The Depths

A really interesting read. I was looking forward to this after reading the authors last book.
A completely compelling short story

Once again, author Kirk Kjeldsen takes an ordinary person, thrusts her into an incredibly stressful situation, and then allows us to experience what happens next. In “The Depths,” Marah and her husband Eden are kidnapped during their vacation. Readers are along for the ride as Marah relates her fears, struggles, and regrets. Mr. Kjeldsen burrows deep into Marah’s thoughts, granting an intimate review of her past life as well as her perceptions of what is occurring, meshing everything with the anxiety that has become a constant companion.

The story begins on an idyllic note, burdened only by the bothersome thoughts that Marah insists on carrying. The author artfully foreshadows the future in the early chapters before the surprise and horror of the kidnapping envelopes Eden and Marah. The nightmare worsens as the story progresses, and the possibility of surviving their ordeal becomes more remote. While it is a challenge to show deep characterizations in a first-person novel, there are enough differences to enable each of their captors to have separate personalities.

Overall, this is a quick, enveloping read that pulls you into the story and never allows you to stop reading (I finished it in a single sitting). Five stars.

My thanks to Grenzland Press, NetGalley, and the author for a complimentary copy of this book.

A very scary short novel, about the worst kind of monster: human beings. After suffering yet another miscarriage, Marah lets her husband Eden whisk her away to go diving in Malaysia. She is not convinced but, as usual, she gives in. Just as she's starting to relax, they get kidnapped by pirates and taken to a deserted island. This is a story we've heard before, usually from the point of view of the people trying to rescue the hostages. This time, we are seeing everything just as Marah does. She is a hostage. She knows nothing: not where she is, not what the bad guys are saying in their native language, not when she will be shot, get to eat, drink water or go to the bathroom. She thinks of her life, which now seems ridiculous. Before, she practiced Hot Yoga to lose her swollen belly. Now, she eats rotten fruit and drinks dirty water that she knows will make her sick. If this makes the plot sound slow, it isn't. There is psychological horror, torture and a few twists that made me gasp. But it's Marah's transformation from insecure, needy wife into a jungle version of Ellen Ripley that kept my pulse raising.

Depression concerning infertility clouded this heroine’s judgment toward her husband’s changing attitude for most of the book. Marah’s grief has left her feeling dependent upon him, yet simultaneously disconnected. When he suggests an isolated island get-away, she believes Eden wants to nourish their marriage by resuming their former habit of exotic travel. But when they are kidnapped by pirates, things turn dangerously twisted.

This was a fast, but gripping story of an adventurous couples entrapment in a vacation gone wrong. Being held captive by ruthless men is never a choice anyone would make, but is everything what it appears to be??

Keep an eye on this author! Major talent!!!


posted on amazon as barth gimbal

This was an enjoyable story. American-born Marah and her Belgian husband Eden had been living in various eastern Asian countries for years as Eden pursued his career in international finance. However, their relationship had been struggling due to a combination of Marah's depression due to multiple miscarriages and the stalling of Eden's career. In order to escape their troubles temporarily, Eden, ever the adventurer, had arranged a diving adventure in Malaysia. With Eden's prodding and encouragement, Marah was able to fight through her fears and enjoy the wonders underneath the ocean's surface. However, when they surfaced after their second diving trip, they found that they were not alone and that their company was not friendly. Marah and Eden are kidnapped and held for ransom -- her stepfather is quite wealthy. Most of the story focuses on their captivity -- the behavior of their captors, the abuse and discomfort they face, the trips were the lead captor (Abu Tuan) takes Marah by boat and then by car to various other islands to place calls to her mother and stepfather to try to arrange for a ransom, etc. The author does a good job of painting a picture for the reader of the experience that Marah and Eden are going through. Marah is a well-developed and complex character, with lots of anxiety/fear/self-doubt, but also a hidden strength that intermittently emerges and slowly builds as the captivity progresses. The climax comes when Marah realizes that the kidnapping was not as random as it seemed and she is forced to rely on herself to a degree that has been not necessary in years.

The author almost ruined the story with the ending, but the final sentence suggests that Marah makes the difficult but morally correct decision.

Thanks to the publishers and NetGalley for the opportunity to read a pre publication copy of this book in return for an unbiased review.
This is exactly the type of book that I frequently read and although I enjoyed it, I must confess to having been able to foresee the twist in the tale that happens at about the two thirds point of reading.
A decent effort, one that I enjoyed without finding that I couldn't put it down.
A solid 4/5 stars..

I've read "The Land of the Hidden Fires" and now "The Depths" and seem to like the style that Kirk writes in. He makes it seem so easy and delightful even though Marah went through 3 miscarriages and her husband Eden seemed to be at ease also with their lives prior to being kidnapped. Then after they are kidnapped they are treated similarly by being beat up. We are brought into Marah's mind with her trying to figure out whats happening to them. On a trip back from another island Marah see's Eden come out of a hut drinking water with no guards around him. You keep rooting for Marah not to give in and die to take the easy way out.

I think Kirk all along planned that Marah would survive and conquer her fears. Plus, there was a special ending that was why they decided they needed a vacation. I would recommend this book to be read by everyone. Kirk is an author who has lived in the U.S.A., and lives in Germany with his wife and children. He put this to good use.

I thoroughly enjoy the way Kirk Kjeldsen's mind works. The Depths is another excellent who-done-it from this author, this one in modern times, set in the Mindanao Island Group - over a thousand islands in the chain, which covers forty thousand square miles of Pacific Ocean. Eden Lenaerts and his wife Marah are taking a mental health vacation from their home in Shanghai's Min Hang district after Marah's third miscarriage. Things aren't going all that well for Eden at work, either, as the economy hits another long downward spiral.

Marah is very sure her mental health would be happier with a trip home to New York to see her mom, or if it must be Malaysia then a 5 star western hotel with all the bells and whistles. Eden wants them to do some diving though, and he has made arrangements to lease a private beachfront villa complete with a motor boat in a small village between Semporna and Kunak, Malaysia and has maps featuring great diving locations within range of the villa.

Very shortly, the trip will turn into a nightmare, detrimental to both Eden and Marah's mental health. But the word pictures of the beauty of this varied group of Islands, the songs of life all around from birds to insects to primates, the shushing of the tides, the stars at night - all tend to downplay the angst that Marah and Eden are dealing with - or balance out the angst in my mind, anyway. Poor Marah.

I received a free electronic copy of this novel from Netgalley, Kirk Kjeldsen, and Grenzland Press in exchange for an honest review. Thank you all for sharing your hard work with me. Kirk Kjeldsen is a writer to watch for.

4 stars
Thanks to NetGalley and Grenzland Press for sending me this e ARC. Eden and Marah Lenaerts go to the Malaysian part of Borneo for some diving in a pristine environment with lots of wildlife. Then it all goes wrong. They are kidnapped by 4 men armed with M16s. They demand that Marah make a phone call for ransom money.
I would call this a thriller/mystery in that you know who most of the bad guys are. The author drops clues to the identity of the other and I suspected who it was, but there are no spoilers in this review. I liked the ending and the author's description of the sight, sounds and smells of the jungle.

One quote on sunrise: "Fingers of soft light soon reached down through the thick canopy of the trees, illuminating the darkest reaches of the jungle. The warmth of the sun slowly urged out the delicate scents of the wild coronitas, the moon orchids, and the sampaguita flowers, chasing the nighttime odors of wet, dead leaves, standing water, and the giant Rafflesia flowers that smelled like rotting corpses."

This was a fast paced thriller that I thoroughly enjoyed. The story practically thumps with suspense. Thank you NetGalley for an ecopy of this book.

Last year I read and reviewed Land of Hidden Fires, by this author and absolutely loved it, so when I was invited to read this, by the publisher via NetGalley, I didn’t hesitate. This is a beaut read. Realistic, dramatic and very scary.
Marah and Eden work in Shanghai after moving there when Eden got offered a promotion in the bank where he worked. But it brought with it some emotional problems when Marah miscarried three times in as many years. Now she suffers with depression with no family near at hand to support her, so Eden takes her on a surprise holiday to Malaysia. When the couple are diving off the coast they surface to find terrorists waiting for them and are taken hostage to an Island and held for ransom.
Whoa, these fellows really mean business as the couple face horrific physical and mental abuse. Living tied up outside in the jungle exposed to the elements, they are starved and humiliated daily and forced to give the terrorist details of how to contact their families back home. The couple have gone from living accustomed to quite a comfortable life style to survival mode.
This is a gripping story with such vivid descriptions that heighten every sense you have. The worst of the horrors are yet to come as the tension rises further in the last few chapters. Brilliant story line that kept me spell bound. Highly recommended!

Yikes! I just finished this and I’m breathless....as if I’ve just survived a horrifying experience in an exotic locale...all from the comfort of my sofa. The suspense was so intense that I had to keep reminding myself to breathe. And my dog is peeved at me since I ignored his pawing at me for hours while I was glued to the pages.

If you like thrillers, you will love this. Set mostly in the wilds of Malaysia, the story taps into that universal fear of being lost and in trouble in a strange place. A young couple, Marah and Edan, sets out on an adventurous trip that takes an unexpected and frightening turn.
The pacing is fast and the plot tight and riveting. The descriptions are unbelievably realistic with all the senses involved. I saw the crystal clear blue water, heard the sound of a screwdriver rolling back and forth on the bottom of the boat, felt the ties cutting into my wrists, tasted blood on the hood over my head, endured the pain of being in a cramped position for days, smelled the dirty water sloshing around in the bottom of the boat, and experienced the terror of being hunted.

It’s obvious that the author has spent considerable time in this locale. The juxtaposition of the beauty of this area with the terrible things that happened there adds to the realism. The beauty of the warm turquoise water and blue sky, the many unusual sounds of jungle birds and animals, and the white sand beaches, are contrasted with the cruelty of some of the characters, the physical and emotional pain the couple endured, and the terror of being completely vulnerable.

Marah, The protagonist, a passive, timid person when they arrive in Malaysia, develops an appreciation of her true nature through this difficult ordeal. Her developing strength and courage is an underlying current throughout the book.

I highly recommend this extraordinary book and look forward to reading more from this talented author.

Note: I received an advance copy of the ebook from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Marah's husband, Eden, has convinced her that a scuba diving vacation in Malaysia is just what she needs to recover from her third miscarriage. Instead, Marah will find herself trapped in a harrowing nightmare that will strip her down her most basic instinct to survive. And just when you think Marah has reached the limit of what she can endure, what should have been her source of hope becomes her greatest danger. Though the ending is a bit abrupt, the emotions are real and visceral and pull you right into Marah's experience.

This was a weird, wonderful, intense quick read! Kirk Kjeldsen sets the stage for The Depths early on with an eerie tone in the background - a depressed wife trying to overcome the deep seated sorrow she's feeling after suffering 3 miscarriages, a husband eager to take her on a trip to get away from it all, and seemingly, his own financial problems as well.

This book starts off a tad bit slow, but once it gets going, DOES IT EVER! As this is much shorter than the average novel, I burned through it in one sitting - I couldn't put it down.

We have a sympathetic protagonist who grows throughout the book into someone I just couldn't get enough of - her husband, who I'll let you judge for yourself, and even a kidnapper who I had sympathy for - the character development was pretty spot on, especially given the concise prose, nothing overly wordy or unnecessary in this book.

I guessed at what was underlying in the plot, however watching it unfold in some unexpected ways made my heart race. The ending ALMOST ruined the book for me and made me cry, but I have hope that it went in the direction that I think it did - I know that's vague but I really don't want to spoil anything.

Four solid stars!

Ak! This is pretty scary. It's more of a horror tale than a thriller due to the realism. The main character, Marah, is a survivor and I liked seeing her transform. Then the book just boom; the end. That I didn't like that at all. That is annoying in a full sized book like this one.

My copy came from Net Galley. My review is mine, left of my own free will.

Riveting.
A fascinating tale of a supposedly idyllic holiday gone wrong, written with a sparseness and brevity that kept me reading the book until the story had finished. Excellent writing.