10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
"And then the night exploded behind us and took the "Marianne" and at least a hundred of the water demons with it.", January 16, 2010
This is the first thing that I've read by Moore since his execrable young adult novel "Newbies" was published some years ago, so I was leery about reading it, but it was recommended to me by an employee of Borders (Hi Walter!), and since I am a fan of monster novels, I decided to give Moore another chance. So, I bought and read this Lovecraftian horror sea novel, and I'm glad that I did, as reading it was a most enjoyable experience.
Captain Joe Bierden owns and runs a couple of pleasure crafts in Bowden's Point, and the boating and tourist season is running down when he gets a lucrative offer from an academic (Martin Ward), his chief student (Diana), and a pair of parapsychologists/writers (Jonah and Mary Parsons) to go out on an expedition to explore some caves. It's only after he's made the deal that he finds out that his client's expedition is to Golden Cove, a seaside village that has a golden veneer to it, but also has an ill reputation among the other local villages. You know things are going to go very badly sometime in the novel when you find out that there is going to be an expedition to dive in the coves of a local village that is built on the burnt out ruins of what used to be Innsmouth after it was destroyed (in "The Shadow Over Innsmouth" by H. P. Lovecraft).
To handle the students and adults that will be on the diving trip, Bierden (re)hires Charlie Moncrief, Tom Summers, and Tom's friend, Davey Walker, friends, regular employees, and hardened seamen. Problems seem to start soon after the initial dives commence. Thick mysterious fogs start moving in during the night, a ghost ship is sighted, a ghost girl is "rescued" from the sea, only to disappear, the size of the underground caves seems to fluxuate, divers are attacked by "something", and it turns out that this is the SECOND expedition, there being only two survivors of the original, information that had been kept from Bierden. Things go from bad to worse, as during a storm Bierden's ship is swept out to sea, and one of his crew mysteriously disappears during the fury. Pay attention, Moore tells you of the lost crewman's fate by how the gulls act. Then things start to get really bad. And yes, there will be Deep Ones.
Moore does a great job in creating Bierden, a no-nonsense, down-to-earth type, and a man who doesn't believe in the supernatural, but doesn't disbelieve what he sees with his own eyes either. And he will see a lot.
Publishers surprise us sometimes, and Berkley certainly did with this non-Stephen King oriented, old-fashioned weird-adventure sea pulp tale. "Deeper" is a Lovecratian fan-fiction horror story as channeled through August Dereleth, and with its generic title, something like this would normally would have appeared from Leisure Books. While not really rare, good sea horror is still a rather uncommon thing to come across. The best ones seemed to start with Edgar Allan Poe's "The Narrative Of Arthur Gordon Pym Of Nantucket" continued with "The Boats Of The `Glen Carrig'" and "The Ghost Pirates" by William Hope Hodgson. There was a drought until Dennis Wheatley's "Uncharted Seas" and then a stretch until Tim Curran's "Dead Sea" or Matthew Sprange's "Death Hulk" amongst a couple of others. On the other hand there have been many more weird horror sea movies made than weird sea tales written. While "Deeper" may not be a classic, that will take time to determine, this is certainly up there with the rest of them in entertainment value, and the reader won't need a dictionary well versed in sea jargon to read it. And just like an old pulp serial, just when you think that the story should be ending, Moore pulls another rabbit out of his hat and ups the ante.
Moore redeems his past novel "Newbies" with this corker of a sea horror tale, as mixes in ghosts, horror, suspense, monsters, Lovecraft, and adventure. At times this novel is slow and moody, and at times, it is a fast-paced two-fisted action tale, and it is all of these things at the right time as needed. The trouble with some readers is that the Lovecraftian elements will not be fully enough explained for some of them, but Moore had to make a choice, give a lot of redundant details that would have bored anybody who has read Lovecraft or gloss over them and maybe confuse the novel's general readers. It's a thin line to tread, and Moore does well here, and if you don't treat Lovecraft as a creator of a biblical text, you will probably like this novel. As it is, "Deeper" hits all of the right buttons for me, and it starts off well, and the story builds to a fitting bang.
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18 of 22 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
excellent horror thriller, May 7, 2009
As the New England seafaring season is almost over, the professor Dr. Martin Ward come to Bowden's Point to hire Captain Joe Bierden to take him and his three associates to Devil's Reef near the town of Golden Cove so they can explore an underwater cave. Although he, his wife Belle and his best friend and first mate Charlie Moncrief want to refuse the offer, the money is too good to say no.
On his biggest yacht Isabella's Dream, Joe, Charlie and a couple of local teens take the customers for their month long exploration. The crew is shocked by the hostility of the townsfolk. As the professor, his athletic assistant Diana and a TV famous parapsychologist along with Jacob and Mary Parsons explore Devil's Reef seeking evidence of a city Innsmouth rumored to be destroyed by the Feds, ghost ships and Deep Ones oceanic humanoids attack the crew and clients.
This is an excellent horror thriller due to a fully developed cast (human and paranormal) who seem genuine so that when the impossible occurs, James A. Moore makes it feels possible. Filled with action and suspense, DEEPER hooks readers into a one sitting tale as fans will wonder who will be left swimming in the ever increasingly darker and sinister aptly titled Golden Cove.
Harriet Klausner
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