I was super excited to read this because I read The Last One by Will Dean last year and loved it, so I was really looking forward to reading something else by him, but this just didn't do it for me really. I understand that it's a super niche subject, and I thought he did an okay job at explaining things, I still kind of felt vaguely confused the entire time because I just couldn't quite imagine what they were doing or what they were going through. I also felt like it got really repetitive in the middle and just felt like it was dragging on a lot. I almost decided to put it down at a few points, but pushed through because I thought the ending might make up for it, but unfortunately it didn't. The ending was left completely open for interpretation and I just felt like I needed more solid answers that I just never really got. I'd still read other things by this author, but this one fell flat for me.

Working on my formal review. Really enjoyed the overall concept of this book. The claustrophobic feeling was palpable. I think what I missed was there wasn’t a whole lot of character development and many of the battle stories told didn’t really do much to propel the story forward. While I enjoyed the book, it just felt like some many things were irrelevant. I acknowledge that the stories were kind of the psychology of staying sane but at the same time, some seemed just kind of there for “shock and awe”

The Chamber is quite literally an immersive thriller. As locked-room as it gets.
Will Dean's newest centers around six saturation divers, who are locked together in their tiny hyperbaric chamber for weeks at a time while working on oil and gas lines at the bottom of the ocean.
Dive control personnel at the surface are in charge of their survival, everything from water, food, clothing, medical attention, and Heliox to breathe.
Even in an emergency, decompression takes no less than four days before they could emerge.
And that scenario happens when one of their own suddenly dies. Then another.
The Chamber is truly a page-turner, and quite a fascinating one when the job and living conditions of the divers are laid out as the setting.
Tension and disorientation are to the maximum once the deaths start and the reveals begin.
Thank you to Atria Books and Netgalley for my eARC for review. Recommended!
Released on Aug. 6.

I had a blast reading this book, but holy hell was I stressed. I don’t think I’d ever b brave enough to scuba at all, not to mention deep sea diving like this! And then throw in the deaths piling up, yikes.

Ever wondered what it’s like to be trapped deep underwater, knowing that any mistake could be your last? Oh--and someone may be murdering those around you one by one. The Chamber dives into that terrifying reality.

The Chamber by Will Dean is a gripping and claustrophobic locked-room mystery that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Set in the unique and nerve-wracking environment of a hyperbaric chamber, the story follows six experienced saturation divers who are trapped, knowing that rapid decompression would be fatal. As they work in shifts, enduring the oppressive heat and confined space, one diver is found dead and another becomes unresponsive, setting off a tense and fast-paced sequence of events.

The mystery leans heavily into suspense, with the tension building from the very first page until the last. You’ll find yourself constantly questioning what really happening in the chamber, as fear, exhaustion, and suspicion grow among the remaining divers. The sense of being trapped, both physically and mentally, is palpable, making you feel as paranoid and helpless as the characters.

What makes *The Chamber* particularly engaging is its deep dive into the world of saturation diving—a job I didn’t even know existed before reading. While it can be a bit technical and jargon-heavy at times, it adds to the story's authenticity. The more you learn about the dangers these divers face, the more you’ll ask yourself, “What else can go wrong?”—and the answer is usually more.

In the end, nothing is as it seems, and until the last page, you’ll be guessing whether anyone will make it out alive. This well-written, fast-paced read is as educational as it is entertaining. Saturated with tension and suspense, The Chamber by Will Dean is a claustrophobic thriller you won’t want to miss.

Thank you to Atria Books for providing me with an Advance Readers Copy for review.

This was such a unique read for me! I really appreciated this setting for a thriller/mystery as a lot of themes, plots and tropes are overdone nowadays. I found the reveals a but underwhelming or just okay, and didn't love the clunky way each backstory was told, but I loved the overall plot so much that I would still highly recommend this. High 3/4 star rating from me!

This was a very engaging thriller! I really enjoyed it. I took 1 star off due to the style of writing. It took me a little while to get used to it.

Thank you to Netgalley and Will Dean for the ARC of The Chamber.

The Chamber is my first book by Will Dean. At first, this book kept me very interested and flipping pages to see what was going to happen next. As the book progressed, I found myself getting a little bored with the plot. I wanted to get more backstory on each of the characters earlier in the story. I think this kept me from forming a connection with the characters.

I enjoyed the SAT diving knowledge and have no idea how people can actually do this type of work.

I did enjoy this book, it just was not a 5 star for me, which I thought it would be. I will give Will Dean's other books a try though!

Thank you Netgally, Austria and Will Dean for the ARC of The Chamber

I really truly wanted to love this book but it only left me confused and to be honest bored. The concept of closed room murder mystery hooked me right away as well as I have read other books by this author and loved them. This one was just not for me.

I loved learning about SAT divers and realized that would never be for me but felt that the author was bringing so much technical information it was an overload.

If you loved his other books please give this a try it might become a favorite of yours.

I loved Dean’s previous book, and wanted to love this one, but I struggled with it a bit. The setting is utterly claustrophobic in the tiny diving chamber, and keeping the entirety of the story there was a bold move. Thinking of being in such a small space where such bad things are happening was definitely an eerie and uncomfortable feeling, which worked beautifully for the story.

The biggest issue I had was the incredible amount of technical terminology Dean uses throughout the story, and the repetition of sayings and words to the point where it became frustrating to read. Our main character felt one dimensional as well, and her big reveal was not a surprise to me at all. I couldn’t tell you a single thing about any of the other characters, as nothing really defined any of them to the point where I could tell them apart.

Thank you to NetGalley and Atria books for the arc. All opinions are my own,

This was, unfortunately, a miss for me.

With a set up of divers in a cramped, tight space at the bottom of the ocean, I knew I was in for a claustrophobic read that would have me extremely uncomfortable the entire time. And it did just that. I was almost crawling out of my skin thinking about being in that kind of situation, and then realizing that living people do that.

The downfall of this book is the meat of it. It was dragging in the middle, almost stagnant as we get more diver back stories and bland commentary from our lead Ellen Brooke. She felt one dimensional and that really only made it worse. While the build up should’ve had a mind blowing reveal, it was almost confusing. I read it back twice to grasp it, and it was just disappointing.

Overall, it was a decent read. I wouldn’t pick it up again, but I don’t regret reading it.

Big thank you to Netgalley and Atria books for the arc!

I had high hopes for this book as I really enjoyed The Last one, but found it very hard to envision and just very slow. The random stories from each character didn’t really feel like they were propelling the story forward at all and it dragged a bit.

THE CHAMBER was a fascinating look at the world of deep sea diving, combined with a locked room thriller. The pacing was fantastic and the action kept moving, while providing some really interesting facts about the environment and challenges of the occupation. The ending completely threw me for a loop and I’m still not positive exactly what happened, which was a bit of a miss. It felt a little underwhelming to be left with an ending that felt like a guessing game.

Thanks to NetGalley and Atria Books for the opportunity to read and review THE CHAMBER.

I had a great time with this one. I found the claustrophobic vibes were effective and though I predicted the ending, I really enjoyed how it ended. I liked being inside Brooke’s head the whole time. This was my first from Will Dean and it won’t be my last.

Six professional divers are tasked to be locked in a hyperbaric chamber. They’re experienced and calm because ,“You panic- you die. There is no surface.” It takes 4 days to decompress the air to for them to be released. Suddenly deaths are happening one after another. Is it murder?
The premise sounds excitingly intense and claustrophobic. However, the many, many mundane details of every single thing they did took away from the mystery. This was not for me but those who love a locked-in mystery with a lot of science details, this is for you!

The Chamber
Will Dean
4 stars

Six experienced divers start a job deep under the sea, living in a small hyperbaric chamber when they aren’t working on the ocean floor. Only days into the month-long job, one of the divers is found dead in his bunk with no explanation. Because of the depth of the hyperbaric chamber, it must slowly make its way to the surface over 4 days of decompression. Will the remaining five divers survive the journey to the surface?

This book is INTENSE! The divers are secluded from everyone and working at unimaginable depths under the sea. It is very fast paced and keeps you on the edge of your seat. You can feel the claustrophobia and paranoia as it starts to sink in for the characters. The tension is palpable and you can barely catch your breath.

It was great. I didn’t predict the ending but it made sense and I could see the hints I missed along the way. I’ll definitely recommend this one if you are into stressful suspense!

The Chamber by Will Dean
Pub Date: Aug. 6, 2024
Genre: Locked room mystery/thriller
Length: 352 pages

Thank you to Atria Books and @NetGalley for the e-ARC of this book. The opinions stated here are my own.

Summary:
Ellen Brooke and five other experienced saturation divers (think EXTREME deep sea) are given an assignment to check the oil pipelines at the bottom of the North Sea. As per the job, they are sealed into and live in a very small hyperbaric chamber, breathing only heliox for the length of their assignment. The task is to take turns diving in pairs to the bottom of the sea unless all catalogued information is complete. Ellen and her dive partner, Andre, are the first to leave the chamber. When her five-hour shift is complete, they return to the chamber only to find that one of the other four on the team is dead…

An investigation above commences and paranoia and fatigue set in and the remaining 5 divers in the chamber have to stay together in the chamber for 5 days to re-pressurize before anyone can leave. No one knows who to trust, whether this death was caused by one of their own, or possibly someone above who is responsible for keeping them fed, medically sound, etc. And then, the unthinkable continues to occur… Who is responsible for the deaths and will anyone make it out of the chamber alive??

Opinion: 
This book is NOT for those who have any form of claustrophobia. I felt like I was holding my breath at times as the tension and panic set in with the divers in the chamber! I loved how the author also gave the reader a taste for what saturation diving is like and the scientific and logistical parts that accompany it. This book was like a combo of And Then There Were None, but in an extremely small space, with the added fear of disease, thirst, hunger, and paranoia. I loved it! This was my second Will Dean book and he spins a wild tale up to the very end!

3.5⭐️

Major thanks to Atria Books for the ARC copy of the newest Will Dean book!
This one is out now!

I must say that my first Will Dean book was The Last One, which I read last year, and it was a top 10 read for me!! I had high hopes for this one, but unfortunately it fell a little short.

I will say that this is a veryyyyyy slow burn. Had this had a little more momentum, I think I would have enjoyed it a bit more. I did, however, absolutely LOVE that it opened by sharing about the different terms for the occupation that the book centered around. I found that to be so facinating and truthfully it was one of my favorite parts of this book.

I also really enjoyed how the end made me majorly question what all I just read lol typically I don't prefer that, but with this particular story it worked so freakin well!

I would still recommend this one, just be warned that it is a slow burn! Still worth a read though!

The Chamber by Will Dean details the experience of six saturation divers in a hyperbaric chamber as they are picked off one by one. After one of them is found dead in his bunk, the time is ticking down until decompression has completed. But, 4 days is a long time to wait when the divers around you are perishing one by one. What or who is causing these healthy divers to die?
Review:
I personally didn't connect with the characters in this story as much as I would have hoped too. I felt like I was not given enough information about their storylines to get that emotional attachment. I also am not super interested in diving expeditions in general so that basic information was a little slow for me. I did think the overall story moved quickly and was fast paced. I also really enjoyed the tight quarters aspect and know for sure I will not be going in a hyperbaric chamber EVER! I also did predict the ending pretty early on. I enjoyed the one by one trope and the overall thrilling aspects in this story, but it was just okay for me in general.
The Chamber is available now!
Thank you to NetGalley, Will Dean, and Atria Books for this ARC of The Chamber in exchange for an honest review!

The Chamber is a tense and stylish locked-room mystery, with the tension heightened by its eerie setting and the constant sense of unease and dread that permeates the story.

Thank you to Atria for the review copy of The Chamber. I truly appreciated the detailed setting and atmosphere of this mystery. Dean has a remarkable ability to make the setting a crucial element of his mysteries, and I thoroughly enjoyed the underwater deep-diving theme—his research really impressed me. The setting and writing created a tense, fast-paced read that kept me engaged throughout.

While I understand that the detailed background and character development might not resonate with all readers, I found the in-depth focus on setting and character-driven storytelling captivating. As a fan of character-driven mysteries and fiction, I was fully engaged with the plot and the mystery, thanks to Dean's thoughtful approach.