“We turn to our old memories because we survived those times.”

Will Dean always scares the sh** out of me and induces some of the worst anxiety. His books are the definition of claustrophobic, but The Chamber takes claustrophobia to a different level. His writing is so immersive that I felt like I was no longer breathing oxygen, but heliox, pressurized like the six divers we meet in this book. I felt the panic, the desire to give in to the flight instead of fight. I am familiar with how unhinged Will Dean’s books get, but I never knew where The Chamber was going to go, and I was shocked with every twist and turn. When I wasn’t reading this book, it was all I could think about. Get your hands on this as soon as you can.

This book grabbed my attention from the very beginning and held it nearly the whole way through. There were a few spots in the middle that were a bit slower, but overall it was a suspenseful, interesting, and fast read. The synopsis would be my worst nightmare in real life, so if you get claustrophobic easily... you've been warned! My only complaint is the the ending wasn't very definitive. Generally I like my books to be wrapped up in a nice pretty bow at the end so I had to be okay with not fully getting that. Despite that, it was definitely still worth the read and one I'd recommend if you like locked room thrillers! 4 stars!

This is a tense and thrilling read about…hyperbaric chambers. You wouldn’t think it would work, but it does. Though the story is a slow burn, I could not put down this book down. I was fascinated with all the aspects to saturation diving. The research required must have been insane. I have already looked up the author’s backlist to add to my TBR. Thank you to NetGalley for the chance to read and review this book!

Wow, talk about a book that makes you realize you’ve been holding your breath! Will Dean is usually hit or miss for me, I really liked The Last Thing to Burn by this author however I hated First Born. This one fell somewhere in the middle for me. The story was enjoyable but the ending didn’t work for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC! This is my first Will Dean novel and definitely won't be my last. I was very excited to read this because the premise and setting already had me hooked- claustrophobia, atmospheric, (possible) murder, and mystery at the bottom of the sea. You can tell that the author did a lot of research for this novel and I appreciated that. However, I unfortunately did find the ending a little anticlimactic and confusing. I also felt like the book could have been shorter and got repetitive. I still had about 100 pages to go and was surprised that there was still that much story to tell. Even with a 3 star rating, I will recommend the book and will read more of Will Dean's work.

I received an advanced copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.

Whoa! I don't even know what to say. Listen. I couldn't put the book down. I opened it thinking "meh, this might not interest me", I was wrong. It very much interested me. I even had to do a deep dive, no pun intended, on things mentioned in this book. This man is intense, his research notes must look like chaos, but in the best way?

This was intriguing, very interesting, and I don't even know how to explain the ending. Truly. No idea what happened there. It was a criss corss double cross? I don't know.

4 1/2 solid stars.

It took me a near a month to finish this book which is very unusual for me. True, I was in the big middle of selling my home and moving but also, the story was just really hard to get into - especially the first half. Trust me, I love Will Dean. I RAVED about The Last Thing To Burn. I also enjoyed First Born and The Last Passenger. But this book was very detailed in its technicality. It went on and on giving us all the info on being a deep sea diver and their own little language, which I thought was great maybe for people who are familiar with that world. To the normal layperson, it was too much background info for a book. I was beginning to wonder if there would be a test at the end of each chapter, checking if we retained the knowledge that was dispersed in great quantities throughout.
The end also could’ve been more clear. I was left wondering if I knew what I thought I knew about who the antagonist actually was.
I enjoyed getting to know the characters in this book but it was not comparable in any way to the Will Dean I have become familiar with.

I became a Will Dean fan immediately after reading The Last One.

When I saw that he had a new book coming out, I put in my request immediately. And I’m really glad I did. He has an amazing imagination. He comes up with amazing ideas and implements them beautifully in his books. Quite frankly, I’d be afraid to get on his bad side, lol! The way people perish in his books, well, let’s just say, I never thought of those ways, lol!

Ellen is confined to a diving chamber with five other divers. One by one there murdered and if she knows she’s not the murderer, then who is? The author has done an amazing amount of research so I was quite comfortable that all the detail about diving, atmospheric pressure, decompression, etc., etc., was accurate. It was also very disconcerting.

Thanks to Atria Books for the galley. All opinions are my own. #HighlyRecommend.

This book was interesting. However, I found it not exactly what I was hoping for and it was a small let down. I enjoyed reading it but it was not everything I thought it would be.

Will Dean continues to deliver stories that are wildly different and all seem to hit their target. While other thrillers tout “pressure,” “claustrophobia,” and “atmosphere,“ this book actually delivers those constantly, puns intended.
I gave it the following SCORE:
Setting: Ocean off the coast of Aberdeen, Scotland, present day
Characters: Brooke, an experienced saturation diver, and her 5 male diving mates in the submerged hyperbaric chamber, the medical and technical staff on the support ship, and the Aberdeen law officers
Overview: Brooke and her intriguing dive mates are submerged for 28 days deep under the North Sea maintaining oil pipelines when strange, totally unpredictable occurrences happen to the veteran crew. The technical detail and continual sense of impending doom make this an extraordinary story.
Recommendation: I rate this book 5 stars
Extras: The tension created in this story is constant – the mystery, the relationships, not only of the crew but of the supporting technical staff on the ship and onshore, make this the most page-turning thriller of the year. Read it!
Thanx to NetGalley and Atria/Emily Bestler Books for the opportunity to provide this candid review

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC. I have read and really enjoyed a couple of other Will Dean books so I was very elated to read his newest work but unfortunately this one ended up disappointing. The premise of this book sounded so unique. Six saturation divers are locked into a hyperbaric chamber so that they are able to go to very low depths in the ocean to work. Throughout the book divers are picked off one by one and they lose trust in the ship crew and each other.
I can tell the author did a lot of research on the subject and there were terms that I was unfamiliar with. The book does start with a glossary but it’s a long glossary and it would be difficult to remember all the meanings. I had a hard time picturing the setting since I’m not familiar with this line of work.
The scenes where they discover another crew member deceased were the only exciting parts of the story. The rest seemed to be a lot of filler since there wasn’t hardly anything to do in the chamber. Their tasks often repeated. The divers told many personal stories that I felt were irrelevant to the overall book. It was also hard to keep each diver straight since they each had names and also nicknames throughout the book.
The ending was lackluster in my opinion. I’m disappointed that this one was a miss but I’ve enjoyed a couple of his other books and I still plan on reading future books from this author.

This was a tough read for a few reasons. There was a lot to keep up with in terms of character development and back stories. There was also a lot to visualize as a person with no idea or background on knowledge in Sat diving. I will say though that Will Dean thoroughly researched this topic and it shows in his skillful writing. I wouldn't say this is a thriller but it will definitely make you appreciate wide open spaces and not living in close quarters to dead people.

Thank you NetGalley and Atria Books for the advanced readers copy of The Chamber by Will Dean. I f you are claustrophobic, you will feel all the feels, of this atmospheric thriller, that takes place in a hyperbaric chamber. 6 divers are working an oil drill under water when one by one the divers are dying. A great locked room thriller that you wont be able to put down. The main character, Ellen Brooke, narrates the story and little by litte you get to know Ellen and the other divers. Is one of the divers killing them off, could it be someone on the ship? Why are they dying and who will survive?

For me the main pros were the research that went into chamber and the life in it and definitely the panic that the writing managed throughout the book. It constantly felt like race against time in a locked room whodunnit thriller which was simply spot on. With it mainly dealing with people inside the chamber, there limited characters and the plot kept focusing one at a time making it easier for readers. The only issue was I had more expectation for better twist or explanation at the end which never came and actually the normal or even realistic ending felt too simple. I enjoyed the tension and atmospheric vibes but the ending was such a letdown for me.

It was 3.5 stars for me!

Sadly I was not a fan of this book. I gave it a shot two times but couldnt put my mind to reading this one. I think others will enjoy it but sadly it wasnt for me.

This sounded like a fun, fast-paced, claustrophobic thriller unlike any I've read before, and I did enjoy a lot of it. I loved the depth of research (or experience?) Dean clearly has, and how it was truly edge-of-your-seat. I do think the book could've been at minimum 50 pages shorter, as it became quite repetitive toward the end, but my chief frustration is that, as other people have said, the ending was extremely confusing--and it's unclear if the author meant it to be that way!

Very grateful to Netgalley and the publisher for the arc!

This was a really good book. It was very different than what I thought it would be but I was intrigued the whole way through. I could feel the panic that these divers were feeling and the anxiety it gave me trying to figure out what was happening is real. The way the book ended was crazy. I'm still not entirely sure what happened but I still loved it all the same. Great book, I look forward to reading more from this author.

Rating: 4.5 stars

I was SO excited when I received the e-arc of this book because I found the synopsis to be up my alley and super compelling! With not knowing a lot about deep sea diving, diving equipment, common diving terms and procedures, I felt like I learned a lot from this book. And better yet, it's a thriller?! Who learns something while reading your average suspense/thriller novel? I never found this reading experience to be boring, I was hooked immediately. I really enjoy thrillers that just "jump in" with the story, and Will Dean does a really good job bringing the reader up to speed while not procrastinating the plot. This was very fast-paced, despite a limited setting (in a deep sea diving vessel). With such a confined setting, I felt like Will Dean did a good job keeping up the pace by throwing in the odd events that eventually build up to the story's conclusion. The characters were so intriguing, and the mini stories that each character brought to light conversing in that small vessel was truly unique, and felt organic. Deep sea diving in itself is terrifying, so seeing the juxtaposition of the dark humor and characters keeping conversation "light" despite the situation they were in was refreshing. This story had a very eerie build up throughout, and I'm pleased with how the story concluded. It didn't feel abrupt, it felt it ended in a way that made logical sense. I felt really paranoid reading this, and that doesn't happen a lot to me while reading thrillers. Impeccable!

Pick up this book when it publishes, you will not be disappointed.

Thank you Atria/Emily Bestler Books for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Pub date: August 6, 2024

"The Chamber" by Will Dean is a suspenseful thriller that immerses readers in the claustrophobic and high-stakes world of saturation divers. Before diving into the story, the map and dictionary at the beginning of the book are helpful tools that enhance understanding and set the stage for the unique setting.

The plot follows six experienced saturation divers who are locked inside a hyperbaric chamber. They are fully aware that rapid decompression would be fatal, so they work in shifts, breathing helium, and surviving in the hot, close quarters of the chamber. The tension mounts when one diver is found dead in his bunk. With four days of decompression remaining before the hatch can be safely opened, the divers must remain vigilant. When another diver is found unresponsive, paranoia and suspicion start to take over. As the days drag on, the group must figure out what—or who—is targeting them before it’s too late.

While I found the setting of the book to be very unique and engaging, the narrative felt repetitive at times. A more concise story might have increased its impact. Additionally, I was able to guess the twist early on, which took away some of the suspense for me. Despite these points, I appreciated the novel and its atmospheric tension.

This was my first Will Dean book, and though I rated it 3 stars, I am interested in exploring more of his work. I am very grateful to have received this book as an ARC through NetGalley, especially since it isn’t due for release until August 2024.

3.5/5!

Shoutout to Netgalley for this ARC! This was a SUPER interesting premise for a book. I didn’t really know anything about diving and I learned a lot - some of it I felt like maybe was a bit too detailed, but still super interesting.

The writing was so good - it made you feel like you were in the chamber with them and really added that physical anxiety! I felt myself reading quicker and quicker at the end of the book due to the anxiety.

I will say - the ending was a bit confusing. I *think* I know how it ended but I wouldn’t even say I’d be surprised if I missed something and took the clues wrong.