Thank you so very much for the opportunity to read your book. I really enjoyed it. I read while I watched shark week on tv, so it made it a little more fun I think!! This story definitely had my attention and my heart racing!

I must admit, I felt claustrophobic reading this book; the author did an excellent job describing the life of deep-sea divers and the dangerous work they do, and the even more dangerous conditions they are subjected to. One of the best examples of a locked-room mystery. I only gave the book three stars, because I didn’t really connect with the characters or the story, which stretched out longer than I think it should have. I did learn a lot about a subject I didn’t have any prior knowledge of, ad kudos to the author for his meticulous research.

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria/Emily Bestler Books for the ARC and the opportunity to review this Novell

𝐓𝐡𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡𝐭𝐬:
Remember the Titanic sub crew that ended up getting killed in 2023 due to the catastrophic implosion? Okay, well this book reminded me of that 🤯 A group of saturation divers embark into a hyperbaric chamber to spend a month beneath the ocean. Once deep enough, they each will take turns being placed in a diving bell which will then take them down to the sea floor in order for them to work on repairing oil pipes. Everything seems to be going smoothly and according to plan, that is until one of the divers is found dead. What caused his death? No one seems to know. Did one of their own kill him, or is the chamber itself leaking poison that resulted in his death? So many questions, and fingers begin to point at everyone.
This book literally takes your breath away, in the best possible way! I am obsessed with everything about this book, from the plot, the writing, the atmospheric and creepy setting, the characters, and the claustrophobic feeling that Dean creates. If your looking for your next hair raising, spine tingling read that causes an intense feeling of paranoia and suffocation than pick this one up NOW! Dean nails it with this book as he builds the suspense and the tension as you read each chapter. Everyone is a suspect, and this book takes you on a wild roller coaster until all is reveled in an explosive ending that left my jaw on the floor. This IS one of the BEST locked room thrillers/mysteries of THE YEAR….there-I said it!🙌🏻 BRAVO, Dean….what a hit this one is going to be!


𝗥𝗲𝗮𝗱 𝗧𝗵𝗶𝘀 𝗜𝗳 𝗬𝗼𝘂 𝗘𝗻𝗷𝗼𝘆:
✦Locked room thrillers/mysteries
✦Atmospheric writing with a creepy setting
✦A book that grips you in right away and leaves you feeling claustrophobic
✦An immersive ‘whodunit’ that leaves you guessing until the very end
✦A book with so much built up suspense and tension

𝐌𝐲 𝐑𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️5/5

Still processing …

Another 5⭐️ read from the brilliant mind of Will Dean!

I’m still sitting here, 12 hours after reading the final page, trying to understand my feelings. I haven’t been able to eat, drink, or sleep. I’ve just been sitting here, claustrophobic.

The Chamber follows a crew of deep sea saturation divers with such great attention to detail that I could probably draw the inside of the chamber from memory. Have I ever heard of SAT divers prior to this book? No. Did it cause me hesitation because there was a crude drawing of the outline of a chamber and vocab words listed before chapter one? Yes. Will I ever forget this book? No.

Will Dean’s writing style is such that I will buy any book he sells. I was blind this whole book, no idea what direction it was going. But I was so enveloped in the process of how the divers acclimate, what their experience is like, how each character was so well developed. The end of the story left me just a baffled. I have questions. But I’m ok with that too. For anyone else who reads this, please message me so I can discuss a few things!!!

The only con in the whole story, and it’s silly, was I was confused on time. Time is such a relevant topic when you’re submerged on the bottom of the ocean, and I’m still not sure how long they spent of the projected 28 days. It bothers me a little, but not enough to rate it less. Maybe I personally missed something. Maybe it’s part of it?

Thank you so much NetGalley, Atria Books, and Will Dean for this amazing ARC. I will never not recommend this book!

I had high hopes for this book, giving the previous books I’ve read. This was such a disappointing book. I was worried from the beginning because there is a glossary. There is a diagram to help you understand what you are fixing to read. I ended up looking at YouTube videos which helped me get a better understanding. Then nothing happens it’s slow. Then when stuff does happen it falls flat. It goes back to more slow moving stories. So I thought ok maybe it will be worth it in the end. Wrong. The ending fell flat and was confusing and it left me saying what did I just read? I will still look forward to his work however this book wasn’t one for me.

I'm devastated at how disappointed I am with this book. Will Dean took top spot as my favorite author after reading The Last One and The Last Thing to Burn. At the beginning of this book, there is a glossary and diagram to help you understand saturation diving, but it was only after I YouTube'd it that I got a good grasp of it all. It was slow and repetitive and I just kept praying for a shark attack or something to happen. Most of it was them sitting around talking. Even when things started to get somewhat exciting, it went flat again almost right away. Not much excitement in this book. I'm also super confused by the ending and am still not exactly sure who is responsible. Hopefully I will enjoy future books by this author, but this was definitely not one.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for this eARC.

-- 2/5 Stars -- ★★☆☆☆

Trigger Warnings for The Chamber: Locked room, murder, staying in room with corpse, depravation, suicidal thoughts, distrust

The Chamber is a locked room murder mystery novel by Will Dean. We watch the story unfold through the eyes of Ellen Brooke, an experienced female saturation diver. Ellen is joined by Jumbo, Andre, Mike, Spock, and Tea Bag. Almost as quickly as they get to pressure and finish their first dive, tragedy strikes: one of their very own is dead in their bed and it isn't just a natural death. The worst part? These divers need to wait to get out of this chamber until they reach regular pressure.

Let me start by saying this book would have been an easy 1 star if it wasn't for the ending. I was so bored of this book that I wanted to keep reading just to finish it. The first third of this novel is learning all the rules of saturation diving and waiting for something to happen. I think we heard more stories from the divers then we actually had content. This feels like a novel that would have been a fantastic short-story.

All in all, not my favorite. That being said, I love a good ambiguous ending, which is why this novel received another star from me. Thank you to Will Dean, Netgalley and Atria Books for an advanced reader copy of The Chamber in exchange for my honest review.

A locked-in thriller that takes place deep on the sea bed. After the first walk on the sea bed, things begin to happen. One by one, members of the crew begin to drop dead for no apparent reason. Despite taking many precautions, the deaths keep coming. As the journey to land begins, the truth comes to light and it is shocking.

This was a great claustrophobic story. Imagine being stuck in a very small tube on the bottom of the sea with no safe way out. This was a prolonged build-up to a rapid-fire ending that will shock you. It's important to note that all of the characters are unreliable - all of them are under suspicion. Will Dean is a fantastic thriller writer and always keeps me on my toes.

My anxiety reached an all new high reading the “Chamber” by Will Dean. Being submerged in deep waters and unresponsive bodies had me on the edge of my seat. I enjoyed this book as I have all this Author’s other work. READ it for yourself.

Never has a book that's mostly about sitting and waiting for time to pass been so gripping. I'm generally a plot plot plot reader. Who cares about backstory or setting or the protagonist's job (unless it's detective)? But I was fascinated by the world of saturation diving. The plot took a backseat to the way Will Dean wrote about the main character, Ellen, and the world of sat diving. It was claustrophobic, for sure, but readable; I was worried before I started it that it would be too much to handle and it wasn't.

The ending was a little vague - I'm still thinking about it a day later, which is probably what Dean was going for, yet I would have liked more clarity.

First off, what a great book. This isn't like anything I have read before. The setting and the characters were nicely portrayed. The author did a fantastic job of giving all all sorts of background information about being a saturation diver and what everything means. While reading this book I felt as if I was trapped in the hyperbaric chamber myself. Honestly, at times I found myself holding my own breath and breathing very rapidly while they were on the outside at the ocean floor. This novel is full of suspense and moments of doubt. All the way up until the end it had me guessing who was doing it all. Who or what was making these saturation divers die right there in front of everyone in a small space. Don't eat the food, don't drink the water, don't close your eyes or go to bed.

Just reading the description of this book makes me nervous and panicky! This one is a locked-room murder - check it out if you like this style!

I appreciate the publisher and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read this book in exchange for a review.

I really enjoyed this book! I love a locked room mystery, but I feel like many just pale in comparison to Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None. Well, this one manages to do the genre justice while adding its own unique twists and elements.

The unique setting - inside a tiny pressurized chamber with six saturation divers - contributes to the novelty and overall tension throughout the story. I couldn’t put it down.

There were a few occasions - lengthy dive stories - where the pacing I think dragged a bit. Also I know that this ending is gonna be one I still think about years later!

Thank you NetGalley for an Advance Review Copy of this book.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me to read this arc. I felt the claustrophobia while reading this! The divers keep turning up dead. I stuck with it, I had to know what would happen. I love locked up thrillers, and danger, and this did not disappoint! Was surprised at the end!

Excuse my language here, but Will Dean is a f**cking GENIUS.

I previously had read The Last One, which had me absolutely nail biting the entire time. So when I saw he had an ARC out for The Chamber; I KNEW I had to request it.

Well, I was absolutely BLESSED to be chosen to read this absolute masterpiece.

6 divers go into a tank where they are held at ocean floor pressure to work on oil pipelines deep in the sea. One by one, they start taking mysteriously ill. The decompression process takes several days, and they are unable to leave the chamber. Is the villain among them, or worse, is the villain part of the crew they rely on to keep them alive?

Will Dean is an absolute master of his craft. This book is written with such eloquent imagery that, at times, you feel like you are in that chamber with them. The imagery he uses puts you right on that ocean floor. You can feel every creak, groan and whine of the metal coffin they're trapped in. Not only that, he draws you into each character. They are so well written and so deeply fleshed out.

Well done, Mr. Dean. Another book that kept me up way past my bedtime reading!

Amazing setup, horrifying situation, interesting characters (which also took me a bit to sort out because everyone has a name and a nickname)... and then there's mostly a lot of wiping surfaces and sweating, and it's all very repetitious? But then also terrifying? It definitely kept me reading, and there was a very upsetting reveal that I enjoyed, but I really, really hated the ending - like throw the kindle on the floor hated it.

Thank you Atria Books for this ARC!

This was one of my most anticipated releases of the year and unfortunately it came up a little short.

I loved getting to know the FMC all the way thru but ultimately it seemed like there were a lot of details that lead to a somewhat confusing ending?

Thank you to NetGalley, the Publishers, and Will Dean for an ARC of The Chamber! I was so excited to receive this book as I was absolutely obsessed with The Last One. Will has done it again with The Chamber. This was an excellent locked-room thriller. The characters in the book are without air and breathing gas — and this is how you will feel as well. It is a fast paced book, but it really starts picking up at 40%. I have my scuba certification personally and I was getting all panicky throughout the book like can I ever scuba again?! (way different but still lol!) I have to say, Will knows how to build a fear deep in you that never crossed your mind. He is an absolute beast with his words and plots!

The story follows Ellen, who is a SAT diver, and 5 others on a 28 day dive (at pressure). They will be in a hyperbaric chamber and you cannot open the hatch or everyone will die. You have to be chosen specifically for this types of dives as you must remain cool and calm with your other brothers in the chamber. You must endure rapid decompression, breathing helium, and surviving in close quarters at a high temperature. There is no room to move freely, so you have to work together and in shifts to make it as comfortable as possible. Shortly after they’ve started the job, one is found dead in his bunk. They decide to reverse course and start decompression early. They must wait 4 days to be able to open the hatch for safety. They must work together to ensure everyone’s safety during the decompression. Then another one is found unresponsive and no one understands what could possibly be happening and if they are next. They are locked in there with no where to go. Is this purely accident? Is this intentional? Are they locked in with a murderer? Exhaustion and paranoia is not going to be their friends the remaining 4 days.

This was such a good locker room thriller. I had no idea how the stuff was happening and still have lots of questions after reading it. This is my first Will Dean book and now I’m going to have to go back and read his back list.

Thank you to Atria/Emily Bestler, Netgalley and Will Dean for the ARC!

Six saturation divers are locked inside a hyperbaric chamber. All seasoned divers, they know that if they decompressed too rapidly, it could be fatal. So they work in shifts, and exist together in the tight space. Then one of them is found dead in his bunk, with four days left before they can safely open the hatch. Another member of the crew becomes unresponsive, leaving them to wonder who - or what - could be taking them out. With tensions rising and a dire situation, everyone has to watch their own back.

This is my second Will Dean read and he writes such complex characters and intricate plots! “The Chamber” is a testament to his skills as a writer because he not only created diverse character and an exciting plot, but did it all within an extremely small setting - the hyperbaric chamber. Locked room thrillers are some of my very favorite, but this took it to the extreme - LOL! The chamber was already an intense environment, where the divers couldn’t leave until enough hours had passed, and its volatility was in constant discussion. As things started happening, the tension increased making an already tight space feel even tighter. As someone who suffers from claustrophobia, this space literally gave me anxiety and I was only reading about it! Setting aside, I never saw the twist coming or guessed how this story was going to end.

My only trouble was - and this is purely on me as a reader - is that I wish I had a physical copy of this book. At the beginning, there was a glossary of terms/phrases that are common amongst divers and it would have been easier for me to flip back physical pages instead of on the kindle. But again, this is purely my preference.

“The Chamber” is a unique, tension-filled thriller that is the perfect summer read! It releases August 6, 2024. This review will be shared to my instagram blog (@books_by_the_bottle) shortly :)