100 Fathoms Below

If you're Navy, on a submarine, don't go to a bordello. You never know what you may bring back to the boat. Warren Stubic is not intending to go to shore to get drunk or fight. He wants a woman. He met a girl in the alley who have him an address so he decides to visit her. Once there he is led into a room for pleasure, but gets more than he bargained for.. Imagine being a 100 fathoms below water with sailors being turned into vampires.. This is horror at it's best. In a bad situation and can't get out.. The sailors are brave and do what they need to do. Will the vampires take over the ship and kill everyone? It's a great book. I loved the premise. I received this book from Net Galley for an honest review and no compensation otherwise

Just recently started loving books like this, it sort of drew me in, because of the Meg submarine aspect, but was much different, but still absolutely a story I thought was well written and haunting, Will be doing a more thorough and high recommendation in Chapter Chatter pub, closer to publication.

Cold War plus vampires??? Oh my!!!
In 1983 the US nuclear submarine the USS Roanoke and embarques on a classified mission to discover a new Soviet submarine which is not only more deadly but could also turn the favor of the war to the Soviets. 100 fathoms below the surface, darkness in compasses the USS Roanoke. After crew members start dying, they sent discover that they are not alone down there. There is something else aboard their vessel. They are trapped in enemy waters and being pursued not only by Soviet submarines but buy something evil lurking aboard. When the lights go out darkness prevails and people die. Will they ever make it back to the surface alive?
A great read! This book is very well-thought-out. I love the cover art. It hints to what you are about to read but doesn't really give it away. As soon as you think you're reading the main character story the author kills them off and you quickly move to the next character. The ending was great.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It really had me guessing. And like I said, you don't really know that it is vampires until you start reading and discover it for yourself. I would highly recommend this book to anybody who likes vampires and horror.

Kent and Kaufman have set a milestone in modern horror by writing a retro 80’s novel, using conventions from today’s horror whilst using a staple from the genre. This is a very impressive treat for the reader creating a world that is tangible.

The authors have really done their research whilst at the same time, never bogging the novel down in descriptive text. This is an incredible feat that would fail from a novice writer but in the hands of these two very accomplished authors, it really excels. They also take a run of the mill horror staple which invades the submarine and lift this to a truly original novel.

The characters are very strong and with a large cast, it is quite a challenge to make each and everyone an individual which is successfully done within the pages. The plot is fast moving and interesting and as mentioned above, the attention to detail is above par.

Normally in a novel of this ilk, we get novels that tend to be heavily laden with cardboard cut outs with a paper thin plot but 100 Fathoms Below does away with this and lifts a fundamentally good old fashion novel in a modernistic tone. The energy and thought process put into this novel is second to none and it is also impressive to note that this is two authors who are working together in tandem.

This excellent masterful tale of a navel personnel trapped in submarine nightmare is second to none and should find its status with the horror community. It is also important to note that this novel also very much works as a military thriller and also heavily works in the dark fiction genre.

Masterfully written, exciting to read, 100 Fathoms is a must for all fans of the genre. Working on many levels to give the community a novel to hunger for more. Excellent and original.

So much action took place in this book! WOW!!! When the Roanoke submarine submerges all hell breaks loose. One many who no longer remember what took place the following evening is sick and not sure why. When odd things start happening such as lights being smashed and mirrors being broken the crew starts to wonder what's going on. Crew members are going missing and some are now dead. Or are they? Jerry and Tim, two crew members are trying to save the remaining crew and the Roanoke which is now in Soviet Waters. I forgot to mention... It is the 1980's and the Cold War is still going on. I absolutely loved the writing of these two authors and will be looking for more from both of them. I am giving this story and 4.5-star review rounded to 5.

100 Fathoms Below by Steven L. Kent and Nicholas Kaufman was received direct from the publisher. I had not read a Deep sea novel in many years. Some turn out to be classics and others are enjoyable but quickly forgotten. This one will surprise you with the level of detail about submarines and about their uses and their bases. Character development, which can be a thorn in my side when it rambles on inanely, is not an issue with novel as it moved along nicely, not boring me, which is important. I will not tell you what the protaganist(s) are in this book but there are monsters and not ones that come to mind when you think of submarines under the sea. If you, or someone you buy books for likes the Navy, the sea, or submarines, or maybe another reviewer spilled the beans about the monster, definitely give this book a try.

4 stars

Submariners based in Hawaii board sub for ninety day exercise. At this point I thought book was a techno thriller. The mission of submarine, was to be inside Russian territorial waters. Then crewmen start dying and the story takes a unexpected turn. No one can explain the deaths. The characters are believable and well developed. I enjoyed the explanations of the sub. By the end of story most of the crew is dead and the sub heads back to Hawaii, but is that the end?.....Surprising ending, I enjoyed the book..

My stepfather was a master chief in the Navy and served on a submarine. He often talked about how tight the quarters were, but I never really "got it" until reading this novel. It is a well-written, atmospheric and suspenseful book about a Navy submarine on a secret mission to Soviet waters during the mid-1980s--right at the height of the Cold War. Unfortunately, one of the crewmen becomes infected by a virus of some sort that turns him into a vampire, and the affliction spreads throughout the entire crew.

As I said, this was really well written, descriptive, and difficult to put down. The only reason I didn't give it a higher rating is that it feels to me like vampires are played out. The setting was unique, but I feel like it would have worked better for me if I had read it five or six years ago.

That said, most of the other reviewers that I have read have raved about it--and I feel rightly so. So, if you are a fan of horror stories, the X-Files or The Hunt for Red October, I definitely recommend that you check this one out.

Fear of drowning, closed in spaces, trying to avoid being detected by Soviet submarines while an unknown entity is killing off your colleagues- this book has it all. 100 Fathoms Below by Steven L. Kent and Nicholas Kaufmann takes place on a nuclear submarine during the Cold War. The authors build the suspense perfectly as the crew has to take time out from their covert mission in Russian waters to battle a different sort of enemy that has taken over their submarine. You just never know what will be lurking in the deeps.

This book was a good horror read; there wasn't much that took me out of the story and I really liked that there wasn't really anything that seemed like it was tossed in just for shock value. I enjoyed the technical details fleshing out the submarine, and I even think the characters were pretty good.

I do wish that there was more devoted to dealing with the malevolence, but the story works very well anyway.

I got a little hung up on all the nautical terminology in the beginning of this book, and it almost made me stop reading it a few times, but it was compellingly written enough that I kept reading. I also expected it to be about some sort of deep sea beasty, and instead was more of a vampires on a submarine type story. (Which makes sense, because if vampires hate the sun it makes sense they'd like it deep under the ocean where there is no sun, right?) There were a lot of really great, intriguing things about this book. I found myself caring about several of the characters, especially some of the ones who end up surviving (which makes sense, I suppose?) Several times I thought I knew for sure what was coming next, but then was completely (in a good way) surprised by what actually happened next. This book kept me constantly on my toes and it was really great... when it wasn't being bogged down with nautical terminology and by everyone having multiple names.

For example, Jerry White is referred to as "Jerry" in the chapters that are told in the third person limited POV that "follow" him and his limited POV, while he is referred to as "White," unless the person gets to be friends with him at which point he might be called "White" sometimes and then sometimes "Jerry." Then if someone is an officer they might also sometimes be referred to only by their title, which also sometimes is shorted to an acronym, so some people have, like, four names they're referred by. By the end of the book I was used to it, and now I'm primed and ready to read ALL THE NAVY FICTION, haha. I am really glad I stuck with this through the first few chapters of describing all the nautical terms, parts of the sub, explanations about life with 140 men on a submarine and what that means for them, etc. It was necessary world building to set the stage for the story, but it was a bit of a dry slog to get through for the first three chapters or so before the story really picked up steam. But once it got going, MAN, this book was hard to put down.

This book delivers on exactly what it promises: vampires on a submarine.
Initially it was a hurdle getting into the Navy jargon and submarine explanations, and memorizing the names because there were quite a few of them, but once the vampire goodness descended, it became a fun, if bloody and horrifying, ride to the end.

The Hunt for Red October meets 30 Days of Night. There is something terrifying about being trapped in a canister so far below the surface of the ocean that the pressure alone would crush your body. Kent and Kaufmann selected an ideal environment for their tale.

The magic of 100 Fathoms Below was the authors’ description of the internal workings and life aboard an ‘80s era submarine. Combining the descriptions with my memory of The Hunt for Red October, the entire story came alive in my mind – I even had Scott Glenn playing the role of Captain Weber. With this scene set, the rest fell into place. I found myself embedded within the story.

The story was definitely unique, a combination of horror and political intrigue. Personally, I found the horror aspect to be far stronger than the political intrigue portion, then again, that’s really what I wanted from this story. Kent and Kaufmann kept the story tight around the cast, the crew of the Roanoke, and the events on the vessel. The mission became an unimportant afterthought.

If you are in the mood for a well-developed, suspenseful horror, 100 Fathoms Below would be a great choice. It packs a punch with vividly descriptive scenes and a completely new twist on an old style horror story.

*4 Stars

This book is a great read. The first couple of chapters I thought this book is not for me, BUT then I was hooked. It is a different take on the usual vampire books. If done right it will make a great movie. I highly recommend this book.

I love books that take place under the sea--particularly horror books. If you've read my review on Something's Alive on the Titanic, you probably already know that. (It's a great book by the way, and its author is Robert Serling--brother to Rod Serling.) It's only natural that I selected 100 Fathoms Below when I read its nautical, and eerie, description.

And here's where my spoiler comes in, because I'm about to go on a mini-rant. The synopsis hints at a mysterious, evil monster hunting the crew of the ship, but it does not say what that creature is. Therefore, I feel that revealing this is a book about vampires is, in fact, a spoiler--contrary to popular belief of other reviewers. It's pretty obvious early on, with the first hint coming in at 8%, however if I'd known this was a vampire book before I chose it, I wouldn't have taken the time to read it. The key word there is BEFORE. Because I had it spoiled by a straight up summary of the prologue on Goodreads, coupled with a pretty hearty description about the... well, vampires. So, now that you know that overly used trope is here, let's take a moment to discuss what Kent and Kaufmann do right, shall we?

The vampires in 100 Fathoms Below are good ol' classic boys, in the sense that they're bloodthirsty and want nothing more than to maim and breed more of their kind. They aren't romanticized, either--and that's a great thing. In fact, they're written well enough that, despite having been spoiled by a fellow reviewer, I enjoyed the book enough to finish it. Mostly because I wanted to see how things ended.

Something else Kent and Kaufmann excel at is creating a connection between the readers and characters. I found myself sharing the hopes and dreams of many of the figures we meet. That made some of the deaths a lot more difficult on me. 

The plot is quick, making it an easy read; however, the sense of intrigue isn't really there. The whole discovering a prototype Soviet submarine takes the back burner with an occasional mention and even when it does come back into play toward the end of the book, there's not exactly any excitement or fear of them being caught. I found that to be a bit disappointing.

Overall, it's an entertaining read, but I probably wouldn't take the time to re-read it. I'd like to thank NetGalley and Blackstone Publishing for providing me with a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Scary arsed vampires in a submarine? Yes, please! To be completely honest, I'm extremely nitpicky about my vamps. No romance. They dont need to be drop dead gorgeous. I just want them scary and hungry. This book was so good, and slightly claustrophobic. Yep, I'd recommend this one. Can't wait to read more from this author. My thanks to the publishers and Netgalley for the ARC.

100 FATHOMS BELOW is the depth where sunlight no longer penetrates the sea. That depth and further is where you'll find submarines and that's where the USS Roanoke attempted to locate the new class of Russian sub-supposedly in development. Unfortunately, the Roanoke encountered some problems accomplishing their mission.

Set in 1983, during the height of the cold war, the Roanoke and her crew are going about day to day submarine life. Not everyone gets along in such tight quarters, but they make do for the good of the ship. When Petty Officer Stubic becomes ill, the crew isn't worried, they have a medic to help with such things. But thereafter, as officer after officer sickens, and as lights keep getting smashed out on each deck, the crew begins to get frightened, and rightfully so. Will they survive whatever it is that's on their ship? Will they find the new Russian sub? You'll have to read this to find out!

This is my first book from these authors and I'm happy to say that I enjoyed it immensely. It's a fun story and it's fast paced with lots of action. I enjoyed the fact that several of the character's names in the book are actually the names of authors I recognize, so that added a bit of fun as well.

What I thought was slightly lacking was character development-I could have used a bit more to add to the depth of the cast. However, I understand this book isn't trying to be a literary classic, and what we do have here is some creature feature fun!

100 FATHOMS BELOW is probably just what you expect it to be, if you're looking for underwater, claustrophobic, B-movie-type fun. If that's what you are in the mood for reading right now? Go ahead, take the plunge: Dive! Dive! Dive!

Recommended!

*Thanks to NetGalley and Blackstone for the e-ARC of this book in exchange for my honest feedback. This is it.*

This was a fairly quick read for me, and one I was really excited for. I love underwater or water-related horror, and 100 FATHOMS BELOW delivered in the terrifying aspect!

I didn't know going into this that vampires were the main horror here, and I thought it was really fun to read about. There was just the right amount of tension, gore, and action - and the pacing is phenomenal!

I've not read anything by either of the authors before this, but I was impressed and entertained - I'll be keeping an eye out for more!

The Effect of Horror On Modern Warfare

I've never read a book featuring a Navy submarine before. The idea of being deep underwater for any length of time in a cramped metal tube suggests enough horror, all by itself, to make paranormal threats just the scarier icing on an already terrifying cake.

The authors worked with skill to make the story believably and smoothly told. They included plenty of details to make the rhythms of sailors’ lives aboard a US Navy submarine easy to visualize.

Then they threw an ancient monkey wrench of myth into that finely-tuned modern machine, and the number of victims began growing. As the suspense ratcheted up, the authors were still able to expand the central characters’ backstories without making the plot drag. I really liked some of those guys and dreaded who would die next.

...and who would not.