I was hopeful for this book, but ended up just wanting more out of it than I had gotten.

The plot definitely lends itself to the thriller/suspense genere with the whole being on a secluded island, but that was about it. I just didn't get the feelings of that eerie something that isn't right until a lot closer to the end even though it was shown as a preview at the beginning.

I did like the allure of visiting a secluded island, but I really wanted more of the Amarante history/backstory. I feel like the characters were mostly the ones creating their own suspense instead of the eerie setting.

Overall I enjoyed the plot, but just wasn't blown away by it. It was more of a beach read than suspense for me.

Thank you to Simon & Schuster and Netgalley for providing me a copy of this ARC for my honest review.

Deep Water by Emma Bamford, is an action-filled seaworthy novel.⚓

Captain Daniel Tengku, is informed that his Navy ship Patusan has picked up a distress signal. Someone in the middle of the Indian Ocean is in trouble and must be rescued. Following the signal the crew finds a yacht with two passengers on board (Jake and his wife Virginie). Jake is in critical need of medical attention and Virginie appears rattled, but immediately admits to killing people. Is Virginie telling the truth? If so, who did she kill and why?

Emma Bamford's book Deep Water has a strong intense beginning that will capture the reader's attention. The setting is a obscure island called Amarante. Covered in thick vines and bushes the island gives off a creepy wilderness/jungle vibe. The middle part of the book felt a bit slow, but the ending packed a serious punch that made it worthwhile read. All in all, I like the atmosphere Bamford created with the plot and feel it will be entertaining for readers who enjoy a mysterious island adventure. (3.5 ⭐⭐⭐)

Deep Water is available on May 31st.

A huge thank you to Gallery Books and NetGalley, for allowing me to review this e-book. I appreciate your kindness. ❤

According to maritime superstition, changing the name of a boat is to invite bad luck. Poseidon (or Neptune) has a Ledger of the Deep, which is a record of christened vessels. If you rename a boat, he will punish you for your hubris with dangerous seas and a possible watery death. Therefore, it is up to you to remove your boat’s name from the ledger in a ceremony that involves throwing into the water a metal tag with the old name on it, thus returning it to Poseidon/Neptune. Virginie and Jake do not heed this warning delivered by a seasoned sailor, and re-name their newly refurbished yacht Wayfinder. Naïve and enthusiastic for adventure on the high seas, they laugh off this superstition. In hindsight, maybe they should have listened.

Bad Luck, bad decisions, and bad people are what Virginie and Jake encounter when they decide to forgo their planned voyage to Thailand and head towards Amarante. This supposed utopian island with white-sand beaches, clear water, and lush landscape sounds perfect (too perfect?) to the honeymooners. Not only beautiful and isolated, but also a place where Virginie thinks will test their comfort levels (why is this necessary?). However, are they ready to rely on and trust each other?

Virginie has a hard time with trust due to her experiences with a controlling father and first husband. She often chooses the advice and company of the others they encounter on the island over that of her husband. Vitor, the handsome and devilish owner of the catamaran Santa Maria is especially hazardous to the newlyweds. Virginie finds him friendly and helpful, whereas Jake thinks it is only a façade. Virginie chooses to spend time, take gifts, and believe what Vitor tells her. He’s a man who takes control; just like her father and first husband. Although she was traumatized by these men, she is drawn to it in Vitor. And despite saying she loves Jake for his easy-going manner, love, respect, and passion, she begins to find these qualities as signs of weakness within him.

I enjoyed this book because of the believability of the characters, especially Virginie. There were times I wished she would act differently; but to do so, would be wrong. It is her actions which eventually put them—and others-- in peril. The setting of an idyllic island that was once a penal colony for Malaysians who fought against their British rulers, illustrates a basic theme: everything is not always what it seems.

I would like to thank NetGalley and Gallery/Scout Press for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I love deserted/stuck on the island books! That's one of the main reasons I wanted to read Deep Water as fast as I could! This is a solid debut filled with fanatic twists and turns! I couldn't put it down!

Deep Water is a slow burn thriller that starts in present day when a navy ship rescues a woman and her husband from a drifting yacht. After assessing their condition, treating injuries and giving them food and water, the woman, Virginie, begins telling the story of what events led them here. From that point on, the majority of the book is told from her perspective as she recounts her and her new husband's dream to explore and live an unconventional life away from dreary London. They meet a fellow traveler who tells them about an idyllic island, a true paradise called Amarante.

Virginie doesn't need much convincing to make the trek to Amarante so she and her husband, Jake, set off to find this island for themselves. Upon arrival, they meet three others who have anchored at the island and soon another couple follows. The initial weeks at the island are blissful - they sun bathe, swim, explore and eat dinner with the other travelers each night. But slowly, tension is building as the "rules" of the island are instated, disagreements surface and pressures increase for each individual to pull their weight on the island. This results in Virginie and Jake making a rash decision that costs someone's life and puts their own at risk.

I was drawn in to the story because I wanted to know how Virginie & Jake ended up in the position we find them in in the first chapter- abandoned, desperate and injured. Once the story of the couple's trek to Amarante starts to unfold, it's overly technical and detailed. I found myself wanting it to speed up but then once it did, I was left confused with the use of technical terms and overly descriptive details. The last couple chapters were action-packed and somewhat rushed to get to the conclusion. Much of the book is spent on the island with slowly, mounting tension then we're tossed into a high stakes situation.

Overall, I felt the use of technical terms and unnecessary detail took away from the human elements to the story. The chapters set on the journey to the island and the island itself were too long. Also the additional storylines like the navy ship captain who lost his family and the truth of what the island used to be used for, were seemingly random and not well thought out. This book took a lot of left turns without correcting itself. I felt a bit lost and confused at times. Not my favorite but I was invested enough in the narrator, Virginie, to want to know how it concluded.

Someday, I think I'd love to read a book about newlyweds who decide it'd be an adventure to sail to a deserted island, and they have a wonderful time. This was not that book, but unfortunately, it ended up not really being much more interesting.
*
Synopsis: Virginie and her unconscious, bleeding husband are rescued in the middle of the ocean by a Malaysian Naval captain, but the boat they were on isn't theirs, and when asked what happened, Virginie says she killed them all. What happened on the paradise island they were staying on, and how did they end up on this boat in the middle of the ocean?
*
Ok, so exciting premise, and a start that suggests drama and suspense. However, it ended up being really slow and while the characters didn't always like each other, there really was very little suspense or creepiness.
*
It only got somewhat exciting at the very end, but it resolves quickly before the final section even starts. The final chapter ends up being so unrealistic that I didn't find it suspenseful in the least.
*
This ultimately read very similar to Reckless Girls, but didn't live up to it, in my opinion. But thank you to @netgalley and @gallerybooks for the early copy!

I am grateful to have received an advance copy of this book from the publishers via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review, however in this case that means being honest about not being able to finish the book.

I was interested in reading this exciting tropical thriller, a tropical island with a deep and dark mystery! And the first few chapters were promising, I liked the perspective of the navy captain and the scene of them answering the distress call was fast paced and I didn’t know who to trust I was so eager for the rest of the story to follow…. But the rest of the story did not have the same drive and the same intrigue. As Virginie is telling the story to the captain I found the writing to be clunky, and the sailing technicalities overwhelming. I think a lot of the intro to sailing life could have been slimmed down, and I would have found it a more enjoyable read.

I decided not to finish this book when I found myself dreading opening it back up and reading more sailing scenes with characters I still felt no connection with (at 30%) and wanting my deep dark mystery. I don’t know if the descriptions of this book put too much emphasis on the thrilling aspect or if there is just too much non-thrilling filler, but it was not the book I thought, nor was it a book i could enjoy. I would rather stop where I was, and not finish than force my way to the end and write a fully negative and bitterly honest review.

Because I did not finish this read I will not be posting my review on any sites, as that has always felt unfair to me.

This suspense opens with Virginie and her husband Jake as their distress signal is picked up by a Navy patrol vessel in the Indian Ocean. Once aboard, Virginie recounts the dream life of living aboard a yacht and exploring the seas and how it turned into a nightmare. They began in a small harbor in Malaysia when they heard about a small, isolated, island renowned for its beauty. When they arrive weeks later, they find they are not the only ones there. A small group of visitors have set up a community - complete with guidelines to keep everyone content and safe. However, tensions begin to rise between group members and when a few disasters strike one after the other, they push the group past the tipping point.
TW/CW: death of a spouse, death of a child, miscarriage, sickness of a pet (no death), medical trauma

I know it takes 3 to make a pattern, but between this and Reckless Girls by Rachel Hawkins, I'm finding isolated tropical island suspense/thrillers really satisfying. Isolation books are almost always trope candy for me and this was no exception. I love the juxtaposition of having these tensions arise in a beautiful setting as well as the beauty itself be potentially deadly.

I absolutely loved the setting and the almost horror-movie trope way that our main characters get there. In their initial harbor where they're getting their boat ready to sail, there's one guy that tells them about this island. He's a little annoying and a little creepy, but seemingly harmless. However, the way the scene was written, it really felt like if this was a movie it would have had some eerie music playing under his dialogue while he goes on and on about the beauty of this island - almost trying too hard to convince Virginie and Jake to go there. This is then taken to the next level when they go to get their travel plans approved to visit this island and the official lets them know in no uncertain terms that if they get in trouble there, they are on their own. The island is so far away that they can not radio or call for help and it isn't often that other ships pass by as it isn't on any trade or travel routes. Again, if this was a horror movie, this is the point where the viewer would think the characters are silly for not turning around and visiting some other tropical locale.

The island itself was also a fantastic mix of beautiful and creepy. Of course, an island like this had visitors before and while staying there, Virginie learns about the specifics of this island's past. We get a few old sailor superstitions about the island that also increase the creep factor. I think Bamford does a good job of keeping this creepy undertone throughout the narrative, reminding the reader at just the right intervals that our characters are taking a risk by being here. We also get a few scenes where we see characters come close to experiencing the danger of the island so the reader knows these dangers are real. Of course, these moments are balanced by a lot of rest and relaxation in the sun, surf, and sand. There's beachy bonfires and eating the freshly caught fish each day. The story excellently captures that feeling of time not mattering because you're on vacation and there really isn't a schedule for anything.

I think where the book fell short, for me, was the narrative structure and tension. We know from the description that the book opens with Virginie and Jake being rescued by a Navy ship. We spend a few chapters with that plot line before flashing back and following the events leading up to and on the island for the majority of the book. Then, when the island plot line catches up to the opening of the book, we have about 20% of the book left to go. Because of this structure, we lost some potential tension immediately because we know who gets pick up off the island. So when these characters find themselves in dangerous situations, we know for sure they'll be fine. Also, once they get back to the mainland, there isn't much time left in the story for more things to happen. In fact, it really felt like we were in the downswing of the story, with plot lines and character arcs wrapping up in this final 20%. Then, there was a pretty quick introduction and resolution of a new threat that I didn't really take seriously because it was introduced so late. Looking back, I think Bamford tried to leave breadcrumbs of this threat earlier in the story, but they were so light or so quickly brushed aside by other characters that I didn't give those points much weight. I think the tension inside the island portion was done really well but it was the bookends of the narrative that didn't work well for me.

I really enjoyed the characters and thought the interpersonal conflicts and tension was really well developed. All of the characters had their own distinct personalities so they were easy enough to keep separate in my mind while reading. We do get the typical character archetypes that we see a lot in these isolation thrillers - the grumpy loner, the smooth talker, the aloof one, the nice one, etc - but Bamford does a good job deepening their characters past these initial types. I liked that we got to see a lot of different interactions between all the characters so we could really see the different sides to their personalities. I think one of my favorite parts of an isolation story is that it acts as a sort of pressure cooker for human interactions.

Overall, this was a good read and I enjoyed the trip to the tropical island. I do think the narrative structure choices dampened some of the suspense and tension, but the majority of the book follows the events on the island and that was where the story really shined.

Thanks to NetGalley and Gallery Books for the ARC

Expected publication date is May 31, 2022

This past weekend I had a trip to NY and even though I was surrounded by the noise and rush of a city I love, the pages of Deep Water transported me to a tropical island and isn’t that just the kind of book one wants to reach for in the summer?! After multiple flight delays I didn’t arrive home until 3am but couldn’t go to sleep until I read the final pages. And if you know anyone who loves sailing, the show Survivor or dreams of retiring to an island —this book is for them!

What is true, what is a lie?

Do you believe everything someone tells you? I tend to be pretty gullible myself, so if put in a position that I found a couple in distress claiming to have withstood months of torture. I am sure I would believe them, right?

Maybe.

You are going to have to read Deep Water, to find out the answer.

This book was filled with many twists. I was completely intrigued with the synopsis and the book itself did not disappoint. This is the perfect book to bring to the beach and will have you completely enthralled as the story unfolds. The ending was done with precision and I could not asked for a better cast of characters. Some likable, some not so much and a few unreliable.

Did I catch your attention? Good, so will this book!

This book starts with a bang: a Navy vessel rescues Jake and Virginie from a yacht in the middle of the Indian Ocean. Jake is injured and unconcious but Virginie is able to the tell the captain the story of how they got here. Flashing back we find out that Jake and Virginie have sold most of their belongings to live life on a boat for the near future. Through a series of events, they eventually find themselves with a small group of other people at a tiny, isolated island that's truly in the middle of nowhere. Without giving too much away, chaos slowly ensues.

Much of the book describes their life on a boat and the feeling of what it would be like to truly be isolated on the ocean with no immediate access to help if/when a crisis arises. The last quarter of the book moves into thriller-mode when problems of a life or death proportion start to occur.

Overall a compelling read! I found it reminiscent of Alex Garland's The Beach. Is there such a thing as a true paradise or does it always go south when humans are involved?

I loved this book - the setting absolutely enhanced the plot in the best way. Despite how positively spooky the story was from start to finish, this book made me want to get on the water and sail away ASAP!

The difficult relationships with mysterious characters kept me interested, and I loved the unique format of starting with rescuing a survivor followed by hearing her story. The ending also surprised me, although looking back, I should have seen it coming given the ruthlessness of the “bad guy.”

It should be noted that there is mention of sexual assault in this book, though as a survivor myself, I did not find it to be too graphic or triggering (but others might.)

I really loved Deep Water .
This was a fantastic thriller !
I love the survival aspect of this twisty thriller !

Great characters and very atmospheric !

I love books featuring vacations gone wrong and based on the description of Deep Water, I had a feeling it would be right up there with some recent favorites. It gave me a bit of Reckless Girls vibes, with the remote island and no one around except others that visit.

The story starts out very suspenseful with Virginie and Jake being rescued at sea by a military ship from the catamaran that is in the middle of the ocean. Jake is badly injured and the captain questions Virginie to find out what happened, and it quickly comes out it's not their boat. From there, the story starts at the beginning, and readers will begin to learn the sequence of events that lead to their rescue.

I won't lie; it wasn't suspenseful enough for me. It was a good story but certainly felt like one I'd read before. I didn't really find anything unique about it. The ending was good, and a happy one too, but I did feel like it was a bit rushed and I still had questions.

Overall, it was a good story. I never felt the need to stop reading; in fact, I couldn't put it down. It just didn't feel like a new story.

3.5/5 stars
Thank you Gallery Books and NetGalley for the eARC in exchange for my honest review.

The story is first told by the captain of a rescue ship who gets a mayday call. When he finally reaches the vessel in distress, he finds a woman in command of a catamaran, whose husband is gravely wounded. When he evacuates the boat, the woman tells him that this is not their craft, the passports in the hold aren't theirs, and neither are the clothes in the cabin lockers. Oh, and she admits that she killed the boat's owner.. And thereby hangs a tale...
Virginie and Jake are newlyweds who are looking for adventure and buy a sailboat to find it. They are told about a small ocean paradise island that sounds perfect. But when they arrive, they are forced to share the island with an assortment of characters who put them in grave danger that will test their love and their very survival.
This was an edge-of-your-seat read-fraught with danger, but beautifully descriptive. Unusually good!

Thank you Netgalley and Gallery Books/Scout Press for the opportunity to give this a read!

I enjoyed this read by Emma Bamford! It begins with a Navy ship picking up a distress signal from a yacht where they discover Virginie, and her injured and unconscious husband Jake. The pair are taken aboard the Navy vessel and in Virginie recounting the story of their excursion to Captain Tengku, the readers are taken back in time to live the story with the young newlyweds.

I’m not sure if it was the fact that I read this book alone at night in the dark, but I found the beginning of the novel totally creepy. As we follow Virginie and Jake on their adventure to the isolated island of Amarante, we are consistently reminded of their remote location and how they are entirely cut off from civilized society. Once they reach the island, I will admit that the “creepy factor” receded a bit. That being said, I feel like the storyline was well-crafted and I was invested in the characters and their island life and relationships. This was one of those where the setting totally becomes another character in the piece and helps to contribute to the atmosphere. I feel liked the ending was wrapped up cleanly!

If you enjoy a slow-burn with a unique setting and occasionally creepy vibes, this is totally for you! I found this to be an enjoyable read, and I would definitely pick up another book by this author!

What is supposed to be the trip of a lifetime, quickly turns into a nightmare! Good adventure title to read on the beach!

First let me tell you that I am a great fan of isolated locations where terrible things occur.

In Deep Water Bamford creates characters that are both terrifying and frightened.
A couple buys a yacht and visits many locales. They hear about a small deserted island - which actually has another couple on it. As the new couple boards the yacht terrible stories emerge and it becomes a question of whether horror actually occurred or is the woman making them up.

Virginie and Jake, newlywed, stranded in the Indian Ocean. This woman has a story to tell the man who saved her and her husband. The book started strong, Jake put his lifes savings into living the boat life with Virginie, they will be sailing the world and I found that to be so cool. They are in a port, where they heard about a tiny isolated island, Virginie is excited and wants to go.

Their journey, and the people they meet were awesome, I wished I was there with them all, even though I had to question how some characters came to be in this book, I was confused by a set of them. The book is a slow burn, and since I don't like to give up on books I kept on reading wanting to know more.

Soon they go through the worst thing ever and Virginie and Jakes world goes CRAZY. I Know for sure this book would make an amazing movie, and the DRAMA!!!!

I was immediately interested because I love claustrophobic “stuck on an island” stories.. and I’m a Survivor fan! It didn’t start off as an easy read, with the words I don’t know and names I can’t pronounce. When we get to Virginie recounting her story to the Navy man a few chapters in, I was hooked!

Virginie and Jake are newly married. She works at a boat museum and he works on boats. Suffice it to say, they are boat people. Their dream is to leave their possessions and 9-5 lives behind and travel the sea so they set out to do just that. They scrapped their original plan when a marina friend tells them about a beautiful and mostly uninhabited island called Amarante. Virginie cannot resist its allure and convinces Jake to go.

When they finally arrive a few weeks later, there is another couple on the island for the season, Pete and Stella, and an older man with his dog. They all hit it off immediately and Roly, the elder, explains the rules to them. Just basic things like where not to fish and how to pitch in.

3 is company but 4’s a crowd when another boat rolls in. It’s Vitor and Teresa, a couple they’d met at a port. Virginie hit it off with Vitor but not Teresa, she’s reserved, and Jake thinks Vitor is annoying and pretentious.

As they settle into island life, things are really fun and it was actually super sweet and romantic. I felt like I was there with all the vivid descriptions of sights, sounds and smells.

Things start to unravel after a few blissful, but sweltering, weeks. Just like the civilized world, there are politics and trade embargoes. The boat is having trouble, food and water get scarce, and people are starting to take inventory of each other and their worth.

Despite the best of intentions going into it, not everyone can make it away from Amarante unscathed. Maybe everyone should have just followed the simple rules. “Here’s paradise, bringing you pain.”

Thanks so much to NetGalley and Gallery Books for the chance to set sail on this adventure!