Dead in the Water by John Marrs: REVIEW

Goodreads Blurb

When Damon survives a near-drowning, his life flashes before his eyes. Every memory is crystal clear—except one. A dead boy. A face he can’t place. A moment he doesn’t remember living. At first he tells himself it’s a trick of the mind. But everything else he saw was real. So why not this?

With his waking life stalked by the disturbing scene, confusion quickly turns to obsession. Desperate for answers, Damon digs into his fractured past, and becomes convinced that the only way to remember…is to die again. And again. And again. When he meets a perfect stranger who’s all too willing to help, the stage is set for his dice with death.

But if this is what it takes to uncover the truth, maybe some memories are better left buried…

My Review

Okay. This book right here is living, breathing proof that a book doesn’t have to be perfect to be wildly entertaining.

“A book can’t live or breathe, though,” you might be thinking. Very true. A person with their hands tied behind their back can’t grasp at their neck either, but that happens twice in Dead in the Water AND I LOVED IT ANYWAY.

Sorry, if this review is a little punchy it’s because I had to stay up late last night to finish the book. I literally couldn’t put it down. 🤣

Oh the places this book goes

When I tell you this book goes to some PLACES… hooooo boy. I consume a lot of horror, thrillers, true crime, etc, so I’m pretty hardened to a lot. But I gasped out loud a couple times reading this one. Not so much out of surprise, but out of “Oh, we’re going there?! Oh, WE are GOING there!” From what I understand, that’s a common thing with John Marrs’ books, so I need to read me some more of them.

This is one of those thrillers that does the relentless-stream-of-twists thing really well. Usually I find it annoying, and the twists stop making sense after a while. In this case, every twist adds another layer to what you thought was an already satisfying puzzle, until you realize that what you thought was going to be a flat jigsaw puzzle is actually 3D and wouldn’t have completely made sense any other way. If that makes sense?

Also, it’s just plain FUN. I wish I could talk about specific moments, but I don’t want to prevent anyone from fully experiencing any of this book’s surprises. If you love a twisty thriller, go read it! Just don’t forget to bring night vision goggles, because some of these twists are DARK.

(Okay, I fully felt the cringe of that last one, and I apologize. 🤣 I need sleep…)

Obligatory Dead in the Water Bookshop.org affiliate link, from which I hope to raise a few bucks to help pay my blog bills.