Thank you to netgalley, the publisher and the author for providing me a copy to review with my honest thoughts. I was so excited for this, I was absolutely enthralled by the author's previous work "A Lush and Seething Hell' and had high hopes for this. While I was not disappointed, I did not enjoy this nearly as much.
Sam "Vines" Vineyard is a sassy, foul-mouthed alcoholic sailor that has accepted a job as boat engineer on a "haunted", massive wooden ship. We follow her while she sobers up but meets even bigger problems aboard this boat. My main problem with this (which was probably a very personal issue) was every time I'd start getting sucked into the story, the author would start throwing around a bunch of nautical terminology (which again, definitely a me issue as I don't have a sea-faring bone in my body). I either was just passing over these terms or taking the time to google what the words meant which took away from the story telling experience for me.
There was a lot of good though, I especially enjoyed the peeks into Abigail Roystons diary entries. The ghosts/cosmic horror elements hit very nicely in the most unsettling, look over your shoulder, "damn, im stuck in the middle of an ocean on a haunted boat, this is awful" kind of way. I don't want to give too much away, but I enjoyed the prominent aspects of the story unfortunately the terms kept me tripping over "speed bumps".
Overall, I'd recommend this book if horror is your thing.

A really excellent, enjoyable horror novel. The haunted boat is akin to a haunted house (which is one of my favorite tropes), but with extra claustrophobia and mortal dread thrown in - you can't just leave the boat when it's in the middle of the ocean! The build up of dread, the slow unraveling of the mysteries, and the descent into full-blown cosmic horror was so fun. I wish the book had been a bit longer and spent just a tiny bit more time on some of the backstory but this was overall a great read.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC !

A totally different kind of horror. I enjoyed a haunted boat, out on the water. A different kind of scary. Writing style is different.

The Night That Finds Us All is a fantastic, well-written voyage into cosmic horror. Samantha “Sam” Vines is a self-described profane, alcoholic asshole. Struggling to make ends meet as a captain after COVID and expensive ship repairs ground her, she accepts an offer from an old friend to join him on a lucrative job. They’re supposed to deliver the Blackwatch, a massive and old sailboat, from Seattle to England for some wealthy clients. Immediately, there are snags in their plan: Sam has bad blood with the captain and some of the other crew members, her drinking problem is out of control, and the ship seems like it might be haunted. What ensues is a deliciously unwinding and horrific journey that you know won’t end well. The isolation of the ocean setting means that the Blackwatch effectively serves as a haunted house that the characters literally can’t escape, and half the fun is knowing what’s coming and wondering how they will deal with it.

I loved this book, and after reading it I immediately bought John Hornor Jacobs’ back catalogue—it was that good. Sam is a delightful narrator—she’s not a nice person and she makes bad decisions, but I still found myself rooting for her. I know very little about sailing, but Jacobs clearly does, and the terminology felt authentic and not overwhelming. What could have been a straightforward or even cheesy ghost story also veers into cosmic horror, complete with occult rituals and an interesting historical backstory. In some ways, it reminded me of Laird Barron’s work, especially The Fisherman (and to be clear, that is a compliment). I did have some questions about one of the novel’s final reveals, but it didn’t detract from my enjoyment of the book. I know I will be re-reading this one again soon. If you’re into messy heroines, cosmic or nautical horror, and excellent prose, add this to your list.

Thanks to the publisher and to NetGalley for an early copy of this book.

This one was not my cup of tea. The writing felt all over the place and it also felt like there was a whole lot of nothing going on. The main character Sam was snarky so that was funny at times. The idea of the old boat having a supernatural and creepy past was an excellent idea it just wasn't delivered well. I was not creeped out at all unfortunately.

To be honest I did not get passed the first page. The writing style was not for me and I couldn’t relate

John Hornor Jacobs is a very interesting horror writer. I'm so glad to finally get another story from him.
I like books that take place on boats and in the sea. This one was very creepy and the characters were well written.

Deeply snarky. A voice that remembers the TV show Wonderfalls or the recaps on Television Without Pity. Haven’t heard such snark since the last Bush administration, really.

A note also that you can definitely not get a doctor in the U.S. to send a prescription for a controlled medication to a different state or a different country and have the prescription filled!

And lastly, the overarching haunting made no sense in the end.

Still, it was short & entertaining. Thank you for the ARC.