The Deep by Alma Katsu (Adult Historical Fiction / Horror Book Review)

The Deep
by Alma Katsu
Published by G.P. Putnam's Sons
on March 10, 2020

Genre:
Adult, Historical Fiction, Horror
Length: 432 pages


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Synopsis:
Someone, or something, is haunting the Titanic.

This is the only way to explain the series of misfortunes that have plagued the passengers of the ship from the moment they set sail: mysterious disappearances, sudden deaths. No suspended in an eerie, unsettling twilight zone during the four days of the liner's illustrious maiden voyage, a number of the passengers are convinced that something sinister is going on... And then, as the world knows, disaster strikes.

Years later and the world is at war. And a survivor of that fateful night, Annie, is working as a nurse on the sixth voyage of the Titanic's sister ship, the Britannic, now refitted as a hospital ship. Plagued by the demons of her doomed first and near fatal journey across the Atlantic. Annie comes across an unconscious soldier she recognizes while doing her rounds. It is the young man, Mark. And she is convinced that he did not - could not - have survived the sinking of the Titanic...

My Thoughts:

"Fear was a chained dog, startling and rough and always dangerously close, stretching its leash, baring fangs."

Locked up in an asylum for unknown reasons, Annie Hebbley finds herself released to join the nursing crew on the Britannic's sixth voyage as it picks up wounded soldiers as it journeys throughout Europe before heading to the Americas. Having survived the sinking of the Titanic, she is hesitant but eager for her freedom and a purpose.

Switching back and forth between Annie's time on the Titanic before it sank and the Britannic during World War 1, The Deep weaves a haunting tale of love, betrayal, and dark secrets heavy enough to bring down an unsinkable ship.

On the Titanic, Annie Hebbley is a stewardess that caters to a portion of first-class passengers, including the incredibly wealthy Mr. & Mrs. Astor,  a journalist with a knack for the occult, and Mark Fletcher, a married man with an infant child, whom Annie feels an indescribable connection to. But after she disrupts a seance to inform the Astors of the death of their servant boy, the crew and passengers become entangled in a paranormal plot that threatens to send them over the edge and into the deep.

Just four years later on the Britannic, Annie is thrilled to discover Mark Fletcher, who was wounded in World War I, onboard the ship. She still feels that connection and hopes that Mark will be as happy to see her, but she soon finds that their dark past upon the Titanic has followed them.

"To be possessed of too much love is no kindness."

This book lured me in and wouldn't let me go. I love historical fiction and horror but haven't read many books that incorporate the two and was very interested in this book from the start.

I loved how the author wove the paranormal aspect into the story and gave it a great twist ending that I wasn't expecting at all. The story itself is well researched with dates and settings and even actual people that were on the Titanic with backstories and more.
I really enjoyed that even though the story mostly revolves around Annie, it has multiple POVs that include first and lower class passengers as well as crew, which I thought gave a nicely rounded look into the social rules and expectations of that era.

I definitely recommend this if you enjoy historical fiction or ghost stories!

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