Jules is driving her son Gabe and another boy named Isaac home after a game in the evening when a deer jumps out in front of the car. Jules loses control of the car and they end up sinking in an icy lake. Jules goes to grab her son but pulls out Isaac by mistake. Gabe doesn't make it and she blames herself. Jules has a break down and ends up in an institution. Isaac goes missing soon after and the investigators think its a serial killer who has been taking young boys. His mom, Amber thinks Jules has something to do with it since her and Isaac have formed a bond.

This book started really interesting and by the end I was shocked. It was not what I was expecting at all. I did like the different points of view from Jules and Isaac's mom, Amber. I think I have read just about all of Lucinda Berry's books and she can really come up with a wild story to tell. If you have enjoyed her other books, then I am sure you will enjoy this one too, it is a quick read!

Many thanks to Netgalley and Thomas & Mercer for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

This review will be posted to my Instagram Blog (@coffee.break.book.reviews) in the near future.

This book is about Jules Hart, who’s life is forever changed one day when she crashes her car over the edge into a lake and her son dies. Her sons friend, Isaac, was in the car and she was able to save him. She’s left to grapple with the loss of her son Gabe and emotional toll and guilt of Isaac being alive still, amidst her great loss. That is until Isaac mysteriously vanishes and suspicions are surrounding her. Is she responsible for his disappearance or is there something more sinister at play?

The book sounded so intriguing and interesting! I was expecting a tense, thrilling, twisty-turney tale. Alas, it fell short of my hopeful expectations. It started out okay, but then the plot got confusing and convoluted. There was a twist at the end, but it felt haphazard and by the time I got there, I was already disconnected from the book.

Thank you to NetGalley + Thomas and Mercer for the ARC.

I'm not sure what I was expecting, but this wasn't it.

The beginning setup was intriguing, but the further I read the more frustrated I felt. Both the main characters- Jules and Amber were insufferable. I felt nothing for either of them and then we go into a plot of a serial killer that has been stalking the community.

I just wasn't invested in any of it and wasn't even interested in what happened to Isaac! He goes missing, everyone is acting bizarre, someone has lost it, and who cares? Not me. Every single character annoyed me and the ending was just nonsensical.

Name of Book: Off the Deep End
Author: Lucinda Berry
Publisher: Thomas & Mercer
Genre: Mystery & Thriller
Pub Date: January 10, 2023
My Rating: 2.5 Stars!


This is my fourth author, Lucinda Berry novel. My first was "The Best of Friends" which I loved it and became a Lucinda Berry fan!

Juliet ‘Jules’ Hart’s life changes forever when she crashes her SUV into the icy lake; she has two passengers, her fifteen year old son Gabe and his friend Isaac Green. While submerged she grabs her son’s hand and swims out of the car struggling to keep hold of Gabe and finally reached the top and the shore. Only the hand she is holding is not her son’s but his friend’s Isaac’s.

A lot of this story is Jules’ therapy sessions; she has nothing to live for. There is no doubt that Jules goes off the deep end.
Isaac is also having a difficult time ~ survives guilt.
When Isaac disappears, his family is convinced it’s all Jules fault.

Story is told from the POV of Amber Green, Isaac’s Mother and Jules.

I will read another Lucinda Berry story however, this was a disappointing read.

Lucinda Berry is a former psychologist and a leading researcher in childhood trauma. Needless to say, she has and is using her clinical experience to her fiction stories.
If you would like to receive her newsletter and/or read about her, you can do so on her web site
https://lucindaberry.com

Want to thank NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for this early eGalley.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for January 10, 2023

Oh my God. This book! One of the best thrillers I've read recently. The story and her not saving her son. It was edge of seat suspense. Such a page turner! Highly recommend!

This felt like two separate books in one. Everything started off wonderful then took a massive nosedive. Jules was incredibly hard to like and the other characters were a bit forgettable. Usually I am a massive fan of her books, but this was a miss for me.

Ten months ago, Jules’s life changed in an instant. While driving her teenage son and another boy home after a basketball game, she swerves to avoid a deer in the road, losing control of the car and plunging into an icy lake. Jules can only save one of the boys, and frantically works to free the one she thinks is her son Gabe, only to realize too late that she has rescued Isaac instead.

Understandably distraught by her son’s death, Jules’s mental health deteriorates to the point that she’s in a psychiatric hospital when we meet her. Meanwhile, Isaac has gone missing, and his mom is sure Jules has something to do with his disappearance.

I know this book isn’t coming out until January, but I couldn’t hit “Read Now” fast enough when I saw this one on NetGalley. Lucinda Berry is just that good. She has a style of writing that sucks you in from the get-go. Her experience as a psychologist makes her characters and their issues pop right off the page (or screen, if you’re on an e-reader). I really like the multiple perspective structure that lets you get inside the characters’ heads. This is especially effective with Jules, with her perceptions and inner monologue juxtaposed against her interactions with her psychiatrist, leaving the reader to try to figure out what’s real and what’s not, and what is mental illness vs. manipulation.

I do have to say… there’s a reason this book is titled “Off the Deep End”, because everything about it is exactly that: off the deep end. In the literal sense, the car accident. In a figurative sense, Jules’ sanity. And from the plot perspective, it’s when the storyline goes off the rails at about 80%. I’m the first one to admit I love a twist I never saw coming, but one character’s arc goes in such a wild direction that is completely out of left field and not foreshadowed in any way. It kind of messed with the momentum for me, but the last chapter makes up for it with one final crazy twist.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for providing me an advance copy of this book.

Wow! I did not not expect Lucinda Berry's latest book to go so off the deep end!!! But as always, I love that her characters are deeply flawed and the first person perspective she uses to write helps us to get inside their heads so we feel like we really know them. One of the reason I love Lucinda Berry, is that she writes about the kinds of things that happen in real life every day, when people make bad choices, or act on dangerous impulses or become unhinged. I have not read anything by her yet that failed to keep me entertained all the way through!

I read a ton and I have always been the biggest fan of her books I don’t think there is a single book she’s written I didn’t give a five to my favorite is definitely Saving Noah and also when she returned. I will say this wasn’t my favorite but it was a great read. Lucinda takes you to the aftermath of this horrible accident where two families must deal with the onset of horror, loss, grieving and psychological damage after this tragic accident. Such a page turner and smack just like that and then it turns into a huge hurricane of brokenness of insane actions and out of this world occurrences. Get your hands on this book you won’t regret it, you’ll be thanking me later!

Indisputably Tragic! 😳😯🤯😯🥺

Whoa, whoa! Put the breaks on your donkey! Holy Kerfuffle! This novel! My heart! It absolutely shocked, stunned and broke me simultaneously. I'm still left mending a sorrowful heart. Berry expertly weaved a novel of tense-filled suspense, crazy, chaotic and heart bleeding plot. She knows how to give the right amount of every aspect in this not-for-the-light-hearted book. I'm still speechless & holding my dog a little tighter!

Mყ 𝐒ყɴ𝐨ρѕιѕ: Jules life and that of Gabe's and Issac's are changed forever after a car accident that lands them all in an icy lake. By a miracle, Jules is able to save herself and Issac, but not Gabe, her son. Grief is enough to illicit turmoil for anyone, but when it's your own son, it leaves Jules completely unstable and having a nervous breakdown. Ten months later, while Amber is thankful to still have Issac, another tragedy hits the family that results in Issac disappearing. Looking at the close connection of Jules and Issac up until recently, Amber is sure she played a part. But Jules is adamant she has no idea. So was Issac abducted by a serial kidnapper, or is something far more sinister a result?

This book will definitely invoke two of every parents worst nightmares and will cause extreme unease. It's tough subject matter, but Berry handles this with such care and sensitivity, I always respect her highly of that. This book is heart-wrenching, fear-inducing and tension-filled suspense right until the very end. This will provoke such emotions out of you, and cause your feelings to be all over the place. While this isn't one of my favourites by her, I still devoured this novel with gumption & needing to know the end which didn't disappoint!

🔴 Trigger Warnings: School Shooting ; Talk of Suicide

Thank you to NetGalley & Amazon Publishing for this ARC.
Release Date: January 10, 2023

𝐌𝐞𝐫𝐢𝐭: 4 / 5 Beach Waves! 🌊

Lucinda Berry never disappoints! This book was truly a wild ride. I didn’t expect that ending whatsoever! She transports you to places and situations that are so intense and creates characters that are so psychologically disturbed 🤯🤯🤯🤯

Get ready for this amazing read. You’re going to devour it!

Well.. it wasn't my favorite Lucinda Berry book. I thought it started off really strong with the accident and Jules finding out that her son was killed instead of Isaac. What I didn't like was that the accident felt like it didn't really blend with the story of how Isaac "disappeared" and then ended up shooting several of his peers in a school shooting. I also thought that Isaac's parents were annoying and Jules was super aloof that you didn't really understand her angle. The ending was not great... it was very out there and it didn't really wrap up the story well. I love Lucinda Berry books but I definitely think her earlier stuff was better. It was hard to keep me engaged with this book.

Just like her other books, this one may leave you with all the feels. It’s a slow burn but still got me hooked.

It’s a story within a story. The blurb doesn’t even give it justice as there’s so much going on and it’s so much deeper than what was taught us to believe.

Thanks @netgalley and the author @lucindaberry for this good read.

Another Lucinda book I really struggled with. I enjoyed the beginning and then I wasn't sure. The story just didn't seem to progress much until the last 20% where all kinds of information was thrown at the reader. I wish that part would have spanned more of the book because it gave the story more sense. I have to say I did like this better than Under Her Care but again, she wore me out with the character giggling all the time.

Thanks for an ebook in exchange for an honest review.

I flew through this book after about halfway, I couldn’t put it down. I found the first half very slow moving. This was my first Lucinda berry book and I enjoyed it a lot. I will be reading more from her for sure.
Every mothers nightmare happens to the main character, her son dies. I liked how the main character was non reliable. You never knew what she was going to say.

After reading a few Lucinda berry books I was looking forward to reading this one.
I was a bit disappointed with this one. I didn’t feel like it flowed as well as the others. I found I was a bit bored in places.
Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for allowing me to read this one, unfortunately it just wasn’t for me

Young teen boys have been going missing, taken by the Dog Snatcher, who has a distinct MO. After they go missing, their clothes show up in a nearby park, and then their bodies . . . While this happens Jules gets in a car accident, landing in the lake. She rescues her friend's son Isaac but her own son, Gabe, doesn't make it. Jules, a forty-year-old woman and Gabe, a fourteen-year-old boy, seem to bond over the trauma . . . And then Isaac goes missing . . .

This story was strange, bordering on eerie. Jules has got to be out of her mind, otherwise, things are dangerously close to supernatural. And, for the life of me, I couldn't figure out if her loony-ness was enough to label her a kidnapper let alone a murderer. And, oh, I was absolutely dying to find out.

I could not put this down. Don't go into this expecting anything predictable or even common sense. No. This story is bizarre and filled with mystery and suspense. So freaking good!

I’m obsessed with Lucinda Berry and I thought Saving Noah and The Perfect Child were perfection. However, her last two books - this one included - have no been for me.
I found the plot dragged and I didn’t care much for the characters.
I need Lucinda Berry books like before!!! I’ll keep reading no matter what because I know no other author will ever make me feel like I did during Saving Noah!

This was a disturbing and uncomfortable read, but not necessarily in a bad way. It was like the proverbial car wreck you simply can't turn your head from. You don't want to gawk and you don't want to admit that you are spellbound and want to see more because what kind of person does that make you? But oh my goodness, you just want them to bring the bodies a little closer so you can see better with this one. There is so much wrong here. So many lines crossed. So many seemingly harmless secrets. There is no bad intention. Things are only done in love and to protect. But it all goes so horribly wrong...and I shamefully admit I was gawking!!

This was my first Lucinda berry book but won’t be my last. All my peers and friends say her other work is much better than this so I will just go ahead and read her other books