Off The Deep End by Lucinda Berry is a suspenseful look into the terrifying aftermath when a traumatic event happens, especially when it causes the death of a teenager. I hated the characters, but that's kind of the point, especially when we can all have a little bit of the villain within us after experiencing trauma. There are so many twists that happen throughout this story and many were shocking.

I actually finished this book last week and continue to think about this book. I highly recommend this book especially if you enjoy challenging thrillers that make you think.

Thank you NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for allowing me to read this book ahead of publication in exchange for my honest review.

Off The Deep End was a very dark and quite disturbing read. Unfortunately it just wasn't for me as I prefer my thrillers to be a bit lighter.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my ARC.

Wow! Every time I thought I had Off the Deep End figured out, a plot twist quietly came along to put that idea to bed. I love reading books by this author, and as a fellow therapist, love how she perfectly intermarries psychology with fiction to produce stunning results.

Title: Off The Deep End
Author: Lucinda Berry
Publication Date: January 10th, 2023
Genre: Mystery, Psychological Thriller

My Review:

Off The Deep End is a story about two families where a tragic accident destroys their lives forever. A life is lost due to a split second decision and grief takes over. These two families are never the same again but does it stop only with that? Read this book to find out more.

This book should come with major content warnings. The subjects that this book deals with are hard and not easy to read. I probably wouldn't have chosen this time of the year to read it. Having said that, the author's therapist background definitely shows in the story. I loved reading the point of view where guilt, grief and dealing with trauma are discussed.

It is a very slow read and some of the material is disturbing. I definitely need to read a lighter book after this.

CW: Trauma, active suicidal thoughts, grief, psychosis, gun shooting and inappropriate relationship.

I read my first Lucinda Berry book, The Perfect Child, two years ago and really loved it. Since then I have read a few more of her books and found them all to just be okay. Unfortunately, I feel the same way about her newest one. The story was just okay and I didn't really like any of the characters.

I’m pretty sure that Off the Deep End is my first Lucinda Berry read, however, it won’t be my last. I thoroughly enjoyed it. Fast-paced and a real page-turner, it became pretty dark as the story progressed, but this made it even more thrilling for me.

It all began with two mothers, Amber and Jules, and two sons, Gabe and Isaac, but what happened, and how did it end? Told from the point of view of both mothers in alternating chapters, we discover very different versions of a similar story and many times I wanted to tell both of them to get a grip and start behaving like adults. I mean, do innocent people really need to hide stuff from the police?

There are lots of plot twists and turns, some I was expecting and some, not so much so but each added to the overall enjoyment of the book.

If you like a psychological thriller with hundreds of plot changes, then check out Off the Deep End by Lucinda Berry.

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for the opportunity to listen to and review an ARC of Off the Deep End by Lucinda Berry.

I wanted to love this. Lucinda Berry is an auto-read author for me. I've loved several of her past novels. This one didn't do it for me. Struggling between 2-3 stars. 2 feels too brutal but 3 feels maybe a little too generous?

Positives: the cover is awesome, it was Read Now on NG, it is short-ish (unless it drags for some like it did for me)

This author can write about some dark stuff and messed up people. The psychopathy from her brain to page usually hits me right between the eyes. I'm normally surprised by what her characters are capable of and interested in their outcomes. I didn't really give a flying f*** about what happened to the kid or the moms. I HATE SAYING THIS because I love other LB novels. The twist(s) did surprise me and the big, big reveal felt like maaaaybe we could have gotten there if we REALLY paid attention to what was happening in Isaac's life? Aside from the big, big reveal I did find some of the other twists surprising, but understandable.

I'm really bummed this didn't work for me but I'll continue happily devouring anything from Lucinda Berry in the future.

Thank you to Thomas & Mercer via Netgalley for the early copy to read and review.

Off the Deep End by Lucinda Berry is a recommended psychological thriller involving two families and a tragic accident

Amber Greer asks her neighbor Jules Hart if she could please give Amber's son Isaac a ride home when she is picking up her son, Gabe. A car accident results in the death of Gabe while his mother, Jules, and Isaac both survive. The aftermath of the accident leaves Jules in an unstable and sometimes violent mental state resulting in her institutionalization for a time. Jules also feels a weird connection to Isaac, which causes Amber to take out a restraining order against her. Then, ten months after the accident, Isaac goes missing and it is feared that a serial killer who was targeting teenage boys has taken him.

The narrative alternates between the point-of-view of Amber and Jules. Neither woman is very likable, but both are broken and dealing with unspeakable tragedy and horror. Jules is legally mentally unstable. Amber blames Jules and is desperately trying to find her son as she refuses to believe a serial killer has him, no matter what evidence is there. The police are involved.

The start of the novel will absolutely grab your attention and keep you reading. Then the plot begins to go downhill as the drama dries up or seems to be repeating itself. Jules is talking to police forensic psychiatrist over chapters and it is tedious. There is foreshadowing that she knows something, but after a few chapters of this, you don't care. Amber is blaming Jules and continually telling the police to investigate her while all current clues seem to point to Isaac being taken by a serial killer.

Then, toward the end we abruptly come to some actual progress, new revelations, and several shocking twists. (Some of which have been done so much better by another author, but no spoilers here.) All progress in the case and new information is saved for the end where numerous facts, ideas, and actions are all thrown at you all at once. You have to suspend disbelief that all of this is happening/discovered at one time. It would have been a much better novel with some clues leading to the ending or perhaps have Isaac narrate a few chapters earlier. The denouement is simply too over-the-top.

Disclosure: My review copy was courtesy of Thomas & Mercer via NetGalley.
The review will be published on Barnes & Noble, Google Books, Edelweiss, and Amazon.

Jules lost her son Gabe in a terrible car accident, and her neighbor Amber's son Isaac survived the crash. The form a strange bond in the months following the accident until Isaac disappears, seemingly by the notorious "Dog Snatcher" serial killer who likes to take young teen boys while they're out walking their dogs. Amber is convinced that Jules, who has been committed to a halfway house under 24 hour supervision, has something to do with her son's disappearance, not the Dog Snatcher.

This was a decent thriller, though it did veer off in a direction I didn't expect right at the end. I don't know that it...needed to go there, but it did. I also kept thinking that this was set in England, but it's not, it's in the Midwest USA. So that was a little jarring, but 100% on me. I still don't know why I kept thinking that--I've seen interviews with Lucinda Berry (shout out Killer Author Clubhouse!) so I know she's American. It's just my brain being weird, I guess.

If you like psychological thrillers, you'll probably like this one. This one is probably one of the more accurate psychological thrillers you'll read, as Berry was a clinical psychologist specializing in childhood trauma. I do with this had focused a little more on Isaac's POV and less on his mom's, but I couldn't put this book down and finished it super fast!

Thanks to NetGalley as well as Thomas & Mercer for the early eARC. The book was very good. I found it fell in place with her other books but the middle explanation section of the book kind of dragged for me. I struggled at times to get through it as I just was wondering where some of this was going but I know it had to be there. It was a hard topic to read about but it was done well

After losing her son in a fluke tragedy, Jules Hart's life comes crumbling down around her as she and the other survivor- her son's classmate- have to deal with the aftermath.

Lucinda Berry is hit or miss for me, but this one is a compulsive read. Right at the start, the other survivor goes missing. Detectives believe it to be the work of a regional serial killer but Amber Greer, the missing kid's mother, believes that Jules is somehow behind it despite her being in a secure mental health facility. Alternating perspectives between Jules & Amber, we get a real look at the impact the initial tragedy had on both families.

Some of the end of this one got a little weird for me, but not enough to ruin it. This was one I struggled to put down and would highly recommend to anyone who likes a good mystery or who enjoys alternating perspectives!

I think I need to remove Lucinda Berry from my auto-request without hesitation list. From now on I plan to wait to read some reviews before I get my finger trigger ready. You live, you learn.

This book irritated my every last nerve.

We have Jules picking up her son Gabe from basketball practice when at the last minute she receives a call from her neighbor, Amber, asking if she could also pick up her son Isaac as well because she's held up in the city with her daughter. No problem-o! That is until the car they're riding in careens into a lake after avoiding a deer in the road. Jules grabs the hand of her boy and brings him to safety when she realizes it's Isaac not Gabe. Gabe dies and Jules and Isaac are left picking up the pieces of their now shattered lives.

Sounds heartbreaking, doesn't it?

Well let me tell you it isn't. I have never wanted to throttle two grown women more than Jules and Amber.

The ever giggling Jules is now in a psychiatric ward being interviewed by a forensic psychologist who is trying to figure out the *special* relationship she now has with Isaac, one in which his family took a restraining order out on her to keep her away. *giggles* Isaac is now missing and everyone seems to believe Jules might know more than she's letting on. *giggles*

Jules went from a seemingly completely normal woman to full on fruit loops and it made no sense whatsoever. Listen, I understand she lost a child, one in which she blames herself completely for, and obviously that would cause severe PTSD, but this was next level cuckoo. I won't go into details because of spoilers but she was 100% inappropriate in every single way in regards to Isaac. And let's not forget she was also caught diddling herself on a park bench?!?! WTF??? 🤢 You can't blame losing a child on that kind of bizarre (disgusting!) behavior.

Amber isn't much better. Her dialogue was like fingernails on a chalkboard for me. Every chapter she's screaming at everyone to investigate Jules even though Jules is locked up in a psychiatric ward. One she even breaks into in order to confront her. Cue eye roll! 🙄

Meanwhile there's a serial killer on the loose killing teenage boys. The MO fit's perfect into Isaacs disappearance. Out walking dog, cell phone found on the side of the road, and a perfectly wrapped box of the last clothes he was wearing discovered in a local park - like all the other victims but Amber can't and won't believe it. It's Jules, Jules, Jules and she is not willing to consider anything else and will stop at nothing to prove her point.

We wrap this turd up with a resolution that comes completely out of left field. Like what? How did we even get here? The nail in the coffin was at the very end when I may have even threw up in my mouth a little bit. A turkey baster? 🤮 No, just no. 2 *I'm feeling generous because it's Christmas* stars!

Thank you to NetGalley and Thomas & Mercer for my complimentary copy.

An unusual thriller of secrets, lies, and sadness. Isaac has gone missing and Jules is under suspicion. Her life fell apart when an accident left her struggling in an icy lake to rescue her son Gabe and his friend Isaac who was in the car with them. Gabe died, Isaac lived and Jules has been struggling ever since as her mental health and marriage both imploded. She spent time talking with Isaac, however, and he told her secrets- secrets which she can't divulge when when she's accused by his mother. No spoilers from me. Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC. It's a page turner with a few twists that surprised me.

This was a gripping, fast-paced psychological thriller. A teenager is missing and, unfortunately,his disappearance is following the path of the victims of the serial killer, The Dog Walker. Can his parents figure out the truth in time to save him? This story kept me up at night…I just HAD to get answers!

This is such a tough book for me to review. I couldn't make myself like any of the characters. I didn't feel bad for Isaac, even though he was traumatized and bullied, the relationship between Isaac and Jules was from what she says a deep connection but the whole thing was creepy. Isaacs mom Amber was unlikeable and annoying. As this book is told from Jules and Ambers perspective it makes it hard for me to read and not root for someone in this book. The beginning starts with a car crashing into the water and Jules fighting for survival for her son, and I thought wow, this is going to be great. Well, I didn't think it was as good as many of her older novels that I've read.

4.5 stars rounded up!

Holy shit balls. This was a wild wild ride. It was like I was holding my breath the entire time. I BINGED this. This was my first Lucinda Berry and I'm officially adding all her books to my tbr. I can't get over this story and how good her writing is, it is perfectly paced. She did not skirt around any issue and just hit you with everything possible. This is definitely a dark read and has trigger warnings but damn it was so good!

Thank you netgalley and Thomas & Mercer for the e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

Pub date: 10 January 2023

Off the Deep End by Lucinda Berry was an okay read but I didn’t feel it threw quite the punch like some of her previous novels had. I think that’s probably why it took me so much longer to finish it. The part where Jules picks up her son Gabe and their neighbor boy Isaac to drive them home and then had the accident and crashing into the lake seemed very believable. The emotions of realizing that she had saved the wrong boy I thought would probably be felt by any mother. It was what came after that that I found hard to believe. The actions of Isaac seemed understandable. He was never liked much in the first place, he was kind of a loner as he never really fit in. And then after the accident, he felt like it was him that should of died. I can see why he would act out like he did. This was a very tragic and sad story and I’m sure it does relate to a lot of things that really happen in today’s world. It was a good read, I just didn’t feel that it was as good as all the other books I’ve read by this author. I’d like to thank Thomas & Mercer and NetGalley for the arc that I found on the Read Now section to read and review. I’m giving this novel a 4 star rating!

4.5-4.75
Pub Jan 23

I am a fan of this authors psychological thrillers, so was excited to read this one.

Jule’s Hart’s life was shattered when she had a car accident plunging into the lake. In the car was her son and his friend. She was only able to save one child … the wrong one. Her mental health spirals out of control.
Ten months later Issac is abducted while out walking the dog, Jule’s becomes a person of interest on the case.

The prologue totally smacked me in the face to get my attention. I was immediately hooked. The premise of the story is such a great one.
The story is told by Jules and Amber (Isaac’s mom)

There is some repetition as the event is re-examined multiple times, with additional snippets of information added in.
The writing style is quite chatty and makes for easy reading, even though the emotional turmoil is dark.
I liked Detective Hawkins. Both Jules and Amber are distraught grieving mothers, we definitely don’t get to see them at their best, but I really felt for both of their situations.

This book explores some interesting themes, brain injuries and associated behaviours, trauma bonding, survivor guilt. It’s crafted well, making the characters and their actions believable. I like how aspects of the characters were revealed a bit at a time to reveal the full picture.

It’s one I’d highly recommend if you enjoy a delve into the darker side of psychological fiction, something Lucinda Berry excels at.

This is my first book from this author and I enjoyed it. Diving into a thriller book you always have to be prepared for the TW. This book is told in two POV’s, Jules and Amber. I read it within a day. I had to know what was going on, and what was going to happen. I was on the edge of my seat.

I feel like the author did a great job with the backstories of the two mothers and the teenagers. A tragedy happens and one mother loses her son and it was devastating for her… I feel like the author did a great job showing that. There’s a bit of a twist in here that you may or may not see coming!

Off the Deep End

Jules was driving her son Gabe and her neighbor Isaac home one dark and icy night. A deer runs out in front of them and they careen into the lake. Jules manages to save Isaac but not her own son. Amber spirals downward after the loss of her son. Isaac is never the same either.

Now Isaac is missing. Amber refuses to believe that a serial killer has taken their son as many suspect and is convinced that Jules has taken him. Jules is now under psychiatric care and the past is slowly revealed. An intriguing story of what happened between the car accident and when Isaac went missing.

The characters were well written, even though I didn't really like many of them. The portrayal of teenagers with depression was particularly well done. Berry doesn't pull any punches when dealing with sensitive topics.

Thanks to netgalley and Thomas & Mercer for the arc.