Great book and execution!

Undersea town meets Cthulhu-esque creatures

If you’re feeling Cthulhu-esque and need a deep-sea horror story, then this is the book for you! In the beginning, we have two groups of people in two separate places and over time their fates become entwined. Lost in a messed up place full of evil creatures, we have Connor (Irish priest), Min (warrior monk), and Machiko (stealthy botanist). Working at the deep sea station Kadath, we have ocean environmentalist Lucas, submariner Charles, and fixer Rachel. While one group simply tries to survive and escape, the other group tries to unravel the mystery of a giant squid-like creature barely caught on camera. Plus Lucas keeps hearing voices and seeing things that aren’t really there and that’s really making it hard to flirt with Rachel. So we obviously need to figure that out for the man so he can have a successful social life. Machiko and Lucas were my favorite characters. Machiko is level-headed and she is often the one to remind her traveling companions to stay quiet or to keep moving. Connor had the hardest time getting into survival mode. In fact, he nearly got the three of them killed several times. I was surprised that Machiko and Min kept him around. Turns out they are just honestly nice people and weren’t keeping him to use as bait or sacrifice down the road (like I would be tempted to do). Lucas on the other hand is a little lost at first, being new to this deep ocean life and basically a corporate-owned city. Everything about Kadath station, from the engineering of the sewage treatment to the discos are run by the same company. So Lucas has to learn how to fit in. At first, I thought he was an OSHA inspector but it turns out he’s some kind of marine biologist and just wants to make sure Kadath isn’t negatively impacting the local wildlife. I think Lucas was saying he’s your ocean guy and not OSHA guy. But there was some confusion there for me at first. He’s much more exciting as an ocean guy instead of checking office room temperatures and oxygen levels in confined spaces. The set up is a little slow but also fairly interesting. After all, we know there’s some big mystery about Kadath that Lucas is peeking into. Plus Connor just kind of awoke in this horrible place with dangerous, slimy monsters that can mimic humans. Once the set up is in place, the pace picks up. I love that the story keeps bouncing back and forth between these two sets of people. If one group is having a quiet bonding moment, the other can be running for their lives. Lucas does show some adventurous spirit by finding a way to hunt for his giant squid after being told no. Rachel is friends with Charles, who gets to go out daily in a little round sub to check the exterior of the city. He has a set path he’s supposed to travel, but he can expand it a little. No one will notice. Yeah, right! All three of them quickly learn that Judy Blake, corporate liaison, sees all and knows all. But she also is curious and authorizes them to continue with their search, offering to support them any way they need. Now this should have been a red flag, but Lucas is a bit gullible and takes people at face value. Plus he’s just happy to hunting deep sea monsters. As the story progresses, these two worlds get closer and closer together until finally one character becomes the tipping point. It’s all very exciting but also pretty nebulous. A story that started off pretty solidly in the science fiction genre has now veered into the fantastical horror. Parts of it I liked, and I was already invested in the characters, but parts of it were just too easy to explain away, because, you know, Cthulhu-like monsters be that way. I did want something a little more defined near the end. Still, it was a pretty enjoyable suspenseful tale. 4/5 stars. The Narration, Sound Effects, & Music: The full-cast narration was well put together. Each character was clear and easily defined from the others. For the most part, I liked the voices tho two were a bit over the top (Judy Blake and the evil Dr. William West). Most of the cast sounded like modern story-telling while those two voices sounded like a throw back to old timey radio shows. For the most part though, it all worked well. I liked the little bits of music between chapters. Most of the sound effects were good, but there were a few where I was trying to identify exactly what they were. Though to be fair, sometimes these effects were at a point in the story where a character is trying to identify a sound too. Still, I like my sound effects clearly identifiable so my brain stays on the story instead of caught up in trying to figure out what that sound is supposed to be. Aside from those few quibbles, it was a pretty good performance. Soundbooth Theater has a choice in narrations when you buy from their site directly – narration only or what they call a Deep Dive (with all the sound effects and music). I think this is a most excellent thing to offer listeners. 4/5 stars. I received this audiobook as part of my participation in a blog tour with Audiobookworm Promotions. The tour is being sponsored by Soundbooth Theater. The gifting of this audiobook did not affect my opinion of it.