This review has been posted to Goodreads and Storygraph on September 17th, 2024. Links provided.

In The Chamber, six professional saturation divers are confined within a hyperbaric chamber for what should be a routine job. As they endure the sweltering and cramped conditions, everything shatters when one of them is found dead in his bunk. Needing four days of decompression before the remaining survivors are able to safely exit the chamber, the team is force to stay vigilant and must constantly watch each other’s backs. Yet, when a second diver is discovered unresponsive, tension escalates. As paranoia, exhaustion, and suspicion rise, the group begins to wonder if they’ll survive until the end - or if something, or someone, is eliminating them one by one.

Sadly, this book did not hit the mark for me. Once again, I was really looking forward to this book based off the premise/summary but in reality the story left me disappointed. I felt the pacing was very slow, especially for what is supposed to be a thriller novel, and I found the storyline to be a bit boring. While the idea of being trapped a claustrophobic environment sounded so intriguing, in reality it led to very little actually being able to happen. Even with all of that aside, I would have enjoyed the book more if I received more satisfaction from the ending. But alas, I only found disappointment there as well. I felt the ending was ambiguous and the author did not provide enough closure for me to be pleased with they ways things ended. There was only one instance throughout the entire book where I was surprised by a certain reveal. But one fleeting moment of surprise (especially when it is a “twist” that doesn’t actually affect the plot) is not enough for me to like this book. Hopefully others will have a better experience reading it. This was my first book by Will Dean and, while I didn’t necessarily enjoy The Chamber, I will likely still give the author another chance with a different book.

Thank you to Atria Books and NetGalley for the opportunity to read to an ARC of The Chamber in return for my honest review.

This is a locked room thriller that will give you anxiety so be ready for the ride. I enjoyed this and you can tell the author did much research on the topic so it was heavy on the actual terminology. Thank you to the author and Netgalley for a copy of the EArc all opinions are my own.
3.5/5

THE OCEAN IS SO SCARY! Will Dean does it again! I knew this would freak me out but I didn't expect the murder mystery aspect of it. I will definitely recommend this book to others! Thank you so much for the free book!

I requested this for consideration for Book Riot's All the Books podcast for its release date. After sampling several books out this week, I decided to go with a different book for my review.

If you love a Locked Room Mystery, The Chamber has one of the more unusual settings I have seen. Fascinating look at the world of sat diving, which was a profession I had never heard of and could never ever do. The setting was really claustrophobic and amazingly unique. However, this did limit the locked room element, but I didn't mind. Memorable and chilling!

This book is the definition of a worst case scenario.

I cannot imagine more frightening circumstances than the ones proposed in this book… but the writing almost felt like journalistic non fic? This isn’t a bad thing, but it did lend a degree of detachment to the proceedings by introducing pieces of exposition. Highly recommend this one if you want a truly claustrophobic experience.

Thank you so much @netgalley & @atriabooks for todays #coffeeandcurrentlyreading ! It sounds terrifying and I’m excited about that. & a huge thank to @simon.audio for letting me listen to this in surround sound!

I don't think I've read a book by Will Dean that I didn't like. This book was just phenomenal. I could only read a few chapters at a time, because I was totally terrified! And in my eyes, if a book can do that, its a 5 STAR read. I ended up buying a few copies for my friends and sister in law to read as a book club pick.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing this eARC for unbiased review.

This book was pretty different than most other books I've read. I feel like I learned a ton about saturation diving. I really enjoyed the premise but I guessed the major plot twists.

I enjoyed the main character and found her to be somewhat relatable. I think I would've liked the point of view of someone outside of the chamber to get a different perspective though.

This review will be cross-posted to my social media accounts.

I felt confused and claustrophobic while reading this locked room mystery. I found the diving aspect quite interesting and the whole decompression in the chamber suspenseful. The characters names and nicknames went back and forth which I found confusing. There were some unexpected twists but the end was too vague for my liking. I am still trying to figure out the ending . Many reviewers loved it but it wasn't for me.

Copy provided by the publisher and Netgalley

I certainly am in awe of Sat divers for their expertise and ability to live in such claustrophobic conditions . This book gave me a glimpse into their lives however the book itself was very repetitive and basically a litany of stories that each diver divulged about their past dives and present lives. The ending was quick and unsettling with the deaths of four experienced divers not really solved .

This is a tough one.

I loved the concept of this one - And Then There Were None but set it in a hyperbaric chamber with 6 saturation divers. Sounds awesome and claustrophobic and propulsive.

I am sorry to say I was SO bored! Basically other than the divers dying one by one - this book just really is a lot of information about saturation diving - which was interesting but if I wanted that level of information, I would watch a documentary about it - and then a ton of conversations with people in a tight space together talking about their previous dives throughout their career.

I was invested enough that I wanted to see how it was all going to wrap up and what was actually happening - but then when I got to the end I closed the book and literally said "REALLY?" out loud. I just felt that there were so many unanswered questions and it just left me with a bad taste in my mouth.

I may be an outlier here. I know A LOT of readers who love Will Dean's book. This is my second one that I finished reading and just felt MEH about so I think I will move on from his books and let those that love them give rave reviews. Sorry!!!

Esoteric Atmospheric Tale Not For The Faint Of Heart. Straight up, this is one of those truly esoteric books that, even with the glossary and map up front, isn't going to work for everyone - despite not being fantasy *at all*, and in fact because it is perhaps *too* real.

This is the world of Saturation Diving, where divers work underwater under pressure for weeks on end, often repairing cabling or piping or other undersea infrastructure that makes above ground life possible/ globally connected for the rest of us. And here, Dean is as exacting in his depiction of the actual lives of these people as Andy Weir was in The Martian, with *even more* technical discussion since so much of this particular book is a group of these divers living and working together as they do in the real world - warts and all.

And yes, there are also larger forces at play - but we only see those from *inside* the Chamber, through the eyes of our sole narrator. (Ans some scream: "Yay! No multiple perspectives!" :D)

Overall one of the more interesting tales of 2024 just because of how true it is to its real-world subject material and how rare any open discussion of that particular role in modern society really is - but truly, be forewarned: It is extremely esoteric *due* to how rare that job is in the real world *and* the tale can be truly slow or even incomprehensible for some readers, if you simply can't wrap your mind around what is happening in such a tiny and closed off space. For those that can though, this is truly a fascinating book on a few different levels.

Very much recommended.

Many thanks to the publisher for my gifted copy.

I am a huge Will Dean fan. I love everything he writes. Although, this has been my least favorite from him it was still enjoyable. I'm already excited for his next book!

I read this book in 1 day. I'm terrified of the water and being in cramped spaces, so this whole book made it hard to breathe.

6 saturation divers are locked in a hyperbaric chamber. After the first day, members of the team begin dying. Is it something sinister? Or is it just contamination?

This book was scary and fast paced, something I come to expect from Will Dean books.

Will Dean! This wasn't as good as his first book but I enjoyed it nonetheless. I recommend for spooky season!

The Chamber by Will Dean is an exciting, intense, locked room thriller! In a unique setting, a hyperbaric chamber used by deep sea “saturation divers,” mysterious mini-disasters occur, and the six divers in the chamber experience harrowing moments, psychological strain, and complicated emotions added on to the intensity of their life-or-death work.
When their fellow divers begin to die mysteriously, the intensity accelerates as those who remain must try to figure out how and why things are going so terribly wrong.
Dean’s prose is wonderfully descriptive, especially of the beauty of the deep sea, “space inverted.” Details about living far underwater, daily life in a cramped chamber and the technical details of saturation diving and life as an aquanaut are fascinating.
Be advised there are graphic details and imagery of some of the unpleasant outcomes of injury and death in this situation. The allusions to Shakespeare’s works throughout the book are especially meaningful.
No spoilers here, this is an edge-of-your-seat, stay up and read all night thriller!
The main character, Ellen Brooks, is a smart, tough, but sympathetic character who mentally juggles pragmatism of her high-risk chosen occupation with her emotions about missing her husband and kids back on land. The rest of the characters are nicely fleshed out and believable, making this novel character driven as well as action driven.
This is such unique locked room suspense. Grab this and get ready for an incredibly intense thriller!

Thank you to Atria/Emily Bestler Books and NetGalley for the ARC. This is my honest review.

It started off well--I was intrigued by the locked room mystery concept and learned about saturation diving which I knew nothing about previously. But it really slowed down after the first several chapters and I kept getting bored/distracted.

Sadly, I didn't enjoy this. I was originally so excited to read this but ended up overhyping this in my head. I was very underwhelmed throughout the entire book :( I think the author wanted to fit way too much into this book that it took away from the plot. I'm familiar with the topic especially diving, but it still felt like it was so slow and certain events were just randomly thrown in to make it more exciting. The ending was very anti-climatic and I felt like nothing really ended up happening.

I do see a lot of other readers loving this book, so while it may not have been for me, you might enjoy this book. I do want to give the author another chance, because I've heard great things about his previous thriller, The Last One.

I love this author and again his newest book The Chamber did not disappoint. I did feel that the start of this book was somewhat slow and a little much with the details- I felt slightly confused and hoped the remaining of the book was not as technical. I pushed through and did enjoy the story and really liked the characters. I do think this one is my least favorite book of his so far, but I still thoroughly enjoyed it.

Will Dean, you’ve done it again. You’ve had us holding our breath, literally underwater.

Well researched, fast paced, edge of your seat waiting to see what happened and who did it.

This is my second read by Dean, and it was everything I expected after reading The Last One.

Solid 4.5 stars!

Thank you NetGalley and Atria/Emily Bestler Books for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.