This book combines the eerie setting of a parabolic chamber in the ocean with a 'locked door' mystery plot.

Ellen is a SAT diver stuck in a parabolic chamber on a job with 5 others. Most of the others she knows and trusts from previous jobs they have worked together, but when divers start dying, she starts to questions how well she knows them.

I really enjoyed most of this book. I found the mystery very intriguing and catchy. I found the characters very interesting and enjoyed their individual stories. I also enjoyed Ellen as a POV character and really liked how Will Dean turned her into an unreliable narrator as the book progressed and you learned more about her past.

I just struggled with visualizing the parabolic chamber and the surroundings, so the book seemed to drag for me in the parts where there was a lot of talk about the chamber and the parts. For example, the chamber is supposed to be underwater and the divers communicate to the people overseeing the mission through speakers, but then there would be people watching the divers from little windows. I did reference the diagram in the front of the book frequently, but still had a hard time with visualizing the setting of the chamber.

Overall a solid book that is different from anything else I have ever read, but The Last One is still my favorite Will Dean book.

The chamber is will deans latest and a unique take on a locked-room mystery! Six divers are in a hyperbolic chamber when one crew member dies the other five begin to worry about being stuck in the chamber after the
death under mysterious circumstances. Another crew member goes sick and it becomes clear that one of them is a killer-but who and why?

This is an interesting premise and a unique twist to the locked room thriller. The genre and trope is one of my favorites, but it does eventually get tired, so it’s refreshing to see a new take on it.

Deans thrillers are always winners and this one will please the many fans!

Thanks to the publisher for the arc via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Locked-room mysteries are a hit-or-miss for me, even though the premise sounds appetizing. However, "The Chamber" stands out as a unique and intriguing addition to the genre, making it one of the definite hits I've read this summer!

If you are into diving, this story is even more fascinating. While a bit over my head, it's full of diving facts and information that add an intriguing layer to the story. I wish I could fully grasp and remember all the facts and information I read!

The story is set in a hyperbaric saturation chamber. The narrator, Ellen, is the only female diver among the six crew members, which is interesting because the author is male.

The tension ramps up when a crew member is found dead in his bunk, and the decompression process begins, lasting four days. Things become even more intense when another member falls ill, and they don't have any answers.

The confined, pressurized environment of the chamber, the constant need for cleanliness, and the looming threat of deadly bacteria make for a truly gripping read. If you're a diving enthusiast or a mystery lover, this book is a must-read that will keep you captivated from start to finish!

Get ready for an incredible ending in "The Chamber"! It's absolutely mind-blowing and will leave you stunned, yet possibly satisfied.

Thank you to Atria Books/Emily Bestler Books for this ARC provided via NetGalley. All opinions are my own and leftvoluntarily.

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Really enjoyed this claustrophobic locked room whodunit. Dean did an amazing job of making 6 people in a pressure chamber slowly start distrusting each other and the details of how deep sea divers and environments and equipment works was a great stage.

Highly recommended for anyone that likes locked room mysteries.

I am one of those weird people who likes to read books about my greatest fears – I guess maybe because that way I can experience things I’m too scared to do in real life? In any case, The Chamber, which features two of my greatest fears (the deep ocean and enclosed spaces), seemed like just the ticket. Six saturation divers are living in a pressurized chamber during a 28-day job in the North Sea, when one of them dies under suspicious circumstances in his bunk. They can’t leave the chamber, because they have to decompress properly or risk death – a process that takes several days. And no one can come in to help them for the same reason. It’s a locked room murder mystery in the most intense circumstances imaginable, and I expected to fly through it.

But much to my surprise, I found this book to be really, really boring. And the problem actually lies in the book’s hook: The divers are trapped in the chamber. So there’s nothing for them to do except sit around and talk while they go through the decompression process. And maybe that still would have been okay, if this was a different type of book: a literary character study, perhaps, that allowed the narrative space to really dive (ha, pun!) into the nuances of these characters and their motivations. But while character development is attempted, it all feels very surface-level (another pun!). Instead, the characters mostly talk about their past experiences, or the experiences of other divers they know, in passages that feel like they could have been lifted directly from Will Dean’s interviews with real people in this profession. Some of their commentary is interesting, but it’s not exciting and does nothing to move the plot forward.

And after so much build-up to the moment when pressure would be equalized and the divers could leave the chamber, I was disappointed that the mystery was never clearly, resolutely resolved. I mean, I think I know what happened, but I definitely wanted one of those “killer explains all of their motivations in a big scene at the end” sorts of moments, rather than the ambiguity we got.

Anyway, The Chamber was a miss for me – but if you decide to read it, I highly recommend that you check out some YouTube videos about saturation diving first. The conditions that these divers live in, their day-to-day in a hyperbaric chamber while they’re on a job, their complex missions on the ocean floor – it’s so fascinating and frightening and truly has to be seen to be believed, and it’ll help to set the scene for this book. Hopefully you’ll have a better experience with it than I did. Thanks to Atria/Emily Bestler Books for the complimentary reading opportunity.

Never would have guessed that I would be so interested in the world of saturation diving. The ultimate locked-room mystery, The Chamber places Brooke and her fellow saturation divers in a hyperbaric chamber and divers start dying and they cannot leave. Being trapped in a small space is creepy enough but adding a murder mystery? Top-tier. This novel is well-researched and captures setting and feeling of being in this chamber, the mystery was engaging and kept me guessing. 3.75 stars rounded up.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

This was a thriller with an unique storyline, 6 deep sea divers are in a hyperbaric chamber, and one by one they start dying. They don't know if someone from the outside is trying to kill them or if the killer is one of the 6 of them inside the chamber. Because of the depths and pressure they cannot just resurface and get out of the chamber, there is a multiple day decompression process before they can leave this chamber. They start to question everything from the people preparing their food and supplies, to the gas they're breathing in the chamber, to the water they brush their teeth with, to the integrity of each other. They don't know who to trust, only that people are dying and something sinister is definitely going on. This was a unique thriller with an enjoyable storyline! 💙📚

Thank you to the author and to the publisher for this ARC of The Chamber, exchange for an honest review.

Wow! I couldn't help but think of the vessel tha5 had loved to see the Titanic. I was totally freaked out. The suspense is terrifying. Shocking why and whom.

Thank you to NetGalley, Will Dean and Atria Books for the free ebook in exchange for an honest review.

This wasn’t quite what I expected, but it definitely felt very claustrophobic and lock in type mystery. I really needed to know what was happening and I cruised through this. I’m a bit confused about the ending but I think that’s on me, not on the book. Definitely recommend.

thank you netgalley for the e-arc. this book was awesome, what a ride! i thought it would be one of those books with details too technical for me to understand but once all the terms are used and they use them conversationally and during the action, it's easy. i thought the tension was built up so well, i didn't guess the end. i would want to say the characters are under-developed but i think that makes the book stronger, not knowing the people entirely adds to the mystery. and if the guy who ends up doing the crime is just described as a good diver and overall good guy onshore, then how COULD he be the criminal?

This was an interesting thriller! I really enjoyed it but the only thing missing for me was character development. There wasn't much at all in my opinion. It is a good story and I would recommend it. Just not as fast paced as I like and the character development just wasn't there for me. Overall though it was a great story.

Thanks to Netgalley and Atria for allowing me to receive this ARC.

Six experienced saturation divers are locked in a sat chamber heading to do a month long job. All that comes to an end when the newest and youngest member is found dead in his bunk. This book is told in the first person POV of Ellen - an experienced saturation diver. The reader follows her as the divers are slowly brought back up to the surface. When the other divers start dying, paranoia and suspicion follow. The book was well written and it had the reader hooked. I was left with my mouth open at the end with a plot twist I did not see coming. Thank you NetGalley for allowing me to read this one.

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!