Member Reviews
This book was terrifying! I don't think there could be a more perfect scene for a locked-in thriller. Imagine being contained in a hyperbaric chamber at the bottom of the sea. No fresh air. No way out. Six SAT divers living in close quarters with no room to stretch out and no semblance of privacy. When they start to die one by one, fear and doubt set in amongst the remaining crew members. What is happening and who can they trust? Who is next? The feeling of isolation and claustrophobia was palpable and covered my skin like a heavy, wet blanket. I had to take several deep breaths while reading just to calm my nerves. It was an intense read up until the final chapter where it left me very confused about the culprit. I thought I knew, but now I'm not so sure. I really enjoyed this book, but I would have liked the end to be more clear. This was my first book by Dean, and I look forward to reading more from him. I would definitely recommend it.
Thank you to the author, Atria Books, and NetGalley for granting me digital access in exchange for my honest review!
When Will Dean writes a book, I stop whatever I’m doing and prioritize his newest. His books are twisted and haunting and leave me questioning what is real and not real. You could call them a real mindfuck.
And the Chamber is no different. It’s a claustrophobic nightmare at the bottom of the sea. People are dying without warning in a tiny tin can of a room. And everyone is a suspect. And the pressure just keeps rising.
Raspberry jam.
Okay, I loved the book, The Last One by Will Dean so I knew I would enjoy this one. I do really love his writing style. However, I didn’t love the storyline. I was on the edge of my seat to know what happened, but I wasn’t shocked. This book was very informative and interesting to understand Sat diving, but overall it took me much longer to read than I normally take to finish a book and I enjoyed it, I just didn’t love it. 3.5 stars.
I'm just not the right reader for this author. This book started off strong but then it just got repetitive. I predicted one of the twists early on and then the final reveal was just okay.
Another great Will Dean. You feel like youre in there with them. And the ending...nice! Never disappointed with this author.
Thank you to NetGalley and Atria Books for an ARC of The Chamber.
This was my third Will Dean book and the one thing they have in common is the ability to make you feel deeply unsettled. I felt confined and claustrophobic throughout the story. I rarely say this, but I think the story would be a better fit for a movie than a book because, despite the guide and diagram at the beginning, I still had a hard time picturing the layout of things in my mind while I was reading. I do also wish the ending was more definitely explained.
Overall, a solid locked room mystery!
Thank you to the publisher allowing me to read an advanced copy of Will Dean's latest book!!
I may or may not admit to screaming from pure excitement to be able to read this!
I was hooked to The Last Passenger so i was dying to get to read this!
I loved both of these so much! Will Dean knows how to keep a reader hooked and engaged! I am absolutely unable to function until I finish his books!
Many thanks to Netgalley and Atria Books for a copy of this!
I have to say, this book surprised me. I was not a fan of Dean before as I couldn't get into his previous book at all. But this one was one that definitely held my interest! It was also a unique idea which I thoroughly enjoyed reading.
What in the world did I read?! This is my first book by this author so I was super excited to be picked for an ARC. I thought this book would give me Oceangate/Titanic Submersible vibes but it couldn’t have been farther from that. I will say that the author did take his time listing out what the definitions are at the start of the book. There was even pictures so for the uneducated such as myself when it comes to those, it did help knowing where the pieces were.
Anywho, onto the book…. All the men in this book had a nickname and a name which became confusing and hard to keep track of. I felt it was repetitive and it ended up boring me instead of leaving me on the edge of my seat waiting for this thing to implode.
I’ll definitely try some other books from this author but this one sadly wasn’t for me.
Thank you to Atria and NetGalley for this ARC for my honest review.
This book is my literal nightmare. Full of suffocation, claustrophobia, and intrusive thoughts. You can’t trust anyone and there is nowhere to run.
The Chamber is intense from the very first page. I enjoyed learning more about saturation diving and appreciated the struggles Brooke faced as the only woman in her field. There was a great focus on mental health - the challenges faced while on a dive and those we face in our everyday lives.
The story is fast-paced and kept me on the edge of my seat. Each twist was shocking in its reveal and the end had me second guessing everything that came before it. Another phenomenal psychological suspense from Will Dean!
This book highlights the trauma and dangers of sat diving, so be sure to check content warnings before reading. Thank you to Netgalley and Atria Books for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.
Will Dean is an auto read author for me he successfully gets me hooked so early into his books and I can’t put them down. This was no exception I read this in 24 hours! If you like eerie, tense, atmospheric locked room thrillers then this will be for you! It is very claustrophobic and describes in detail the close quarters many times so if that will bother you then know that going in! The reason I didn’t rate this higher was because I didn’t feel as invested in the characters. I found myself not caring too much who the killer was and who survived. I also found it confusing for a while that everyone has 2 names. Trying to learn 12 character names right off the bat was a tad confusing. Lastly this may just be a me problem but the ending slightly confused me despite rereading it
WTF did I just read? This was absolutely absurd. I wanted to DNF 10 percent through, but kept going and I regret it. I am so sad about how big of a let down this was. The Last One was an easy five star for me, so I went into this thinking I would get something similar, and boy was I wrong. I feel like this only would appeal to one specific niche audience of Deep Sea Divers. Other than that, I'm not quite sure how people could connect to this book. It felt random. So much back and forth and repetition that was just all around boring. I'm being very inadequate with this review because I just have no words to express how heartbroken I am that it was so bad.
The Chamber follows six saturation divers. Saturation Divers are deep sea divers to the extreme. They are only allowed to live in what is called the chamber, where they get food through a hatch from meters above on the ships headquarters. The chamber is the size of the back of a school bus. Everyone can touch each other at any given moment. As the days go on, the divers start to die one by one. No one is sure what is happening and who is responsible. Will they all make it until they "decompress" or will they all succumb to the "pressure" of the mission.
Thank you Simon an Schuster for the ARC. I wish I had better things to say about it.
This was a huge miss for me. I was intrigued with the “locked door thriller” aspect, but was left short.
It was a very slow book and only got good towards the ending. I found the pacing to be all over the place. Sometimes it was interesting, others I just wanted to get through the book.
Hard read for me. I hope to give this other another try!
This will give you all the claustrophobic terror you could want to read about, tight spaces, under water. The author has clearly done the proper research, the details are extensive & really help you envision things. I truly did not know how an author could pull off a murder mystery in such a confined space but Dean manages it well. My issue is that there is a lot of fact filled repetition & that got to be a little tedious at times. Overall though I think I will try & read another of the author’s books. Maybe one with a plot/setting more my style.
Read if you like:
* Sphere by Michael Crichton
* The Drift by C.J. Tudor
* Abandon by Blake Crouch
Ahhhh!! This was a gripping, intense and thrilling book! It is not for the faint of heart! Twists and turns kept me on the edge of my seat! It is impossible to out down once started!
I was a bit disappointed. I loved The Last One and had high expectations for this one. Unfortunately, it fell a bit flat. I thought it was too repetitive.
"The Chamber" written by Will Dean is a gripping psychological thriller that gradually intensifies its suspense. While the initial portion of the book, focused on saturation diving's technical aspects, presented some challenges for me, the tension soon started to escalate. Centered around six divers confined within a cramped chamber, a series of mysterious deaths unfolds, leaving everyone wondering about the culprit's identity - is it one of the divers or an outsider? Will Dean skillfully evokes the reader's fear and claustrophobic terror, vividly capturing the atmosphere within the compact enclosure. As a result, I confidently rate this book with a well-deserved four stars, acknowledging its quality and uniqueness.
Thank you to Net Galley and Atria Books for the ARC to read and review.
With an author that has yet to write a bad story, I knew before even starting that this was going to be a good one. What I didn't know was how much I was going to love it. This has to be the most nerve-wracking, claustrophobic story I have ever read. The sense of dread was so incredibly powerful that I found my own heartrate through the roof. This was fear-inducing, to say the least.
This starts off kind of daunting with a glossary of terms for saturation diving. Don't let this sway you one way or the other. I got about halfway through before switching to google to find out what saturation diving is and to look at a few pictures to get the gist of it. I rarely needed to put this aside while reading to understand a term. This author does an excellent job of describing it as the story moves along.
Each character was easy to distinguish from the next between their appearance and personalities. Whether you will love or hate each one of them, they are powerful and highly memorable. The storyline was perfectly paced, and the plot was remarkable. As always, this author ended this book with his signature uniqueness. I devoured and loved this one, and I highly, highly recommend it. Five perfect stars.
Thank you, Netgalley and Atria Books, for this ARC.
This captivating thriller dives deep into the world of saturation divers, where the tension rises alongside the body count. As suspicions mount and histories unravel, you're left wondering who will survive the chilling ordeal. I was hooked from the start, fascinated by the unique setting and intrigued by each diver's backstory. While some phrases felt repetitive and the ending a bit uncertain, the overall experience was thoroughly entertaining. I highly recommend this gripping locked-room mystery to anyone seeking a thrilling read, and Will Dean's diverse storytelling keeps me coming back for more.
This book begins very interestingly. It has a great storyline. The author goes into great detail explaining all the terminology related to saturation diving. He gives you a good base to go on. The story begins good, but you don't really get to the meat and potatoes until the very last 2 chapters. I personally enjoyed the book, but I will give it 3 stars as it did not blow me away. I would say read it for yourself and draw your own conclusion.