Something in the Water

Can I give this more than 5 stars?? I LOVED this book so much I did not want it to be over. I had heard so many great reviews on this book I could not wait to read it. When it begins with a main character digging a grave you know that you are in for a treat!

Erin and Mark are the perfect couple - Erin is a documentary maker and Mark is an investment banker. They have the perfect life.... until Mark loses his job. Then the cracks start to appear. Still, they go on their dream honeymoon - first class to Bora Bora. Whilst scuba diving one afternoon they hear a clunking sound of something banging against the side of the boat. That something in the water could change their lives... what would you do? This begins a chain of events that start to spiral out of control.

I can't believe that this is a debut novel - wow. I hope she continues to write like this!!

It begins a little slow but once it gets going it really does not let off the brakes til the very end. Fantastic characters that get into your head and you can't stop thinking about them. Tell all your friends - this is this years must read novel.

A very big thank you to Simon and Schuster Australia and Netgalley for my advanced copy of this book to read and enjoy in exchange for my honest opinions. Could not love this book more

Slow to start but it gained momentum and then it became unpredictable, holding the readers attention and with twists and turns goes to an unexpected end. The characters were well developed and believable... well maybe except for Eddie a hardened professional criminal who Erin has involved in her documentary on prisoners and their coming out to real life, he is a bit too good to be true! Well actually Holli another of the prisoner’s who Erin has included in her documentary is also a little far fetch. But given that it is an incredible story which keeps you guessing and on the edge of your seat.
The publisher’s blurb is excellent and gives you enough without giving anything away!

A very captivating story which keeps you spellbound.

Thank you to Netgalley and publisher Simon & Schuster (Australia) for an ARC ebook to read and review.

"Something in the Water" is a very engaging thriller and would make an excellent summer travel or beach read.

The book opens with Erin, the main character digging a grave in a forest, putting us on notice that it's not all going to be plain sailing. The book then goes back to tell us about Erin's marriage to Mark and their honeymoon on the tropical island of Bora Bora. Erin and Mark seem like the perfect couple, very much in love after a few years together and both with good careers - Mark in investment banking, Erin as an up and coming documentary producer. They've bought a house together and have decided now is a good time to get married and plan a family. Their honeymoon in paradise is perfect until the day after a huge storm when they make a discovery that will change the course of their lives forever.

After a slow start, the pace and tension really ramps up following the honeymoon discovery. Erin and Mark decide on a course of action that they feel they must see through no matter what. I didn't always understand their motives and they seemed to make some stupid choices. As the narrator, Erin's choices are easier to follow but Mark is more of a shadowy character and the motives behind his actions are not clear at all. I also felt that one of the side plots was a little underdone - that of one of Erin's subjects for the documentary she is making on prison inmates. Her subject has supposedly been radicalised in prison and upon her release runs away with her Arabic/Turkish boyfriend to Syria. This almost felt superfluous to the novel but perhaps if it had been better developed to explain how it came about and to have more of an impact on Erin it would have worked better. So, overall an enjoyable, escapist read with some novel story lines and a very good debut, just not quite a five star read for me.

Book blurb...
The perfect couple commit the perfect crime in this brilliant new thriller from an extraordinary new voice.
How far would you go be truly happy?
Erin is a documentary filmmaker on the brink of a professional breakthrough; Mark a handsome investment banker with a bright future. They seem to have it all, until Mark loses his job and cracks start to appear in their perfect life.
But they’re determined to make it work. They book their dream honeymoon and trust that things will work out – after all, they have each other.
Could the life of your dreams turn out to be a nightmare?
On the tropical island of Bora Bora Mark takes Erin scuba diving. Mark is with her – she knows he’ll keep her safe. Everything will be fine.
Until they find something in the water.
Have you ever wondered how long it takes to dig a grave?
Erin and Mark decide to keep their discovery a secret -- after all, if no one else knows, who would be hurt?
Their decision will trigger a devastating chain of events... which will endanger everything they hold dear.

My thoughts…
Something in the Water is certainly a good read. Written in first person with a single point of view (female), this story explores what happens to love when money, and lots of it, is involved.
At times, I found some of Erin’s decisions annoying - a bit cliché. (eg He says something like: “Honey, don’t whatever you do, don't turn on the phone/log on/etc.” So what does she do?) All that said, these things served a purpose in the story and it was a very good story. (I guess if she'd made good choices there would not have been a story to tell!!)
The introductory chapter definitely hooked me and set the story up perfectly. It was also very cleverly tied into the last chapter.
Certainly a book to hold your interest. A good investment in your precious reading time.

I had seen some early good reviews about Catherine Steadman’s debut book ‘Something in the Water’ but I didn’t request it from Netgalley until much later. I had read a few reviews that stated the book had a slow start and for that I’m very grateful, as in all honesty I would have most likely put it aside.

But WOW, when the pace turned it really upped the ante and for rest of the book I would feel quite anxious as I read. I did think that Erin made a number of silly decisions, a lot on the spur of the moment and I was wondering what sort of trouble she would find herself in. Of course it was nothing to what actually happened....which it something I never saw coming.

After a slow start, this was a fast paced book and I would have been interested in listening to the audio version as I’ve heard great reports about that.
Thank you to Netgalley and the Publisher for an ARC to read

‘I have the feeling of being too near to something I don’t want to be near to. To something dangerous. I can’t quite see what it is yet but I feel it, it feels close. I feel the trapdoors in my mind creaking under the strain of what lies underneath.’

As a debut, this is a really interesting read that will engage you from start to finish. A slow build story with the author giving time to not only get to know, but assess the main characters. Filled with intrigue you will, at times, be dumbfounded by the actions of some characters - but that, I believe, is the whole point. I can’t help but feel there is more to this story that the superficial ‘who is responsible’ mystery theme. Yes, of course you will be swept along as both Erin and Mark make some incredible decisions together. Without saying anything about the plot, they take you on quite the journey.

I do believe, however, the true star of this book is the underlying theme - a psychological examination of everything it is to be human. The challenge is presented as you read along - what would you have done in their position? What are the priorities in your own life? To what length would you go to achieve them? Would you ever consider the long term consequences of such decisions?

The ending for me, was a great unexpected twist which I loved. Many reviewers complain that the main characters are unlikable, yet I have to wonder, it would definitely take a certain type of person to engage and pursue a similar path as what Erin and Mark ultimately do. They are most definitely flawed characters, but perhaps, that is the point. I did struggle with other areas of the book. Firstly, I found the writing overly stilted and therefore difficult to absorb at times - “we’re our own unit. Impenetrable. Secure. There’s us and then there’s the rest of the world. Until now. Until this.” - typical of some of the punchy lines scattered throughout. There also seemed to be a rather radical change in the character's thoughts, words and actions that I felt did not sit comfortably with what had initially been laid out.

Overall, however, Steadman has created a truly absorbing read. The journey she will take you on will not only be a suspenseful one of ‘whodunit’ but also an engaging thought provoking challenge on motives and morals in the unlikely pursuit of the fulfilment of aspirations to the perfect life. Secrets will abound as both curiosity and greed will have a tug of war with honesty and truthfulness. Where would you stand?

This book was chosen by Reese Witherspoon for her bookclub so probably doesn't need the support of little ol' me here in the land down-under.

Which is probably a good thing as - though I certainly enjoyed it - I wasn't as enamoured as I'm assuming readers like Reese were.

Don't get me wrong.... I enjoyed this book. Perhaps it'd been hyped so much that I expected something mind-blowingly astonishing? I'm not sure.

The book opens after a death and we then go back in time to the events leading up to it and of course things aren't quite how they seemed during that opening scene.

There's an obvious underlying theme around ethics and integrity here. In her day job Erin is interviewing prisoners who'll soon be released and talking to them about their crimes and the lives they expect to live once released.

Mark's had to skirt the edges of the law in his job as an investment banker and knows well.... not where the bodies are buried, but how to hide money anyway.

Which is a good thing given that the couple find A LOT of it while on their honeymoon and are confronted by an obvious moral dilemma.

There's an element of suspense here, we know this ends in a death and (inevitably) wonder how we get there.

I think the thing I struggled the most with in this book was the believability of elements: from the discovery of the money (etc); to the fact Mark and Erin attempted negotiating with hard-core criminals; to the violent climax, which all seemed a little OTT or unrealistic.

I also felt the characters were a tad inconsistent. In some ways that's at the crux of the 'twist' of this book so shouldn't be a problem but because we're in Erin's head we're pretty much privy to her every thought and I wasn't sure I had a handle on WHO she really was. I wasn't sure I liked her sometimes - from her complete lack of understanding of the implications of Mark's job loss to her actions after they found the money.

As for their relationship... I noted it seemed she idolised Mark in some ways, rather than 'loved' him. There was a disjoint of sorts....

"The whole world is still open and clear for me. It's not my problem.

The guilt follows immediately. What an awful thing to think. Of course it's my problem. It's our problem. We're getting married in a couple of months. But I can't make that feeling stick. I don't feel Mark's problems like I feel my own. What does that mean? I don't feel like something devastating has happened. I feel free and light." p 36

But - my usual foibles aside - this is an enjoyable and addictive read and I think it'll be a popular one.

3.5 stars

‘Something In The Water’ was such an unexpected delight. Right from the get go, I was hooked and couldn’t put it down. I was desperate to find out what had happened to warrant that starting scene. The book kept me interested with the addition of the prison documentary also. The ending was equally unexpected which was a definite plus for me.

Thank you to the publisher for providing an ARC in exchange for an honest review.