Deep Water by Emma Bamford

​     If your dream of a perfect life is a small tropical island in the middle of nowhere with no accoutrements of civilization, just perfect weather, ocean, sun, leisure time…well, prepare to have that dream be put through the visceral and vigorous paces of brutal reality. Because, of course, the no civilization thing sounds nice on paper…until you need something. And the characters of this book find themselves very much in need, indeed. And short on friends.
     But wait, let’s rewind…in the middle of an Indian ocean a woman is found aboard a luxury yacht. A woman is covered in blood, but coherent enough to have correctly send out the signal flare. There’s an unconscious man on board too, her spouse. The woman is rambling, something about guilt, something about having killed…
      Let’s rewind some more – books are great for that. Meet Virginie (Vee) and Jake. The happily married couple who decide to test the mettle of their new vows but setting off to live on a boat in an exotic locale – Jake’s dream realized. Vee is all too ready to leave her world behind anyway, a world all too busy with memories of a domineering father and domineering first marriage he orchestrated for her. Jake’s nothing like those men, Jake’s kind and considerate and much more of an equal. Right? Well, we shall see. After all, it’s easy to be nice in clement circumstances.
        Vee and Jake hear about a distant island, Edenic uninhabited island, days away from civilization, a place where you can live on your own schedule and by your own rules, become enamored with the idea and go there. And sure enough, the island is lovely once they get there. There are a few other people, but friendly enough, easy to live with, so long as you follow some basic communal rules. Because apparently even in the middle of nowhere people need rules, despite the fact that the entire goal of going there was to get away from rules and judgements of others.
       Anyway, whether friendly or vaguely sinister, they all manage to get along…until their boat craps out and then a tragedy strikes and then it’s every man/woman for themselves.  Enter the real trial of Jake and Vee’s marriage. If they can survive this, they can survive it all.
       There have been a number of thrillers set at high seas from Ruth (Christie wannabe) Ware’s Woman in Cabin 10 to Catherine Steadman’s Something in the Water, just to mention a recent couple. Understandably so – it’s a genuinely exciting setting for a genre that has thrill in its name. And this book is a near perfect rendition of a high sea thriller.
        It helps that the author really, really knows what she’s talking about, having experience not only as a writer, but as a sailor. This isn’t a story just a story about boats and seas – it places you there as much as a book can. It teleports you to sun-beaten decks and wave-beaten shores. You can practically hear the whooshing of the ocean in your ears.
         And then there’s the suspense element of it, the smartly and expertly crafted suspense that builds and builds toward the inevitable tragedy. You know this vacation doesn’t end well from the get-go, but it’s still a wild and crazy ride getting there.
        So, great writing, dynamic pacing, engaging characters, twists, turns, surprises…it’s all you can ask for in a thriller. So much fun to read, I enjoyed this one tremendously. I read tons, and tons of it are thrillers, and this one stood out easily and assuredly. Recommended. Thanks Netgalley.