REVIEW: The Chamber by Will Dean

Mr Dean and I have a complicated relationship. I adore his writing but I absolutely hate the things he puts me through, the suspense, the fear and also the rather impatient anticipation when I’m waiting for a new book.

I didn’t even read the blurb before jumping into this but immediately found myself pulled in by the fantastic world-building, the setup of a creeping tension and anxious energy. Taking a situation that would scare most people - living beneath the depths of the ocean and tapping into that fear, utilising the water almost as another character full of life and able to plot against us, with each small description or detail painting such a vivid picture. This entire tale takes place almost exclusively in a little tin capsule dangling in the abyss, and somehow the story keeps a brilliant pace and the scene feels electrifying, and even more claustrophobic when the bodies start to fall and there’s nowhere for them to fall.

Our narrator is brilliant- explaining the rules and customs of being a saturation diver without feeling like they’re just dumping information on us. Brooke clearly loves her job as an aquanaut, relishes the beauty of nature and respects its danger - that awe and wonder shines through the way she sees the world at the beginning. I also have to commend Dean for always managing to so respectfully and brilliantly writing from a women’s perspective, and always creating three-dimensional, complex women as his leading ladies.

I found the ending not quite what I’d hoped, I loved the parallels and the murkiness but it felt almost like it just “faded to black” and never really felt finished to me but that didn’t change the fact that the first 90% of this book was absolutely addictive.

Get ready for the single most intense locked room mystery you’ve ever read - and if you’re claustrophobic or love clear-cut resolutions, maybe give this one a miss.

⭐⭐⭐⭐

I received an advanced reviewers copy of this title in return for an honest review.
Please check content warnings before reading as this title contains subjects including gore, death and murder.

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