This weekend, I’m off to Sydney. I can’t wait. I’m looking forward to meeting a heap of my colleagues from over the ditch, including the lovely folk at Cohesion, and thriller writer Greig Beck. Okay, so I might be jumping up and down here like a little fangirl. I’m a long-time fan of Beck’s work ‒ reading every one of his books in the first days after its release ‒ so I’m excited to finally meet the man behind some of my favourite stories, and only days after the release of his latest heart-pounding blood-draining yarn, Fathomless.
Greig Beck does it again with another off the charts monster thriller. You remember how we all screamed when Ripley (Sigourney Weaver) goes back for the cat in Alien? That is the exactly premise of Fathomless. Don’t go looking. Don’t stick drop your probe in the water, if there’s a chance you might find something you’re going to wish you hadn’t. Naturally, Beck takes us there…
Cate Granger is an evolutionary biologist searching for a primordial life in an ancient underground lake, in the same area that her grandfather, Jim, disappeared many years previously. Budget cuts have all but closed down her research department, but support from a billionaire sponsor has offered Cate and her team an opportunity many scientists would die for… and some do, when it seems the devil itself has been released from the depths of the earth…
In my former life, I was a biologist, so I love a story that establishes a couple of biologists as its heroes, but in typical Beck style, there are a heap of diverse characters in this story, both beloved and despised, all pitting themselves against a primordial monster dragged up from the stygian darkness, and none of them armed with anything more than a few torches and a harpoon. Nothing like those odds to loosen the bowels and get your heart racing. Thriller aficionados will love the Bond-esque elements: submarine battles, helicopter antics, and the high stakes romance, although unlike that famous franchise, Beck manages to avoid sinking into the corny. Look for the Peter Pan twist at the end of the story. It’s one of those ‘Nooo!’ moments, where you want to claw someone’s eyes out. Trust me: you will want to claw someone’s eyes out.
And if all that isn’t chilling enough, Beck ends his tale with a summary of the facts he called upon when writing the story, facts which point out that, while the Megalodon might have faded from sight, recent anecdotes and climate trends favour its rise. It’s a stark reminder that nature is hugely resilient and the drive to survive is the strongest impulse of any species. The kind of information to make you stick to the swimming pool this summer.
There’s a moment in Fathomless where, in the face of death, a character suffers a phenomenon called prey-shock, a paralysis caused by terror, the victim unable to react even to save themselves. The same thing happens to readers of this book because there is no looking away, all you can do is turn the pages and read on…
Fathomless Blurb:
Carcharodon Megalodon – the largest and most fearsome predator to have ever existed on our planet. Rumors of its existence in our modern oceans have persisted for centuries. Now, in a new adventure, the rumors explode into brutal and terrifying reality in FATHOMLESS, by GREIG BECK.
Baranof Island, Gulf of Alaska, 1952
Jim Granger is searching for a place of legend. Known as ‘Bad Water’ by the island’s elders, it’s reputed to be home to many dangerous creatures. Through a seam in a cliff face, Jim finds what he seeks. He also finds, too late, that the water demon he was warned about is horrifyingly real.
Today, Cate Granger is following in her grandfather’s footsteps. Along with a team of scientists and crew, she accidentally releases a creature from Earth’s primordial past into today’s oceans. The giant Megalodon shark follows its instinct and a genetic memory of a home that once existed millions of years ago along the Californian coast. Nothing is safe on or below the water as the monster stakes its claim on the world’s oceans.
Now Cate and her team must do battle with a creature that has no rival, knows no fear, and regards humans as nothing more than prey.
… combines the terror of Benchley’s JAWS with the primordial horror of Alten’s MEG in an adventure that is the best of both.”
—Matthew Summers, Smash Dragons Book Reviews.
… a fast-paced underwater adventure featuring intrepid explorers, cutting-edge technology, and antediluvian creatures of every description—well conceived and solidly executed.”
—Michael R Collings Book Blog.
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