Reviews

Dead Water by C.A. Fletcher

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janey's review against another edition

4.0

I don't know why I thought this was cli-fi and I forget where I learned of it, but it was total escapist horror and I was right there for it the whole time. I had no idea that this is what I needed in my life right now and I'm about to start another horror book so this could be the start of a major wormhole haha

jaid02's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

I am surprised at how much I enjoyed this book. It was very slow to build the tension, but it interwove the different characters stories so well. Overall I really enjoyed the slow burn and the story.

jufira42's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

verkruissen's review against another edition

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4.0

What a fantastic read to start the spooky season with!
The story is told from several different points of view, even the two ravens take part in this. It's also told from the perspective of a "Viking" hundreds of years ago.
It stars on this ferry making its way to a small fishing village on remote island somewhere in the northern Atlantic. The main character, Sig, is a woman struggling with loss and has taken to free diving solo, which is dangerous, though she claims she does not want to die. She finds a half buried backpack with what appears to be a book with strange runes on it. She thinks nothing of it and takes the bag home hoping to find its owner.
On the other side of the island, Kathleen, who is 80+ years old stumbles upon a desecrated seamark, a cairn of stones that had been there since before she was born. After collapsing and being found by her grandson and Sig, Kathleen starts behaving violently. As her grandson walks her home Sig discovers that something has been dug out from beneath the cairn. Strange things start happening to the islands residents.
Such a good story! Definitely recommended for fans of Nordic landscapes and horrifying curses.

38_simulated's review against another edition

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3.0

CA Fletcher’s second novel starts slow, filling you in on the location and the characters while an undercurrent of uneasiness is lightly sketched in in the background. That undercurrent swells and rises like a tide, until it bursts its banks and everything goes very bad very quickly. On its own terms this is a decent horror novel, and would have made a great 80s John Carpenter movie. My twinge of disappointment is that the author’s previous book is one of my favourite genre novels of recent years, and this one isn’t at that level. You’ll still have fun with it, but please read A Boy And His Dog At The End Of The World as well!