I loved The Hunger by the same author but this left me cold ( no iceberg pun intended!) I think the story of the Donner Party, starving and desperate, stranded in a vast, empty wilderness lent itself better to goosebumps and spine-tingling than a bunch of privileged toffs and con artists mingling at champagne cocktail parties on a luxury ship.

Spoilers ahead.

It was too overwrought for my liking, packed with with evil mermaids and lunacy and ghost-possession and addictions and affairs and scams and factory fires and passionate priests and several varieties of LGTBQ relationships thrown in, including a throuple (which smacked of zeitgeist exploitation) and heists and and media/prostitution scandal and date rape as well as two famous disasters at sea and a war. Any three of those I could cope with but all of them?

I really enjoyed 'The Hunger', Alma Katsu's novel about the Donner Party and so ws overjoyed when allowed to read her next novel 'The Deep'. Let me preface by saying I have no interest in the Titanic so was really surprised when I found I couldn't put this book down - gripping story, paranormal chills and a mystery that leaves you in suspense. My only issue is that a few plot points weren't closed by the end, however, i'm happy I read this and recommend if you enjoyed 'The Hunger'.

Enjoyable, well researched and with an increasing sense of foreboding, knowing the tragedy that befell both the Titanic and her sister ship Britannic, but I struggled with the characters, none of whom were particularly likeable, and it left me feeling quite adrift.
I wanted to love this as much as I did The Hunger, but it fell short.
However, I do think this story would benefit from a second reading so will give it another go at some point.
3.5 stars (but rounded down for the purpose of Netgalley and Goodreads).

The Deep started really well but unfortunately I lost interest reading about the passengers lives on The Titanic. Not for me at this time.

Firstly, thank you to NetGalley and Random House UK for a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

This story is wonderfully written and descriptive, allowing me to build a picture of the Titanic and the Britannic in my mind’s eye. The setting was my favorite thing about the novel, being a fan of history and also the story of the Titanic. That being said, this book was not what I was expecting.
I think that the story should be billed as historical romance / mystery rather than focusing on the horror elements of the story, which were secondary to the above. This left me a little disappointed as I was hoping for more of a ghost story. This doesn’t mean the story was bad, just not what I was expecting. I also think that the story was too long and became over complicated.
Despite all of the above I did enjoy reading this and would recommend for readers of historical fiction rather than horror.

This is my second read from Alma, following The Hunger based on the Dylatov pass. I really enjoy the accuracy of her historical fiction, the language used and detailed descriptions of surroundings transport the reader to that exact time and place. Knowing that the idea for The Deep was sparked by an actual survivor of both the Titanic and Brittanic made it all the more real.

I always like when authors inject character detail using articles from bystanders. There's no need for unnecessary background just short simple additions to the plot. Alma does this wonderfully using letters, news articles and diary entries from friends, relatives and doctors.

Told in third person and excerpts, the plot revolves around young maid Annie and her voyage aboard both ships.
The Deep is a historical, supernatural, paranormal love story, a haunting and beautiful tale of the sea.

Alma weaves some fascinating character development, each passenger Annie tends to has a full enriching back story- some of which tie seamlessly together later in the novel.
I enjoyed unravelling the secrets of each character so much so that at times I forgot I'd actually come for the spooks!

The Deep is a slow burning, emotionally charged novel that builds to a frightening but passionate end.

DNF - 40%

Although I didn’t not finish this, I feel comfortable that I experienced enough to review. I was incredibly excited to read The Deep. Based on the description, I was expecting this to be a paranormal horror book, as that is how it is marketed and unfortunately that isn’t what I got. This is a historical fiction novel with some paranormal elements, which is fine but not how the book is marketed. Aside from that, the story doesn’t start for a really long time. It is mostly the characters telling us things that have happened, and not actually anything happening. It’s very much a tell, rather than showing situation.

The characters are very bland and 2D, and it feels like the author tried to have too many characters with intertwining stories that they couldn’t all be fully explored. On that note, the first 30% of the book is very much just a case of introducing all of these characters and vague ways and, because of this, I wasn’t gripped.

I’m really disappointed by this book as I was looking forward to reading it, however I am open to reading more of Alma Katsu’s books in the future.

This is an eerie, totally absorbing fantastic re-telling of the fateful journey of HMS Titanic. It also tells of Titanic's sister ship, Britannic, fitted out as a hospital ship four years after Titanic's demise. Wonderful characters and incredibly atmospheric throughout. There is a supernatural element, yes, but it generally blends well with the overall story. A great read

Last year I enjoyed „The Hunger” from Alma Katsu. So I was very excited when I saw that there is a new book from her coming up. Here she takes another true story and tells it in a slightly different way. Like in “The Hunger” she gives the story again a supernatural touch.

We follow the story about the sinking of the famous Titanic and her sister ship Britannic. There was a young woman who survived both tragedies: Viola Jessup. Katsu gives her a friend, Annie, who also survived the sinking of the Titanic and finds her way on board of the Britannic. The story jumps back and forth to 1912 where Annie is a maid in the First Class Deck and to 1916 when she works as a nurse on the Britannic during the war.

At first I was very keen to read about the tragic maiden voyage of the Titanic and its famous passengers. But soon the story gets muddleheaded. I was aware that at that time a lot of people were fascinated by paranormal things and séances were highly in fashion. The story is a bit creepy and the idea of a haunted ship is appealing. But unfortunately Katsu is more interested in the threesome relationship of some of her many characters. The Titanic is just the background to a love story gone bad.

In “The Hunger” Katsu managed to tell a well-known true story anew and spice it up with a supernatural touch. Here the ghosts take over the complete story but not in a good way. There was way too much drama about the weird love story(s) the characters had. I could not connect to any of the them. The story drags after an interesting start and is way too long. There are too many characters and too many stories which not all get told properly. There are still questions in my head which did not get an answer although the book is quite long.

I am sorry to say that I did not enjoy this book as I did “The Hunger”. The best about this book is the gorgeous cover.

I was expecting this to be a horror historical, but in the end I felt the paranormal element was very underplayed. The horror elements are there, but firmly in the background. There’s no real sense of rising fear or dread, and the eventual revelation is delivered in a very matter of fact way, with no sense of supernatural awe. So we are left with a historical novel about the Titanic. In those terms it is decent enough, but probably not one I would have chosen to read. There’s nothing particularly new about the depiction of upper class luxury, but some of the below decks stuff is good. I was particularly taken with the subplot involving the two boxers, which could have made a decent novel on its own.

3/5 - I didn’t especially like this, but I can see that other people will. It just didn’t chime with my tastes in the way I’d hoped.

Something ominous and unexplainable is happening onboard the Titanic, sinister voices calling to people, unworldly sightings and hallucinations... Is the ship haunted? And if so, by whom?
4 years later... survivor Annie is drawn back to the sea after having spent the intervening years in a mental asylum. As she starts working as a nurse on Britannic, the Titanic's sister ship which has been converted into a hospital, she discovers that a man named Mark, who she had taken a liking to on the Titanic's maiden voyage, is alive.


This book is not my usual go-to genre, but because anything Titanic related always draws my attention, I thought I'd give it a go.
It was a good read, albeit a little slow to start with. I loved that the author featured real-life characters. The story told in flashbacks from Titanic interlaced with the present events on Britannic is a perfect blend of historical events merged with paranormal activity. It pulls you in, making you eager to find out if the ship was indeed haunted and what secrets is Annie hiding.
What I'm disappointed about is that it wasn't nearly as scary as I thought it would be. I personally wouldn't classify it as a horror. Also, I was expecting the actual sinking to be portrayed more dramatically.
Overall it was a good enjoyable read, and I'm likely to reach for the author's other novel when I get the chance.

I honestly do not know what I think of the deep. I’ve always been fascinated with the Titanic disaster and I’ve read accounts before of some of the supernatural elements that people believed were on board. For some reason I expected this novel to be like the movie. A cast of characters struggling to survive the disaster, with set pieces and action galore whilst battling some unknown force. I mean just look at the cover! That to me suggested that's what I would be getting. Had I read some of the reviews, and the synopsis beforehand, then I would have known that this novel is anything but that.

What the deep is at its core is a character study. We follow a few faces on board the doomed vessel, from the first class passengers right down to the maids that service them. The novel reads like a whodunit, as their secrets are unveiled and we head towards the disaster that we all know is coming. There’s a certain sense of unease throughout, a séance scene being a particular highlight. Overall though I didn’t think the main mystery reveal was all that great, and towards the end it felt slightly rushed as Katsu brings it together in its last few chapters.

Be warned that anyone wanting more of an account of the actual sinking of the ship will be disappointed. The ship doesn’t hit the iceberg until the 80% mark and even after that we only have around twenty pages of the characters dealing with the disaster. I appreciate that Katsu still kept the novel interesting throughout but sometimes it felt like she kept us waiting just for the sake of it.

I did enjoy reading about the actual characters that Katsu based the novel on. Scouring the Internet and their Wikipedia pages made the story all the more interesting. The research that went into this book is impeccable and katsu’s prose is gorgeous. I feel I did the novel a bit of a disservice by going into it expecting something else. It’s still an enjoyable, atmospheric thriller. It’s just better going into the novel knowing that.

This book is beautifully written. That's the best I can say for it as it was not my cup of tea. I love stories about the Titanic but this one was so convoluted and confusing I couldn't keep all of the subplots straight. Further, I don't find occult, selkies, or supernatural themes interesting so that made me lose interest. If you're looking for a "Titanic" book, look elsewhere. If you like the themes mentioned then give this one a try.

A sense of connection drove me to this story and an intriguing twist in terms of the supernatural sealed its fate. I would bribe the author, publisher or NetGalley if necessary to get hold of this ASAP. For the record, I didn’t need to, that’s how NetGalley works – the ARCs, not the bribery.

For years I worked in a building just to the left of the photo and looked at this picture every day, never getting tired of it. The picture shows the Titanic and one of its sister ships the Olympic docked in Belfast. The other sister ship was the Britannic which was refitted as a hospital ship during WWI and also suffered a doomed voyage when it hit a mine in the Mediterranean Sea and sank, leading to the stories that they were cursed.

Annie Hebbley is the anchor character in two timelines, firstly during her voyage as a maid on the RMS Titanic and secondly as a nurse on the Titanic’s sister ship HMHS Britannic, and a survivor of both. While Annie is a fictional character in this novel, she is drawn in similar roles as her friend throughout, Violet Jessop. Violet Jessop was a real person who survived the sinking of both ships and was also on board the Olympic when it encountered a major sinkable incident.

The biographical story of Violet Jessop is an extremely interesting and fascinating one, and it was a very clever call from Alma Katsu to give her a place in this novel.

Alma Katsu is a wonderfully descriptive writer and weaves the fictional narrative of a story with the factual incidents and people of the time. The opulence of the Titanic and its wealthy passengers is really well portrayed along with their fascination with the Occult. The unique perspective Alma brings to this story is the threat of paranormal and demonic forces that are haunting the ships and threatening evil actions. Onboard the Britannic doors get locked and items go missing all without a valid explanation. The rumours start, that the ship is haunted, but then again there is the confusion of war and the ship is filled with very sick often mentally damaged patients. What is unsettling for Annie is that she recognises an unconscious soldier as Mark Fletcher from the Titanic voyage but she believed he died when the ship sank. Mark was a first-class passenger with his wife and child but Annie had an infatuation with him and now he is alone and will finally belong to her.

Well, did I expect too much from this book? – Yes, I did. It didn’t come alive as much as I hoped or spark the pervasive menacing atmosphere that suggestions of curses and hauntings would invoke. The anticipated drama of paranormal activity didn’t really materialise and bring terror and fear, even with the Irish fascination of spirits and demons.

I enjoyed reading the book but just felt it lacked a strong storytelling plot, so I’ve rated it 3.5 stars. I would recommend reading this book and it may appeal more to readers who haven’t read, watched or visited as much about the Titanic story as I have. I would like to thank Bantam Press, Random House UK and NetGalley for providing me with a copy of the book in return for an honest review.

Told in two time lines, 1912 and 1916, this is an account of the sinking of the Titanic and of an explosion aboard her sister ship HMHS Britannic, from the viewpoint of Annie Hebbley. She was a stewardess on the first and a hospital nurse on the latter. There have long been rumours of a curse surrounding the Titanic, and this novel attempts to link these happenings , using ghosts and supernatural spirits that are seeking revenge.
I found this a really difficult read, quite confusing at times, especially when events came together, that related to deaths on one ship,and the possibility of reincarnation on the other!. The descriptions of the splendour of the Titanic, the costumes of the guests, the daily routine on board were good, the fact that séances were common at this time, is well known, and adds a slight supernatural dimension, but I felt that it was all a bit too whimsical for my taste. I didn't have any affection for any of the characters involved in this story, there was no depth to them, everything felt rather contrived and tailored to fit to the events, it could have been so much more! Too many sub plots spoilt the book for me, I'm afraid.

Having read and enjoyed The Hunger by Alma Katsu I was looking forward to The Deep, an old fashioned ghost story occuring aboard the doomed luxury liner Titanic. Katsu chooses well documented historical events and attempts to inject a supernatural element around approaching disaster. I found The Deep to be a very uninspiring read, a story that moved backwards and forwards in time, and the ghostly apparitions when they occur, towards the end, did little to add any excitement or enjoyment to a very mediocre read.

Alma Katsu explores the ill fated voyages of the Titanic and its sister ship, Britannic, in this period thriller that wraps a supernatural premise around historical events.
As with The Hunger, the superbly researched real events prove a fascinating sandbox to interweave in a fictional story of lost love, haunted pasts and doomed futures.
The Deep is a gentler mystery than The Hunger, and plays out more like a period drama with hints of supernatural told through the eyes of maid Annie Hebbley.
It's a solid story and one that will appeal to those that love the lore of the Titanic.

The events of the Titanic’s maiden voyage and her subsequent sinking have always fascinated me. So when I came across this paranormal retelling of the world’s greatest maritime disaster, I thought “sign me up!”

The story begins in 1916, the world is at war, and the Britannic, sister ship to the ill-fated Titanic, has been refitted as a hospital vessel. Annie, a survivor of the Titanic, has just been hired as a nurse. As the story unfolds we are taken back to 1912 and experience the strange happenings that occurred in the days leading up to the ‘unsinkable’ ship’s demise.

The story started well, I was instantly engaged and eager to learn about the terrors plaguing the luxury liner, but as I neared the middle of the book I found my interest waning. I had expected a horror story, an eerie foreboding, a blend of history with a ‘what if’ theory...but what I experienced was far from my expectations. As I progressed through the middle of the book, I felt like it lost its way, there were many subplots to keep a track of, and many of those pushed away from what I was there for - The Titanic and her troubles. I know that anyone with an interest in history and a search engine can discover the respective fates of those two ships, but I wanted to see how the events played out in this version.

It did pick up in the end but by then it was too late. I had disengaged from the writing style, found the constant over-descriptions of people’s (*cough* First Class) outfits and accessories to be tedious, and the characters - though I loved the use of real/known people - weren’t fleshed out enough in my opinion, there were too many subplots, too many people to follow and their respective ‘voices’ and it resulted in the collective being spread too thin.

I so wanted to like this book more, it had all the building blocks of a great story, alas, it was not for me.

Sincerest thanks to Alma Katsu, Random House UK, Transworld Publishers, and NetGalley for an arc of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Morbidly fascinating, ghostly, and spooky!

In the days leading up to that fateful day in April of 1912, the guests of the infamous luxury ocean liner, the Titanic, are being plagued by strange occurrences – cold spots, disappearing belongings, whispered voices emanating from the sea, overwhelming feelings of paranoia and suspicion, and sudden unexplained deaths. Is it a warning, an omem of death, or something even more monstrous?

Four years later, during WW1, a survivor of the sinking, works as a nurse on the Britannic (a fleet mate of the Titanic, with an eerily identical layout) which is being used as a hospital. There she encounters a patient who shouldn't be there. And unbeknownst to everyone on board, this voyage too will end in disaster.

Trapped at sea, isolated, alone, with no way off, haunted by an unseen presence – I could not have been more excited to read this. Not only that, the ship in question was the Titanic, which sold me on the idea even more. The writing had a surreal, hypnotic quality which suited the mystical storyline. Events alternated between the Britannic (1916) and the Titanic (1912), and Alma Katsu seamlessly wove historical fact and fiction. Post finishing, I went into research mode, as my knowledge of the Titanic was limited to the actual sinking rather than the names and backgrounds of the passengers, and I knew next to nothing about Britannic (bombed and sank by the Germans during the first world war). It surprised me how much of The Deep was based on real events, rather than the author's imagination. I'm glad I went in blind, and didn't do my research beforehand. Having said that, if you are a Titanic expert, I think there is still enough within the pages to satisfy, as the emphasis of the novel is on the paranormal.

There were instances where the plot felt somewhat disjointed, possibly due to the dreamlike prose, but it's only a small gripe. I had my suspicions regarding the supernatural happenings that proved to be correct, but that didn't distract from my overall enjoyment, and there was still a stockpile of unexpected revelations. The large cast of characters, and multiple POV's was a lot to take in, so read carefully. Those familiar with the history will likely find this easier, since some of the names will be known to them, but I didn't know who anyone was, and was able to keep track just fine.

I have a copy of The Hunger on my bookshelf, and if it's as absorbing and seductive as this one, then I'm in for another treat. All aboard!

I'd like to thank Netgalley, Random House UK, Transworld Publishers – Bantam Press, and Alma Katsu for the e-ARC.

Release Date: 5th March, 2020.

This book was not for me. I plodded on and got thoroughy fed up with the flimsy story and lack of any progress on the plot at all. I felt that the whole thing was full of whimsy.
I have read about a third of it and had to give up as life is too short for wasting it on a book that is so very long with so little happening in it.
There was little cohesion about it and really very little narrative.