This blurb of this was intriguing, but unfortunately it was a miss for me. I think a murder mystery in a hyperbaric chamber just doesn’t work no matter who writes it. I’ve read some other books by Will Dean that I enjoyed, but I don’t think I’ll be recommending this to anyone.

How can a murder be solved when six deep sea divers are submerged in a cylindrical hyperbaric chamber near the bottom of the sea? They have been sent there to work on necessary repairs to an oil rig (everything rusts in the ocean depths.) They breathe heliox, making them hard to understand, live in a cramped circular space and sleep in close quarters in bunks. The job pays well but is stressful and lonely. Ellen Brooke is the only female diver and the first to work with a partner on an ocean dive. Her work complete, she and the other divers share dinner and stories of past dives, some good and some tragic. The next morning, the youngest diver in found dead in his bed. The surviving five assist the medical examiner on the ship above the by providing fluid samples from the dead man. They are unnerved but continue their work until another diver is discovered dead. What has killed these two men? Bad air? Food poisoning? Something genetic? Or someone who may be sharing their small space? It will be four days of decompression before their hatch ill be opened…if they survive.

In The Chamber, Will Dean teaches you everything you didn’t know about SAT Diving (saturation diving.) It is very complicated and a small mistake make kill you in a horrific way. Each diver shares personal stories about diving successes and losses. They secrets they keep turn out to be the ones that really matter. 5 stars.

Thank you to NetGalley, Atria Books and Will Dean for this ARC.

I’m a big fan of Will Dean but this book just wasn’t for me. I found the premise interesting and I learned a lot about saturation diving (pretty cool concept). The diagram and the glossary at the beginning were very helpful however I still found myself confused despite detailed descriptions of the scene and items within their chamber.

I did love that there was a female main character in a profession dominated by men. The writing was beautiful. I could actually feel the claustrophobia as if I was there, but felt the book was a bit long. I don’t know what to think about the ending.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for providing me with an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

Goodreads review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6311356283

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for this Advanced Reader’s Copy of The Chamber by Will Dean due to be published August 6, 2024.
Six divers are locked in a hyperbaric chamber – to be in there for 28 days. First one dies, then another. The dive is cut to four days. Who is doing this to the divers – someone on the outside, or on the inside?
This was another great book by Will Dean – it kept my interest the entire time, and I read it in one day. The countdown of days, then hours, was exciting while waiting to find out the cause of the deaths of the divers. Tension and claustrophobia abound in this one! If you like edge-of-your-seat thrillers, this one is for you!
#NetGalley #WillDean #AtriaBooks #TheChamber

Immediate panic inducing thriller with a reveal I did not see coming.
Being trapped in a hyperbaric chamber, imagine the size of the back of a bus, with 5 other people is daunting enough. Now add having to be trapped in that chamber along with a dead body. Multiple bodies. Dropping like flies, one by one.
This book is set in the POV of Ellen Brooke, the FMC, who is an experienced SAT diver with an incredibly depressing past. She is sharing this extremely small chamber with 5 other men, experienced SAT divers as well. They are set with the task of living in the chamber for an entire month, paid handsomely of course, to retrieve oil from depths of the ocean on the seabed. Brooke is the first diver to head out in the deep blue sea and upon her arrival back into the chamber, panic ensues. One of the divers is found unresponsive in his bunk. He is the first to be pronounced dead, followed by others one by one.
At first, the cause of death is a complete mystery. In fact, the divers all suspect outside channels as to why they are being picked off. The theories start swirling of their food being tampered and their drinks being poisoned.
Slowly, as other divers turn up dead, the few who remain struggle to keep their heads above water (so to speak).
This author does an incredible job of describing how terrifying it would be to not only be locked in a small chamber but to also be trapped in that same chamber with a dead body not knowing if your the next one to drop.

✨I’ll read anything @willrdean writes – but sir, HAVE MERCY ON US! Last year, you put us on the cruise ship from hell, and now you’ve got us at the bottom of the ocean on a collision course with… N O T H I N G G O O D !!

✨If you like your thrillers filled with immutable tension and absolute walls-closing-in-on-you terror, look no further. If you’re looking for a nail biter of a page turner that will toss you around like a rag doll, you’ve found your next book.

✨I can not possibly oversell the level of claustrophobia written into these pages. Imagine the worst it could possibly be, then add layers of distress and confinement. Now you’re starting to scratch the surface.

✨As for the ending – well, all I can say here is, “WELL PLAYED, WILL DEAN. WELL PLAYED!”

✨ Also raspberry jam is a thing that happens. Under the sea. I’ll not say more.

🌿Read if you like:
✨Locked room thrillers
✨Claustrophobic settings
✨Murder mysteries
✨Diving stories
✨Deep sea/oceanic settings

My thanks to @atriabooks and @netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book before its publication date.

This book was terrible. A story taking place in a hyperbaric chamber with dives into the deep ocean? I thought this would be atmospheric and claustrophobic. Instead, it was a huge bore with the last 10% of the book containing all the pertinent information of the story.
Nothing happens for the first 90% except the main characters sitting around and telling stories about their pasts and diving experiences. The main character, Ellen, was pretty static and I didn't care for her at all. The reveal of the killer happens in one sentence and it's not even something you could deduce for yourself because the manner of killing was so dumb. Truly a waste of time.

What a roller coaster of a book! Entertaining from beginning to end. I felt claustrophobic the entire time and I didn’t know that was possible while reading a book. I love books that make me feel all the things. Executed well.

Okay, this is hard because I have loved every single Will Dean book I have every laid my hands on but this one was a bit cumbersome because the divers all have names and nicknames and that all takes some time to sort out when you start reading.

Also? Unless you are REALLY into diving this book is much more technical than the average reader is going to be down for in most cases.

It is saved by great writing and a great story but I hope both of the above are reworked a bit before publication.

The Chamber is a “deep dive” into the world of saturation diving along with the locked-room mystery element that’ll keep you guessing throughout!

I thoroughly enjoyed learning about the profession and lives of the divers and crew on these operations. I appreciated the diagram and glossary provided at the beginnng of the book. It definitely helped visualise and understand the text. Their world is fascinating indeed and I have a new found respect for the profession.

It took me a little while to figure out who’s who, in the book, as the characters have multiple names. The main character has a complex story that’s portrayed very well!

While the tension building was great, I felt like the run up to the end was a tad stretched out and the final conclusion left me wanting for more. I wish we got a little bit more there.

Overall, I enjoyed reading The Chamber and will recommend to anyone looking for a well researched and interesting read!
4.5/5 stars!

Thank you to the publishers for the ARC via Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

My dad was actually a SAT diver in his 20s and we always found the stories both fascinating and terrifying so kudos to Dent for bringing this setting into a thriller plot.

It felt very well researched though I did bet tired of always having to reference the glossary, it was a lot! But it was an interesting story, the suspense was there along side a sense of dread.

Solid and unique summer thriller.

Let me start this by saying I love Will Dean books. I've read them all. The thing I most loved about this book was learning about SAT divers and all the technology and risk that goes into the field. I had no idea!! I really enjoyed learning about it. Other than that, sadly this book fell a little flat for me. It didn't have the usual suspense, intensity, and flair that is usually Dean's style. I wasn't invested in the characters. I wish there had been dual POV's or more background story of each characters experiences and family (beyond the surface level war stories) so I got to know them and cared about what happened to them on a deeper level. I still encourage thriller lovers to pick this one up!

The premise of this book drew me in but there was too much diving lingo and i felt not enough suspense. If you are into diving then maybe this book will hold your attention better than it did for me.

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC of The Chamber by Will Dean.

First off, there is a brief glossary at the beginning of the book that explains deep sea diving terms that I found really helpful.

This story was SOMETHING. I'll not forget it anytime soon. Brooks is the only female saturation diver, going on what should be a routine dive. But there's really nothing routine about it. There are six divers, cramped in a tiny hyperbolic chamber, breathing helium and oxygen instead of air. The conditions are very dangerous, and they have to keep their guard up at all times in order to survive.

But when one of the divers ends up dead, this dive becomes an entirely different dive. Was this a fluke, or is there a murderer on the vessel?

I didn't know that I would find saturation diving so fascinating, or so totally suffocating, but dang! I thought the author did an amazing job really allowing you to feel the claustrophobia and sheer helplessness of the plights of the divers. This did not move quickly, in fact, I imagine there will be criticism of how slowly it moves, but for me it added to the slow, horrifying countdown before the safe return. Great read.

The Chamber
Rating: 3 stars

Man do I have mixed feelings for this book, I loved it, but I also wasn't fully satisfied.

This was a fascinating setting for me. I had never heard of saturation divers before, but Will Dean had me invested and googling on my own to learn as much as I could about this field. Let me tell you, it is NOT for me. Do NOT sign me up to 1. live in a teeny tiny hyperbaric chamber for a month at sea with no privacy or personal space 2. work on the ocean floor. What lies down there is non of my business. Thank you very much. Anyways, this was such a great idea for a locked room mystery.

Dean also did a really great job with the tension throughout the novel. I felt like I was locked up with those divers feeling terrified, unsafe and claustrophobic. I actually would have loved even more action of them working on the floor of the sea and seeing these divers work through difficult/scary situations.

What I had issue with was the characters. They went by both a nickname as well as their given name, somewhat interchangeably. Even though there were only six divers, I had a hard time keeping straight who was who. I also felt like I didn't really get to know any of them. All we got were war stories and past diving situations. Which got kind old after a while and didn't do anything to help drive the plot forward.

Finally, the ending... uhhh I don't even fully think I got it. Up through the 90% mark we were still waiting to find out who or what was behind these acts of evil. It was actually really great to have maintained the suspense and fear for that long. Then the reveal happens and just ends. I needed more clarity and resolution behind the why. So on one hand, I loved the setting and the tension, but I think more meat was needed for the actual storyline to make it more interesting and and entertaining.

I requested this because one of my favorite sub-tropes is the locked room/who-dun-it type of settings. I also am claustrophobic as freaking heck and don't do open water, or go into the ocean. I thought, how perfect to creep me out or get my anxiety going. It did, lol. This is my second book by this author. I think this will be one people either really love or don't. Claustrophobic, tense at times, everyone's dropping one by one, and stuck at the bottom of the sea in a tiny room. It did a take a bit for me to get through, and I had to look up some of the things talked about with the saturation diving because I didn't know what it meant, etc, but that was on me, not the book. Overall, I did enjoy it. The ending wasn't my favorite, but it is what it is. Definitely not my last Will Dean book! Thank you to Will Dean, Netgalley, and publishers for the ARC.

I loved Will Dean’s book “The Last One” and was excited to read his newest story. Sadly, I didn’t like this one nearly as much. I found the story intriguing, but felt that it dragged on with much repetition. The jargon was a bit hard to understand and visualize. I had to Google things constantly, which I felt took away from the book. The ending didn’t have the punch I was hoping for either.

My second disappointment from Dean and I absolutely loved his book, FIRST BORN, but the ones after that have been letdowns. This started super slow for me and felt like it had too many characters to keep track even though they in a small space! The whole underwater/decompression theme was terrifying and I wished this was so much better than it was. I ended up skimming most of the book because it wasn't holding my attention and seemed disjointed. Thank you for the advance read.

I wanted to love this. But it just wasn’t for me. The story was soo slow and it just seemed so drawn out. I was super excited for it because of the plot but j felt it just needed more and it never gripped my attention..

Thank you netgalley for the ARC!

My favorite book trope…a group of people dropping like flies, one by one, WHO DID IT? In this case, six people are contained in a hyperbaric chamber while working on the sea floor. I couldn’t figure out how anyone was doing it, with all of them being within eyesight and supervision. I read through the chapters faster and faster the further I got, I really needed to know what was happening to these guys. I know nothing about hyperbaric chambers and under water diving, so a lot of technical stuff wasn’t interesting or just went over my head. No matter, a killer is still a killer in the end, and sometimes you’re left with even more unanswered questions!

Thanks to Will Dean, Atria Books and NetGalley for the ARC!