I was lucky to receive an advance copy of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for my honest review and opinion. I couldn't wait to read this as the synopsis drew me in and believe me I was not disappointed. Such a good read and will keep you turning the pages until late at night as you will not want to put it down. Do yourself a favor and read this sooner than later.

I tried really hard to like this one but it was was to full of sailing terms and wasn't as fast paced as I wanted.

It was a very interesting concept!

Thank you to Net Galley and Gallery books for this publication. This book was considered a thriller/suspense however, I did not consider this to be a thriller it did not capture my attention or want me to turn the pages. I couldn;t read this book a long time it did not keep my interest., I could not relate to any of the characters.

This book has EVERYTHING. Death, mystery, desert island, people who aren’t what they seem. It was exactly as enjoyable as you would expect for a thriller that starts off with the mystery and then reverse-engineers the story of how that point was reached. Well-paced, fun, not infuriating = a solid read. Thank you netgalley for the eARC!

What a wonderful read. I couldn't stop reading and it is the perfect, perfect beach read. Loved the twisting and turning and how it all played out. I certainly didn't see it coming!

I really wanted to like this one more. In fact, writing this review made me lower my opinion on it because there were a lot of plot holes and/or plot points that didn’t really go anywhere. I thought it would be more survival story and less of a slow burn. It gave me Reckless Girl vibes at first but ultimately I couldn’t connect with the characters - I though Vee and Jake were just so dumb! Maybe it’s because I’m an ultimate type A and try to be prepare for all scenarios but I couldn’t understand their choices and Jake’s generally know-it-all attitude when he was totally lost in the sauce with his boat knowledge and fear of water.

Such a great read! I think so much of 'Deep Water' is in the psychological elements of the main characters and how they react to hard situations. I found myself wondering what I would do with every twist and turn!

I categorized this one as a mystery too because there are so many unanswered questions running throughout the book - it kept me reading just to get a hint to my burning questions!!

HEE Ending!

This was a different type of suspense novel for me, but it wasn't extremely suspenseful except for some at the beginning and the end. A boat is discovered by a Naval unit and there is a lot of wondering about how these two ended up on the boat and how he was hurt. Lots of unanswered questions. The bulk of the book follows Jake and Virginie and their adventures with becoming world travelers on a boat and roaming from port to port, at least that is their plan until they meet Terry and learn about Amarante. This tiny island is in the middle of nowhere and anyone that visits has to stock up on supplies, and if you need help there isn't much around. Virginie persuades Jake that they travel there first and change their plans. What could possibly go wrong?

This book kept me engaged and I wondered about several of the characters and their motives in various situations. I have to be vague to keep you in suspense and not give away too much of the storyline. The fellow travelers that they meet at Amarante seem harmless, but are they? The story comes to a climax as it nears the time they need to leave because the monsoon season is about to start and we then fall back to the snippet at the beginning and the navy vessel finding them drifting miles away from anywhere.

The ending really picks up with the truth coming out about various characters and their motives. I have to admit that I was confused once we were back in the present in the book and the book switched POV. The author probably should have put Tengku's name at the top of the chapter so we know that it switches to his POV. He turns out to have a pivotal role in the ending. The characters didn't have a lot of depth to them but you get a sense of who they are and how that plays into their character. There are some obvious good and bad characters but the interaction between them all was intriguing.

Overall, we give this 4 paws up.

When I saw this attractive cover I was instantly drawn in. The storyline and plot was there and the characters were well developed. I’m a sucker for stranded, stuck on island type stories so this was up my alley. I just felt the story dragged a little which caused me to put it down a few times. I give it a solid three stars for the development. The ending was a bit predictable and needed a little something more.
Thank you to Netgalley and Gallery Books for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The premise of this book sounded exciting and I could not wait to read it. A Navy vessel in the Indian Ocean comes across a yacht with an injured man and his wife aboard and brings them on board to help them .

The story started strong, and I was really enjoying it. The wife recounts their adventure to the ship's captain, telling him how they ended up where they were found, and also confesses to " Killing all of them " My mind imagines all sorts of scenarios as she tells her story, especially when they were found she was practically starved and her husband was covered in blood.

At about 50 percent in, it really started losing me, to much sailing talk ( terminology ) and a very slow burn mystery just could not keep my attention and I found myself struggling to get through it. I did finish it, but by the time I did, I could have cared less about the how and why of the story.

I really liked the suspense of this story. Although predictable sometimes, the action was at the pace of an island pace and the characters were written to carry out their various roles well. Those expecting Dead Calm delight will be disappointed but taking it as its own story it is a good read.

Copy provided by the publisher and NetGalley

Features a young, almost newly married British couple who’ve sold all of their possessions and bought a fixer-upper boat, spent most of their funds outfitting, repairing and provisioning it . . . then setting out to sail from their home in England and circumnavigate the world. They make it to Malaysia, where after re-supplying with food and fuel, they impulsively set out on a whim for the remote and unspoiled island of Amarante, 1200 nautical miles deep in the Indian Ocean.

As the novel begins, it’s narrated by a Royal Malaysian Navy Captain named Danial Tengku , who’s just been alerted to a distress signal from a yacht in a typhoon, “one-thousand nautical miles from land in any direction.” Aboard and in dire need of help are the London couple, Jake Selkirk and his wife Virginie Durand. Selkirk is badly injured, bleeding and incoherent. Durand can only keep repeating “I killed them,” in a hysterical manner as she tries in vain to tend to her husband’s wounds. Over the next few days, Virginie tells her story to the Captain . . .

After sailing to Amarante, they find a pair of boats with three other people and a dog already there. They’re introduced to Pete and Stella, a Canadian couple on the first boat, and Roly, an irascible Australian, along with his dog named Gus on the second. Shortly thereafter a fourth, and far more expensive catamaran shows up with a pair of mysterious Brazilians named Vitor, and his girlfriend Teresa. There’s nothing to do but fish, frolic in the sun and party on the beach. But the remoteness, isolation, and the lack of authority starts bringing out the worst in everyone. Suspicion leads to betrayal which ultimately leads to violence in this suspenseful misguided adventure. Ms. Bamford has crafted a tense psychological thriller that readers will engage with and hopefully, look forward to its sequel!

This is not the thriller I was expecting after reading the blurb. A British couple is rescued at see after being on an island starts well but is drowned out by so much technical sailing descriptions. I now know more about sailing techniques which is a plus but I did not read the riveting thriller I thought I was promised.

This book was extremely reminiscent of Reckless Girls by Rachel Hawkins, almost to the point where I was wondering what the point was of even reading this book. The story started out interesting with a crew finding two people lost at sea. However, the next part of the book follows a couple as they travel to amaranthe on their boat as a part of their honeymoon. There are other individuals there who are also suspicious, and also have no character depth. One of the strangest things to me was, one of the characters die, but they just dump her body and there isn’t big concern about it? There was just a lot missing for me in this book and I was very disappointed

Deep Water
⭐️⭐️⭐️
Genre: Mystery Thriller
Format: Kindle eBook
Date Published: 5/31/22
Author: Emma Bamford
Publisher: Gallery / Scout Press
Pages: 320
Goodreads Rating: 3.34

Thank you to NetGalley and Gallery / Scout Press for providing a digital copy of the book for me to read in exchange for my honest opinion.

Synopsis: When a Navy vessel comes across a yacht in distress in the middle of the vast Indian Ocean, Captain Danial Tengku orders his ship to rush to its aid. On board the yacht is a British couple: a horribly injured man, Jake, and his traumatized wife, Virginie, who breathlessly confesses, “It’s all my fault. I killed them.” Months earlier, the couple had spent all their savings on a yacht, full of excitement for exploring the high seas and exotic lands together. Jake and Virginie arrive, they discover they are not the only visitors and quickly become entangled with a motley crew of expat sailors. Now, it’s up to Danial to determine just how much truth there is in Virginie’s alarming tale. But when his crew make a shocking discovery, he realizes that if he doesn’t act soon, they could all fall under the dark spell of the island.

My Thoughts: As soon as I saw the first post on this book, I was highly anticipated its read. However, it fell a little short for me. The story is narrated from the rescuer, then Virginia, then back to the rescuer, from their perspectives. Almost half of the book is discussions on their sailing to the island, this was a very slow burn that had no thrill to it. The author does a great job of describing all things nautical, I can appreciate the author’s knowledge for this subject. I almost did not finish this book, however, since this was for a review, I powered through. The ending was exciting. The characters just fell a little flat with me. I just wanted this to be something more. Not a bad book, but not a great book overall. I would read other novels by this author as I did like her writing style and how descriptive she was.

This book was...something. I was so excited to read this! I hadn't even heard about it until I received a Netgalley email highlighting this new 2020 thriller and it sounded amazing so I decided to request and read it. The first chapter started out strong. I had high hopes. I was wrong.

I am not sure I can even classify this as a thriller. It's the most slow moving book I have ever read. It's really more of a "how-to-sail" handbook. The minute details the author gives on how to operate a boat was mind-numbing. Chapter after chapter of useless information that added no thrill to the overall story whatsoever.

If you can get past the mindless chit-chat about absolutely nothing there are some characters that will bore the hell out of you. The main characters are unlikeable while being unrelatable and unbelievable all at once. Throw in even more unlikable characters and it's a big pot of disappointment.

Not once while reading this "thriller" was I remotely interested in the plot, let alone on the edge of my seat. Absolutely nothing happens for the first 3 quarters of the story. There's not even an intense build up. The ending came fast and was anticlimactic.

This was an ARC provided by Netgalley and Gallery Books for me to read and give my honest review. It was a 1 star read for me.

"Deep Water" is set to be released on May 31, 2022 here in the U.S.

Happy Reading!

The premise seemed so promising but it just fell flat for me. I felt bored the majority of the time waiting for the action which barely came. It felt like nothing was happening for the majority of the book of the book and I’m honestly amazed I finished it.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

I think my disappointment in this book stems from unmet expectations and poor marketing. I was expecting an edge-of-your-seat, thrilling, heart-racing survival story in the middle of the Indian Ocean (which is a TERRIFYING setting to start with for someone like me who is afraid of the ocean!!) yet I found it ... boring? Underwhelming? Not thrilling at all, really? So sad about this one.

Thank you @gallerybooks, @scoutpressbooks, & @netgalley for the ebook ARC!

When a Navy vessel comes across a yacht in distress in the middle of the vast Indian Ocean, Captain Danial Tengku orders his ship to rush to its aid. On board the yacht is a British couple: a horribly injured man, Jake, and his traumatized wife, Virginie, who breathlessly confesses, “It’s all my fault. I killed them.”

The story backtracks to Jake and Virginie spending all of their savings to live on a yacht. Original plans included sailing to Thailand but they find themselves seeking an isolated island that promises seclusion and beautiful views.. better than the Maldives.

Their adventure on Amarante begins!

On Amarante, they are not the only visitors and quickly become friends with its other summer inhabitants. But is everyone who they say they are?

One complaint is the in-depth talk of boats and sailing. As someone who has never been out on a boat, I found some of the language used to describe parts of the boat and navigation to be difficult to follow.

Otherwise, the story captivated me from page one. The imagery used to describe the island was perfect. I felt like I was really there. But about halfway through the story, it started to fall short. Nothing “thrilling” seemed to be happening. The ending tied together a big portion of the story but there is one aspect of the other characters that we never get an answer about and I wished we did.

Oh this book was so good! I saw very mixed reviews from my Goodreads friends, so I wasn’t sure what I was getting into, but it definitely met my expectations, if not surpassed them.

The story starts off with a naval ship finding a stranded catamaran in the Indian Ocean; aboard is a woman and a gravely injured man. The woman is hysterical, with quite a story to tell about how she ended up on this boat that she claims isn’t theirs. She also claims that she “killed them all”. I was immediately hooked…

The story then flashes back to the woman’s story: Virginie and her husband, Jake, poured their savings into a sailing boat, and are headed off towards Asia. While on a stop for provisions, they meet a man who tells them of a remote island called Amarante. The island is days away from any other land, very isolated and very unknown. Immediately, Virginie wants to change their plans and head to Amarante, despite her husband’s initial efforts to dissuade her. So, away they head to this remote piece of paradise.

When they arrive, they realize they aren’t alone, but the small group of people already there are welcoming, and soon the island feels like home. They plan on staying until monsoon season, and their adventure begins with lots of coconut hunting, fishing, and spending the evening with the new friends they have made. The author did a good job of painting the picture of these people, all of whom have different reasons for escaping to a secluded island.

In a typical “locked room” mystery way, things soon change for the worse. Another couple arrives, and while Virginie and Jake briefly met them before heading to the island, they are strangers who seem to have secrets. They have a lot of money, a lot of alcohol, and a lot of issues. Soon, things turn from a peaceful commune to a group divided. Illness strikes (not good when it would take almost a week to reach civilization), and Virginie and Jake’s engine dies, leaving them with no power or way to make water, and no way of leaving without help. Is help really wanted, though?

The ending of this was tied up with a pretty bow, and that was the only part that I wasn’t mesmerized by. The entire book is fantastic, and the ending is good, but the beginning is the real show-stopper. You know something bad is going to happen, but when? What? How? I found myself desperately trying to get to the end to see how they ended up stranded on somebody else’s boat. I think the beginning was so strong that the end just couldn’t compete, but it still remains a four-star book for me, leaning towards 4.5 stars. It’s one I couldn’t wait to find time to read, and one I’ll keep thinking about for awhile! I highly recommend this nautical thriller.

(Thank you to Gallery Books, Emma Bamford, and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my review.)