3.5/5

This book had such good atmosphere. I loved the ship and the sea, the descent into the unknown and mystery that surrounded it all. The build up was so good, the voices and the strange glow, the crew going slowly mad. All of it was going so well, and then I was let down by the ending. It just didn’t work for me, and felt rather unfulfilling after that whole journey.

The crew themselves were also rather indistinguishable. They all felt like the same person and I had a hard time keeping track of who was who. The only distinct people seemed to be the captain and his second hand, but even they were barely there and not fleshed out.

Overall I think the premise here was great, the atmosphere was chilling and amazing, but the characters and the ending were a let down.

Another quality horror novel from Blaine Daigle. One offering was appreciated, but to find that there could be two more to delve into so soon and not be disappointed, well that's a real delight. Each has been set in a totally different world with different vibes and different mythology.

I was hesitant to begin A Dark and Endless Sea as I knew there was a focus on dreams. My problem with the narration of dreams is that it can be a licence to write pretty much anything, including frustrating nonsense. But this was not the case in this instance. The storyline was strong and the inclusion of the dreams had a logical and vital purpose.

Dark, grisly and atmospheric, this tale comes alive through Daigle's skilled way with words and vivid descriptions.

I received this arc from netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

This was a crazy, wild and horrifying fever dream of a novel and I loved every moment of it!
Caught somewhere between HP Lovecraft, Jeremy Bates and Stephen King, this book took me on one helluva ride. Nearly every single guess I made when it came to what had happened to bring Whitt to that specific boat and crew was completely wrong, as the author had such a unique setting & mindset for this story, and to me, that is the hallmark of an excellent novel. It kept me intrigued, enthralled and trying to turn the pages fast enough to satisfy my curiosity.
Mr Daigle writes the most deliciously satisfying horror that I've ever read and I'm here for it all.
~Vicki Rose- Platinum Book Reviews

That book is wonderful. It has a calm and engaging narrative. Five stars. The calm and engaging narrative drew me in from the very beginning, and I couldn't put it down. I would definitely give it five stars and highly recommend it to anyone looking for a great read.

4.5 stars, rounded up.

Another great book from Blaine Daigle!

The book opens with our main character, Whitt, in a motel room with no memory of anything that happened before. Whitt struggles to remember anything about himself to the point where he has to write his name on his hand before it floats away. He also suffers from nightly nightmares where he sees a town at the bottom of the ocean, filled with dead bodies. Whitt is drawn west and is in a tiny fishing village in Alaska. A mysterious note is taped to his motel room door that tells him to find the crabbing fish the Sonia since it will have answers. Whitt is, of course, confused since who even knows he's here but decides to go for it.

He finds the ship and is taken on board as a crew member. The captain decides the path that the ship takes but doesn't care about the crabs they catch and leaves everything entirely up to the crew. They start to teach Whitt how to be a crabber... crab-fisherman... how to work on a crab boat, there we go. Soon we find out that they all suffer from nightmares and they all are missing their memories. Except, they remember everything that happens on the Sonia.

The strangeness ratchets up from there with more dreams, deformed crabs, siren/mermaids/somethings, a glowing presence thing, as Whitt tries to figure out what in the heck is happening and what happened to his memories. The author does a great job of dropping you into a strange world and then increasing the strangeness and tension as Whitt experiences it.

I was worried about how the ending would go (since nothing ruins a good book faster than a bad ending), but the author ended it in a very satisfying way. I don't want to give anything away, but it was very well done.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for this advance review copy.

If you’re looking for a thriller/horror sea tale, this one is for you. A man’s taken memories haunt him straight into a nightmare at sea. I felt the cold and I felt the desperation.

Suspenseful, claustrophobic and tense. A Dark and Endless Sea is a unique fantasy horror which had my blood pressure elevating from beginning to end.

Whitt is down on his luck. He is homeless, broke and visited by agonizing nightmares every night. On top of these horrific dreams, he has very little memory about his life. He finds himself in Alaska and a mysterious invitation is left on his door to join a crab fishing crew on their next journey. Whitt joins the ship of misfits and sets sail on a dark and harrowing journey. The nightmares soon become part of an unexplainable reality.

The descriptive writing in this novel was hair-raising. For real. I had goosebumps envisioning the dark sea, the monstrous creatures and the horrible things happening on the boat "Sonia". I could not binge read this book because it was stressing me out at times and I had to step away to process the many "what the heck did I just read" moments I came across. (poor albatross)

Highly recommend but with it's graphic and explicit writing, the book is gruesome and not for the faint of heart. If you are in the mood for a dark supernatural horror novel, this is the one.

4 solid stars. A five star novel for me is one I cannot put down and have to binge read. This one, I had to put down and walk away several times or I was afraid I would be the next person plagued with nightmares.

Thank you to NetGalley and Wicked House Publishing for the digital advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you Net Galley for sending me this ARC to review.

Whitt Rogers has been plagued with nightmares every night. A voice from these dreams tells him to head to the coast of Alaska to join a crab fishing crew headed for the Bering Sea. Once aboard, Whitt discovers he and the crew have something in common. Their memories prior to arriving to the Alaskan coast are all missing, and it soon becomes apparent the captain of their ship has an ulterior agenda besides catching crabs.

I don't typically enjoy slow building books, but this worked for me. Despite being out in the vast sea, this book felt claustrophic with the ever present coldness creeping in. I was constantly questioning if the events taking place were actually happening or just Whitt's slow decent into insanity. The ending of the book wrapped things up nicely. Even if not all the questions were answered, I still felt it was satisfactory. I will definitely be looking at this authors other books.

A dark horror, set on unknown seas. Whitt joins a motley crew of men onboard a crab boat in the Bering Sea of Alaska, desperate for anything except the nightmares and memory loss that have followed him for as long as he can remember.

As he learns the bitter truth of the men onboard, and their destination, the horror climbs to mind splitting levels for Whitt.

At the end, we find that sometimes all things are a circle, and we are small and not much for this world.

4.5 stars.

I have never in my life felt a desire to join a crab fishing trawler and set sail into the open ocean. But when I started reading A Dark and Endless Sea I was immediately immersed in the story. Pure speculative horror at it's finest.

Whitt is a young man with no memories. He wanders through life, running from the violent dreams that terrify him every night. Dreams of blood and glowing green eyes. When he learns the other men on board also suffer from the same dreams, Whitt finally knows he's in the right place. Until the trawler begins it's journey out to sea, with no intention of returning.

I have never read anything like this before. It's the kind of horror I want to read. Dark and creepy, with moments that truly made my stomach churn. There was some supernatural elements but they didn't feel gimmicky. There were flashes of gore and body horror. Think Danny's visions on The Shining. The writing was beautiful and so descriptive. I felt like I was really there. Towards the end the story became a little long-winded and the final monologue could have been cut down some. This was almost perfect.

Thank you to NetGalley and Wicked House Publishing for an ARC copy of A Dark and Endless Sea.

Wow, wow, WOW! This was so beautifully and hauntingly written. I was captivated by the story and found myself thinking about it any time I had to put it down. I was nervous the ending would be a let down but it was fantastic...probably my favorite part. 5 big stars!!

Daigle once again proves to be the master of atmosphere! A Dark and Endless Sea expertly spins this fisherman's tale into a very stressful nightmare.

I enjoyed where the story was going and the strong personal character development, although sometimes their speech and mannerisms made it difficult to distinguish who was doing what and where at some points. I pictured all the deckhand as 20 somethings with dark hair and dark eyes.

The ending was rough for me, about 85% of the way in the story took a turn that fell flat, to me. I kinda just went "Oh, damn that's what"it" is?"

Besides that, I enjoyed the story and will continue to pick up anything Daigle writes!

Thanks you Blaine Daigle and Wicked House Publications for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I read A Dark Roux recently and definitely enjoyed it, so I was happy to read his next book. And it didn’t disappoint.

A Dark Roux was full of swamps and heat, yet with A Dark and Endless Sea Daigle shows that he can write a solid horror novel in any setting.

I was captivated from the start to the end. The supernatural elements were nailed. The book was gory at times, but as usual Daigle nails the atmosphere perfectly. The ending was climatic without being overbearing.

4.5 stars rounded up.

I received an advance review copy for free from NetGalley and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

A Dark and Endless Sea by Blaine Daigle

Madness awaits in a black sea.

Whitt, a man with no memory of his past, is inexplicably drawn to the Bering Sea.
After joining the crew of a crab boat, they start experiencing stranger and stranger phenomenon and he discovers the captain is after a far deadlier catch than crabs.

I really enjoyed how this story was steeped In fisherman and nautical folklore tales of the past. For me, it evokes classical tales such as 1001 Nights. Also, it kept me guessing the entire way through. Anyone who enjoys a little fantasy in their horror would enjoy this one.

Whitt is a man without hope or memories of his own past, wandering aimlessly and trying to avoid the horrid nightmares that plague him. The opportunity to join a fishing crew seems like a step in the right direction, but gradually becomes a waking nightmare. The author does an excellent job at creating a sense of growing dead as events escalate.

Daigle is the master of creating dark, atmospheric tales that will have you suffocating with tension and fear and leave you questioning your own sanity. His writing is so enchanting and hauntingly poetic. I felt like I was in a trance while the song "Blurred Lines" kept playing on repeat in my mind. Imagine the dark, cold isolation of being lost in the ocean somewhere north of Alaska and not being able to determine if the horrors that you are experiencing are real or imagined. My heart was pounding, and my leg was doing its shaky dance. This book was truly terrifying!! I will never step foot on a boat or go swimming in the ocean again. I can't recommend this book enough! A must read!

Thank you to the author, Wicked House Publishing, and NetGalley for granting me early digital access in exchange for my honest review!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.
Loved this book. The creepiness of having no memory and the atmosphere of being out at sea with a group of strangers was perfect.
Add in that it is almost like a locked room mystery since everyone is on a crabbing boat somewhere in the ocean. I don’t usually like books with a supernatural aspect to them but in this book it was done perfectly.

A Dark and Endless Sea was my first NetGalley advanced copy, and having never read Blaine Daigle before, I honestly did not know what to expect. To say I was pleasantly surprised is an understatement. Daigle’s writing is illustrative and poetic as he spins a twisted, and at times disturbing, story that blurs the lines between dream and reality.

Without giving too much away, A Dark and Endless Sea is centered around a man named Whitt. Whitt doesn’t know much. He doesn't know where he’s from or how he ended up in a cold seaside town barely remembering his own name. The only thing he seems to remember are the dreams that terrorize him at night. Each night’s sleep is filled with troublesome voices and memories he can’t seem to puzzle together. Desperate to escape the urges in his head, he sets out on a crabbing vessel in the Bering Sea with a crew that may have more in common than he realizes. With all the makings of a classic ghost story, Daigle tells a haunting tale that kept me on my toes from the start.

Spooky, captivating, and dripping with mystery, A Dark and Endless Sea gave me everything I could want from a horror/thriller novel.

I had never read a book by Blaine Daigle before. Now I’m wondering why I hadn’t. This book is creepy in the best ways. The author uses dreams and atmosphere to make you think of all the creepy things coming for you. An atmospheric triumph.
You’ll follow Whitt and the crew of the crab boat Sonia on this nightmare of a journey in the Bering Sea.
Don’t miss your chance to read this book!
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This is a harrowing haunting novel about loss and identity set on a crab fishing vessel. The monsters of the deep are real and the claustrophobic environment and hair raising narrative sinks as deep into your bones as the wintery storms in the Bering Sea.

Whitt is a man with no memories. He's alone and wanders from place to place under the pull of a "man" with emerald eyes. He finds himself aboard a shipping boat in Alaska hoping to rid himself of his nightmares and emptiness.

What he and the other crew experiences is anything but comforting as the vastness of the sea and horrific events begin to unfold, revealing secrets about the crew and captain that will change his life forever..

This novel is an emotionally charged but bleak affair with nothing around but the neverending waves and the icy grip of the winter. The work is hard and dangerous but the true danger might just be from his crew mates, the captain, and the mysterious man who whispers things to him. Horrible things. Bloody things.

Blaine Daigle has outdone himself with this one and you definitely want to experience this new nightmare. I highly recommend it!