Bora, they encounter temptation in the form of unclaimed treasure, and then they are forced to make a series of decisions of what to do. They had to decide how many risks to take. They had to decide how many secrets to keep. They had to decide how many lies to tell. And of course, all those risks, all those secrets, all those lies have consequences. 

Something in the Water is Catherine Steadman's first novel, but if her name seems familiar, it might be because you've seen it in the credits for Downton Abbey. As an actress and a writer, she knows storytelling, she knows how to build suspense, and she knows how to hold something back for a very special ending. 

I really liked Something in the Water. I loved that Steadman could craft such a good thriller without the usual tropes. I like how smart she makes Erin, someone who knows how to research hard even though she has no real experience in the world she gets thrown into. I like the story tension Steadman builds by telling you the end (or part of it anyway) right up front. Part of the story here is hiding in plain sight, and all I could do was to follow the breadcrumbs until I was too deep in the story to turn back. Not that I wanted to. Something in the Water is a great thriller, and I can't wait to read Steadman's next novel. 



Galleys for Something in the Water were provided by Ballentine Books through NetGalley, with many thanks.

Wow...I was blown away and enjoyed every minute of this gripping debut thriller by Catherine. Steadman!

The book starts out with Erin digging a grave for a dead body. Then goes back in time to explain how she ended up there. Erin and Mark are a picture-perfect couple...planning their upcoming wedding, talking about starting a family, etc. Erin tells us the story, beginning with how she met Mark though the unexpected event that turned their life upside down.

There were no overdone love scenes or wasted words on trivial details. Steadman is a great storyteller and has a wonderful way of keeping you captivated. The story was easy to follow and definitely surpassed my expectations. The best book I’ve read in quite some time...couldn’t put it down!

Thank you NetGalley and Ballantine Books for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

#SomethingInTheWater #NetGalley #Amazon

“Something In the Water” by Catherine Steadman is a tale of love, greed, betrayal, mystery and murder. All those things that make a great book!

Erin is a documentarian and she has thought of a great idea… interviewing three inmates who are getting ready to be released soon. She will interview them inside prison, film their release and interview them after. During this process, Erin and Mark finally get married and take a dream honeymoon to Bora Bora. However, while deep sea diving, they find a mysterious bag that changes their lives forever… and not in a good way.
Spoiler Alert! If you have neither started the book nor finished, get it, read it and come back later for the review!

I loved this book. It had a great beginning and I was hooked from the first sentence. It kept me entertained and I have never pondered the difference between flotsam and jetsam so much. 😉

In the end, my only issue was that I was not 100% sure about the wreck and when Mark became involved. I think that he was tangled up in the mess from the beginning. He was an experienced diver and it was quite coincidental that they just happened upon the wreck, he found the bag, and he dove to the wreck alone. In the final chapter, Erin is pondering how everything happened and she recounted the huge blow up with Mark the night they slashed the wedding cost. I also thought it odd at the time that they cut the wedding expenses so much but still went to Bora Bora for two weeks. I think I know why; he was involved from the get go!

Also, he had not seen Hector since before the wedding. He was busy planning something for all that time and his persona changed quite a bit. I think that deep down Erin knew that there was something “off” with Mark and that is why she chose not to tell him about the baby.

I loved how all three of her interviewees became a part of her life, especially Eddie. I still wonder if Eddie might have been involved somehow in the whole mess or was he just somewhat of a father figure/helper to Erin. He obviously liked her since he assisted her in the sale of the diamonds and the ensuing coverup of Mark’s murder.

Perfect ending… “You can’t save everyone. Sometimes you just have to save yourself.” Erin proved that she had what it took when it came to saving herself and her unborn child. The book wrapped up satisfyingly, and I wonder if there might be another that would include a few more details and Erin’s “other favor” for Eddie.

Publication Date: June 5, 2018
Genre: Mystery, Thriller
Cover: Perfect
Rating: 4 stars
Source: I received this book from the publisher via NetGalley in return for an honest review. Thank you for the opportunity to read this great book!

#SomethingInTheWater #NetGalley

Unlike so many little girls, I never really dreamed of my wedding day.

Sure, I had a plastic wedding cake, complete with detachable frosting, but it lay largely unplayed with. Until, that is, my freshman year Great Expectations hate-party where it, covered with fake cobwebs, acted as Miss Havisham’s long-abandoned wedding day sweet.

But, despite this lack of perennial occupation with matrimony, I somehow ended up marrying young, graduating college with both my teaching license and my MRS degree.

I was 23 when I walked down the aisle - in retrospect, a total fucking tyke.

With me, a new teacher at an urban charter school where the demands were high and the pay low, and my fiancé still finishing his last year of college, money was definitely in short supply. In fact, were it not for nuptial-funding cash infusions from my mom, the wedding would have been quite paltry.

Though the protagonist in this wave-making Catherine Steadman novel may share my first name, Erin, her pre-wedding experience is starkly different from my own.

Despite the fact that she's not flush with cash herself - she's a fledgling documentary filmmaker who is in the process of captaining her first solo project - the man she's marrying has a relatively vast pool of cash, which is regularly fed and effortlessly replenished by his high-paying job in the finance industry.

Knowing that they can afford it, and that they’ll only get married once — you know, hopefully —

Mark and Erin plan a lavish wedding and arrange a 3-week luxury honeymoon in Bora Bora where they will get tans, drink too much and make love at least three times a day.

But — because this is a thriller and things always go wrong in thrillers — Mark ends up losing his job several months before the wedding.

Responsibly, they pare down their wedding plans in an attempt to make Mark’s once-seemingly-extensive savings last a little longer. These efforts are particularly important given they have no assurances he will acquire gainful employment any time in the near future.

Though they don’t cancel their trip to Bora Bora, they do find it significantly less relaxing than they had previously thought it would be. How, after all, can you truly enjoy this should-be-leisurely escape with a foreboding black cloud hanging over your heads?

Despite the difficulty, they give it the old college try.

As they are trying to ignore the understandable upset they are feeling and have fun in this tropical paradise, they move forward with long-ago-established plans to scuba dive. This activity in particular is one for which Erin wasn’t particularly excited, as she’s previously had a negative experience. Committed to her husband and his happiness, though, she vows to try.

And it seems to be going well. She’s overcoming her fear and managing to at least marginally enjoy this pastime — which I, personally, wouldn’t enjoy… because, if it doesn’t involve a drink in one hand and a book in the other, I, as rule, don’t enjoy it. #JustSaying

Anyways, with Erin’s proficiency growing, they decide to head out solo and take a boat to a popular shipwreck.

All goes well… until the trip back from the dive-site, when they happen upon an eerie sight that suggests that something terrible has occurred. And it’s when they stop to inspect the disturbed waters that they find it.

A locked black bag, the contents of which could change their lives forever.

Though the discovery of this floating bag — and the concern over what its contents may be — is the thing that’s really intended to capture readers’ attentions and propel them forward in the plot, I was hooked much earlier.

The prose itself was smooth and delightful — something for which I am a complete sucker.

#OwningIt

And the plot was well paced — which was particularly impressive given that it was entirely linear, with no reliance on the flashback and flashforward technique that has almost become a cliche at this point.

For the first, say, two-thirds of this book, I was pretty certain it was going to be a 5 cocktail read for me — and it’s been a while since I’ve had one of those, so I was excited to say the least.

But, alas, the hunt for that next immensely satisfying read will have to continue.

As I read on I, much to my chagrin, stumbled upon some things that hampered my enjoyment of the book.

Generally, when I read a novel, the depth of my esteem for the characters continues to grow. I become attached to them. Invested in them. Worried about them.

But that didn’t happen here.

Unfortunately, when reading Something in the Water, my experience was quite the reverse.

The better I got to know Erin as a character, the louder the alarm bells sounded. Alas, there was something about the character of Erin that just didn’t quite ring true.

Which, for me, really sucked because I fucking wanted to love this bitch.

My issue with Erin was that, at times, she would be cautious, almost to a fault, agonizing over what should be easy decisions. At other times, she would take significant risks without seeming to give any real thought to the potential ramifications. And, what’s more, there didn’t seem to be any rhyme or reason to which version of Erin you would get in any given situation.

This disparity in her actions and unpredictability of her character, made her difficult to read and exceptionally hard to form a real attachment to.

But, even though the thoughts and actions of this character were a bit psychitzophrenic, this was only a minor issue that ever-so-slightly tinged me enjoyment of the book.

A much larger issue, that more crucially influenced my overall level of esteem for this book, was the ending.

*Spoiler Alert*

*Seriously. I’m going to discuss the ending. I’m not joking. This is a spoiler*

As the book draws to a close we find out that Mark hasn’t been entirely forthcoming with his new bride.

Though he’s pretended to be her partner in all of this, he’s really been working with his own self-interest in mind — fucking typical man.

Here’s the thing about the ending as a whole, though… I didn’t really get it.

Maybe I'm a bit slow on the uptake...or maybe I just had one to many glasses of wine while reading… but, either way, I just don’t feel like I fully got it.

Or, if I did get it, it was just really unsatisfying.

Don’t get me wrong, I get the meat and potatoes of what happened. I understand the denotation. I just don’t get the connotations. I don’t get what the author was, I presume, trying to imply.

I mean, sure. I could believe that Mark was in some way complicit in their seemingly random windfall.

In fact, I had been working through plausible potential outcomes in that vein pretty much the entire time that I read. From the moment they found the black bag, bobbing in the water, I was relatively certain that it was going to turn out to be more than a by-chance discovery.

I was sure that, when I got to the end, there would be some amazing twist. All of the seemingly unconnected events would suddenly be connected, Crazy Stupid Love-style - but without the oddly fuckable Steve Carell, or the shirtless Ryan Gosling...unfortunately. And, what made me even more excited, was that I hadn’t figured out how it was all going to happen. Which must mean that it’s going to be so original… so amazing… that it’s unpredictable, even to the most avid of armchair detectives. But… it wasn’t.

For me, that "aha moment" never occurred.

The level of dissatisfaction I felt upon finishing the book was substantial, palpable and lasting. I screamed into the heavens, “Why, literary Gods, have you forsaken me!?!" — Okay... More like I muttered grumpily, sitting alone on my back porch, "Um, that's really fucking it?!?"

I mean, why did Mark ever get with Erin if he didn't really love her? — as if someone named Erin could be anything but supremely lovable, SMH.

It's not like she was rich.

It's not like he knew they were going to find the bag.

Or did he?

Did he orchestrate this whole thing?

And, if so, how?

Or maybe he really did love her at one point in time.

But now he… doesn’t?

Because they found the bag?

Even thinking about it now, it’s giving me a headache. And I’m sober AF.

There were just too many unanswered questions.

And I'm a former educator. Unanswered questions utterly piss me off.

When in doubt, pick C. But don't leave it unanswered.

And then, to make matters worse, in the final pages some new shit comes up which, while not coming entirely out of the blue, certainly did nothing to answer the questions that lingered in my mind — and, actually, caused some new ones to form.

Honestly, I labored over the assignment of a cocktail rating to this book.

On one hand, I really fucking like it. Like, I wanted to be reading it. And, when I wasn’t reading it, I was thinking about it.

But, on the other, the ending was...just...so unsatisfying, really.

Despite how underwhelmed I was by the ending of this novel, however, I simply have to give it 4 out of 5 cocktails.

The something I found in this novel was an enigmatic charm that, despite its faults, makes it difficult not to love.

This was a great read! The story line kept me interested and wanting to find out what happened next.

I read this book as fast as I could, sometimes skimmed, because I couldn't believe the unbelievable decisions this couple made and I needed to know how it could possibly turn out.
The end was "ok", but not worth the aggravation of the previous 40 chapters. I don't describe this story as a psychological thriller. This is a story about 2 greedy people making bad decision after bad decision.
The only upside of that is the reader gets to feel superior, knowing "I would never make those decisions or choices."
The reason I skimmed so much of the story was because the main character Erin, babbled on and on about nothing that advanced the story. The majority of the story was Erin's narrative, which was very juvenile at times.

This book starts off slow....really really slow. To the point I almost gave up on it. I read some reviews that said it picked up at 30% and they were right. Once the book got going I didn't want to stop reading. It begs the age old question "what would you do if....". I enjoyed the story line and the questions that arise from Erin and Mark's choices. I feel like there are a few unanswered questions but not enough to take away from the story. A solid 3.5 stars.

My first book by Catherine Steadman, but it certainly won't be my last! I look forward to more of her publications in the future.

Although I finished reading this book - it was not one of my favorites. I didn’t enjoy the writing style I put it did manage to finish it so I could find out what really happened at the end.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an advanced readers copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
I thought this book was a nicely paced addictive psychological thriller.
This is the author’s 1st book and I can’t wait to read what she writes next.
I highly recommend this book.

Fantastic story. I was hooked from the start. Intriguing and deliciously scandalous. This was very well written, with tons of excitement and plot twists. I loved it!

I received a free copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

A first book, by a new author. So giving her some leeway, it is an interesting start. However, the jumps in time
were hard to follow. Some of the characters actions were very hard to believer. This being said, I will watch this
author for future novels. She does have promise.

Loved it so much! Definitely a book that stays with you! Could not put it down!

Highly recommended if you enjoy suspense genre! Thank you for my review copy, which I received through Net Galley.

I received this from net galley and really enjoyed it! I have questions but they are the same as the protagonists. Good suspenseful read!

<b><i>Have you ever wondered how long it takes to dig a grave? Wonder no longer. It takes an age. However long you think it takes, double that.</i>
HOOK. LINE. SINKER.
A wickedly creative and absolutely terrifying debut! This Adrenaline ride definitely hits all the marks!
Something in the water, indeed! </b>

ERIN
<i>I’m not sure if I dozed off, but when I open my eyes the speedboat motor is changing tone and we’re slowing. I look up at Mark. We’re not back to Bora Bora yet. There’s nothing there, just ocean stretching miles in every direction. And then I see what he sees. In the water all around us. Paper. Sheets of white paper.

Maybe it was the storm that brought it here? I study the swirls of illegible black running across the white pages. If it was important, it’s not now.

The silence is broken by a <b>thunk</b> against the side of the boat. And another. <b>Thunk. Thunk.</b> The waves are knocking something repeatedly into the side of the hull. We look toward the noise; whatever it is, we can’t see it over the rim. <b>Thunk, thunk.</b> Mark frowns at me. I shrug. I don’t know. I don’t know what it is either. But there’s something in his demeanor, something in the set of his shoulders, that makes my blood freeze. Something bad is happening. Mark thinks something very bad is happening. <b>Thunk, thunk.</b> Insistent now. <b>Thunk, thunk.</b> Mark steps toward the noise. <b>Thunk thunk.</b></I>

******
Debut novel [book:Something in the Water|36388243] by [author:Catherine Steadman|16847770] is fully loaded with danger, nervous foreboding, and the insatiable anticipation of discovering what happens in the end.

I recieved the eBook edition from netGalley but
most of this review is based on the audiobook edition so I could share quotes from the story with other readers.** I'll explain in a minute.

The allure of audiobooks for me is that I can close my eyes, effectively removing the need to use my sense of sight necessary to read the black on white pages of the book. This allows me to visualize what's happening in my mind alone, making it much easier to envision what's taking place and to feel the emotional impact far more effectively. It's for this reason that an professional narrator is critical! This audiobook is narrated by the author, [author:Catherine Steadman|16847770], whose scintillating five star performance profoundly increased my enjoyment and experience of this book as I listened to the story play out.

Imagine it this way. You're sitting in a comfy place, your eyes are closed so that there is only darkness behind your eyelids. All of the information coming in is through your sense of hearing alone. Now you can focus all of your attention on <i>Catherine's</I> voice. Urgent, terrified.
Mark and Erin are scuba diving in Bora Bora. They are 10 meters down, near a shipwreck when, it happens......

Erin
<I>We sink. A movement in my periphery view. Not an object, but a change in color depth just beyond my field of vision. I turn my head and focus hard into the blurred blue beyond us. Straining my eyes to see through the shaded water. Then I see them. They’re all around us. They come into focus one by one. With each, my heart skips a beat. The fizz of adrenaline shoots through my veins. The water is full of them. Arcing in great loops over the wreck, and out around the reef. Their hulking bodies hanging weightlessly in the blue-green air around us. Fins, gills, mouths, teeth. Gliding like ocean liners. Sharks. So many sharks. What type they are doesn’t seem relevant to my central nervous system, which has taken over. </I>

It's a comfort knowing that MY nervous system is in perfect working order! You enjoy only a few moments of calm. Your eyes are still closed. Then....

<b>Thunk, thunk.</b> Insistent now. <b>Thunk, thunk.</b> Mark steps toward the noise. <b>Thunk thunk.</b></I>
!!!!!
Oh, my gosh! I could not stop listening now, how could I? Breath held, my heart pounding against my ribs, matching each <b>THUNK! THUNK! THUNK!.</b>

***
What a story! What a masterful narrative performance! What a ride! Wave after wave of adrenaline, with little time to recover before the next terrifying moment. This is one of those audiobooks that you don't want to stop listening to, and yet... you don't want it to end, either. Several times I was still mesmerized, riveted at 2:00 am in the morning! I had to battle with myself to pause the story, to add a bookmark, save my place until the next time I could return to it. Otherwise, I could have easily listened to it from start to finish in one go! All eleven hours, forty-five minutes of it! (Yes, I started the audiobook from the beginning). Needless to say, I was hooked!
It's very hard for me to comprehend that this is [author:Catherine Steadman|16847770]'s debut novel?!
I can not wait to see what she has for us in  future novels. Will she narrate her next book? Oh! I do hope so! Regardless, I will be snapping it up, still untitled, but scheduled for release in July, 2019. It's already on my wish list shelf!

**With a very big thanks to NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group Ballantine, and the author for my advanced copy in exchange for my honest review. After only reading the first few chapters, I was inexcapabley snagged! At this point, I learned that the audiobook edition was already available AND that it was narrated by the author herself! How great is that! Being an audiobook junkie, I just couldn't resist so I immediately purchased the audiobook edition from Audible and I'm so very glad I did! I loved it!

Such a great read...I didn’t want to put it down! From the very first page, Something in the Water is a tightly spun, fast paced thriller! There were so many nights that I wished I didn’t have so much work to do because I just wanted to sit and read and find out the ending. This plot keeps you guessing, especially because the first chapter tells you where you’re going to end up, but 90% into the book I still had no idea how we were going to get there. I highly, highly recommend this! I can’t believe this is her first book because it is a stunning read!

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for providing a copy free of charge in exchange for my honest review.

The book begins powerfully with a step-by-step account of digging a grave. The reader is immediately driven to learn why an intelligent well-spoken woman would be frantically excavating a hole in the dead of night. The story then goes back to brighter days in the narrator's life when she and her partner appear to have the world by the tail. Initial appearances, however, are deceiving. This power couple are not quite as successful as appearances would suggest and the story is driven by the need to get on firmer financial footing. Like many such stories set in the glitter of contemporary London, there is an underlying corruption that permeates the entire story. I prefer not to spend much time with such flawed individuals driven by greed and the need to keep up appearances. With no real moral imperative, this story left me unmoved and anxious to leave this crew behind.