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A World Book Day special Vampirates short story.

When Connor Tempest and his swashbuckling pirate buddies get a rare break in their duties, they're in the mood for fun, sun and adventure. A chance meeting with the crew of The Lorelei seems to offer all that and more. Soon, Connor and co are learning to freedive into the amazing world far beneath the ocean's surface.

But the pirates are further out of their depth than they realise. Under the water, danger is lurking - and it's going to take everything they've got to get out alive...

69 pages, Paperback

First published November 1, 2006

12 people are currently reading
1310 people want to read

About the author

Justin Somper

54 books514 followers
Justin Somper is a bestselling UK author whose Vampirates books have been translated into over twenty languages. Justin trained in sword-fighting to help him write the fight scenes in the Vampirates series.

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5 stars
297 (34%)
4 stars
240 (27%)
3 stars
249 (28%)
2 stars
68 (7%)
1 star
13 (1%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews
Profile Image for Kareena.
185 reviews
Read
August 3, 2017
I finally found it! I honestly looked for this novella for so long!
I must say I probably would have enjoyed it more had I read it closer to when I finished the series, but it's fine. Just took me a bit to remember some of the characters.


Here's the PDF if anyone else wants to read it:
http://www.literacytrust.org.uk/asset...
2 reviews
Want to read
April 1, 2010
I havnt read it yet but I <3 the vampirate series so I want to read it!!
Profile Image for Elizabeth *Swords for Fighting*.
143 reviews7 followers
August 22, 2010
Dead Deep is a short story that falls between Demons of the Ocean and Tide of Terror (the first and second book of the Vampirates series). I was excited to read this book because, like I said in my review of Blood Captain, I was always curious about Connor, Jez, and Bart's lost weekend. Since none of them could remember what happened, their matching tattoos are their only proof that anything actually happened. I was happy to discover what exactly happened. It is definitely a fun addition to the Vampirates world. I thought the story was cute. It filled with adventure, arm wrestling, sword fights, and mythical creatures. I enjoyed diving back into the world of Vampirates. It was a fun and fast read (at only 69 pages) that will hold me over until the fifth book, Empire of the Night, is released in the U.S. later this month.
Profile Image for Cucuchette.
63 reviews3 followers
September 3, 2023
des pirates, des shurikens, de l'inclusivité pour les personnes en fauteuil roulant, des femmes fortes... franchement j'ai apprécié, c'est pas ma pire lecture de l'année honnêtement
en plus c'est très rigolo, rapide à lire, j'enlève juste une étoile par ce que je m'attendais à plus de vampirates (étant donné que c'est quand même carrément le titre) mais bon tant pis c'était quand même une fun lecture
23 reviews
January 6, 2024
A pleasant surprise! I really enjoyed this book, finding it much more interesting than the first book of the series.

A very short but interesting tale, where we focus on only one of the Tempest twins. I found that doing this gave us a much more focused narrative, and I found myself more engaged than the first book. As this was only 69 pages long, it felt like each page needed to drive the plot forward, and I enjoyed that.

The twists with the fishtails and Sidorio was very exciting, and I loved that Somper wasn’t afraid to add some death and darkness in this book. The fishtails were a complicated group, and it was handled well in my opinion. I’m intrigued to see if they reappear in the future instalments of the series.

I was quite frustrated that the three heroes had forgotten what happened during the book - I always find it frustrating when characters don’t learn from what happened to them. Also, having someone randomly save them all was a strange decision. I know we aren’t supposed to know who it is, but why?

A great short book definitely worth a read if you are a fan of the series. Hoping that the momentum continues into book 2!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for L.
739 reviews
November 24, 2021
The note at the beginning says it can be read without being familiar with any of the other books in the series, which I guess is true, but I’m certain I would have enjoyed it more if I had read them before. In any case, neither that nor the lack of vampires (which I understand, given that this novelette is not part of the main story) is the reason for my low rating.
Most of it was fine. Not great, but fine. I would have probably given it 2 stars, maybe even 2.5. However, the ending really annoyed me. It was a complete deus ex machina, which made for an extremely unsatisfying reading experience in the end. I really hope is better explained in some other book, because his appearance here was not well executed. Anyway, even if it is, that doesn’t change the fact that it was not a good ending for this specific book, so, considering both that and the note at the beginning, I feel entirely justified in my harsh rating.
This novelette has not made me want to read more in this universe.
Profile Image for Danni (_forbookssake).
278 reviews26 followers
April 27, 2023
The Vampirates series is my favourite series of all time, and I love to do a reread every so often. I reread Demons of the Ocean (book 1) a while back, but didn’t get the chance to continue with the series, until now! Dead Deep is a novella that was released for World Book Day in 2007, and it is set between the adventures of Demons of the Ocean and Tide of Terror (book 2).

This is such a fun little addition to the series, but fun is always guaranteed when The Three Buccaneers are around! Connor, Bart, and Jez definitely know how to have a good time, but they always manage to get themselves in to trouble and/or dangerous situations wherever they go, and their trip to Calle del Marinero for their shore leave is no exception to that. I love this pirate world and these characters so much, and there are some very interesting new character additions within Dead Deep, including Moonshine and his guards, and the crew of The Lorelei. We also get a brief glimpse of Sidorio, and where he has been hiding since his banishment from the Vampirates ship.

I can not wait to continue my reread with Tide of Terror, and immerse myself even further in to the world that means so much to me.

I give Dead Deep a 5 star rating!
Profile Image for Cloe.
406 reviews16 followers
October 4, 2022
Rating: 3.5 stars

This was a fun novella from the Vampirates series. However due to only following Connor and his friends and not Grace and the Vampirates, I didn't enjoy it as much as the main series. I did enjoy the introduction of the fishtails in this book as it was an interesting take on the usual mermaids seen in stories.
Profile Image for Courtney Lee.
241 reviews2 followers
August 9, 2024
A magical short story

I love the Vampirate series. This short story could be read between book one and two, but I think it fits better between 2 and 3. This short story features Connor, Bart, and Jez and their shore leave adventure. It's strange how easily Connor accepts the mermaids but can't accept the Vampirates. A great series that even middle schoolers can enjoy.
Profile Image for Erika Sarutobi.
975 reviews31 followers
October 7, 2018
3.5 stars
If I was reading it during the time I was binge reading the whole series I might have given it a higher rating. Nevertheless the story gets better after you go through the first cringy chapters.
Profile Image for Kasia (kasikowykurz).
2,420 reviews62 followers
July 13, 2020
Generalnie nie lubię między tomów, jeszcze wydanych jako osobne książki, często z małą ilością stron, a kosztujące jak pełnowymiarowe historie… Takie podejście miałam też do Martwej Głębi - czy tak doskonała historia potrzebowała uzupełniania?

Okazuje się, że mimo swej naprawdę niewielkiej objętości, bo ma ledwie 75 stron, jest naprawdę treściwa. Tak jak o tym myślę po czasie, to mam wrażenie, że albo ją czytałam, albo nawiązania do niej były w dalszych tomach. Na pewni co nieco by wyjaśniła, gdybym czytała ją po wszystkich tomach, ale czytana w kolejności, jest po prostu kolejną przygodą Connora i dwójki jego najbliższych kamratów.

Aczkolwiek mam wrażenie, że jest to książka trochę z dupy. Przynajmniej początek, bo nie pamiętam, żeby formacja trójki piratów utworzyła się w pierwszym tomie… Może przegapiłam, nie wiem. Kojarzę ją ogólnie, ale nie wiem, czy jest to dobra numeracja i powinna to być książka czytana pomiędzy pierwszym i drugim tomem. W teorii poprawna, w zagranicznym wydaniu też, ale nie wiem, mi to po prostu nie pasuje.

Mimo wszystko ciekawa przygoda, ale szczerze? Lepiej by było, gdyby zostało to dodane do którejś z książek, niż wydawane jako osobna książka. Szkoda papieru. I kasy.
Profile Image for Javi.
677 reviews26 followers
January 9, 2018
Entretiene, que es lo que pretende. No es una gran historia, ni tiene mucho desarrollo, pero está bien para pasar el rato.
Profile Image for Abigail Barbre.
1 review
May 20, 2018
Good Read

I like this book, it's a good filler between the 1st and 2nd book. Although you should read the 1st book then this rather than read them out of order.
Profile Image for Stephanie Broek.
11 reviews
September 27, 2019
Nice childrensbook (+-12yo), 2 storylines, reads fast. But don't feel the need to read the next books in this serie...
601 reviews
June 19, 2020
Dull and pointless short story involving fish tails, not needed and not necessary as adds nothing to the series!
Profile Image for Natasja Volckaerts.
13 reviews21 followers
November 27, 2021
It's an okay story. Short, perfect for on the bus, the train... Although I missed some suspension. Also, it's only featuring Connor and his "lads". I missed the side from Grace.
Profile Image for Sedna Dragon.
696 reviews5 followers
June 26, 2022
I found this little book sweet and interesting, yet I loved how Mr Somper tackled merfolk in this.
Profile Image for Esther Carretero.
Author 8 books48 followers
July 17, 2022
Me ha gustado esta novelita corta que narra lo que aconteció entre el primer y segundo libro de la saga, con su buena dosis de aventura, tensión y criaturas mitológicas marinas.
Profile Image for Delia.
83 reviews5 followers
March 13, 2023
Nu m-a impresionat în mod deosebit, dar povestea și modul de scriere sunt bune.
Li s-ar potrivi cel mai bine copiilor .
45 reviews
October 8, 2025
I love how Moonshine shows up later in the series. So does Kally the fishtail.
Profile Image for Sarah.
3,358 reviews1,236 followers
July 7, 2011
Dead Deep is a short story that is set between Demons of the Ocean and Tide of Terror (the first 2 books in the series), it was published for World Book Day and you can easily read the rest of the series without picking up this book. However, if you're a fan of the series like me then it is definitely worth trying to get hold of a copy. In later books in the series several mentions are made about the "lost weekend" that occurred when Connor, Bart & Jez went on shore leave and I've been wanting to find out what happened for a while now. As I've finished reading the rest of the series this was a perfect way to dip back into the world of the Vampirates.

I don't want to go into details of the story as it would be too easy to give spoilers but Dead Deep is an exciting adventure with the three buccaneers and was a great addition to the series. If you've read the other books like I have then you'll recognise a few of the characters who crop up from later books and it answered a few questions I had about their previously unknown history. This is a fun, fast read and definitely recommended to Vampirates fans.
Profile Image for Greg.
138 reviews71 followers
January 31, 2013
I picked this up in a now shut-down toy shop for €1 and found it to be a nice quick read - at just 69 pages. I haven't read any of the Vampirates series before so I'm not sure how a fourteen-year-old boy happened to get himself involved with pirates on sailing ships! Presumably, this is some kind of alternate reality as it's not set in the past - people wear wetsuits to go diving and play trash/shanty music on jukeboxes....

The story is well-paced and humourous but with a bit of mystery and some darker moments to it. I liked that some characters with apparent disabilities were presented as being capable of doing whatever they wanted to do despite their disability. Youth isn't a problem either - as Connor says, fourteen is 'old enough' for somebody to be a pirate! I also liked how the heroes sometimes had to fight to defend themselves but that running away was also, on occasion, the better part of valour. It was also interesting to see the shuriken making an appearance in this story - they were all the rage when I was a teenager!

Having enjoyed this novelette, I will probably check out other books in the Vampirates series!

Profile Image for Brit (Circus_of_Damed) .
497 reviews5 followers
July 25, 2014
I very much enjoyed the story and the fishtails better known as mermaids and the way there portrayed is cool and the interactions great and combination of the vampirates was really good. And I enjoyed the story but why they say it takes place between first and second novel in series after only reading the first novel there were things in this novel that were mentioned that weren't in first novel which was frustrating and example being Jez he wasn't mentioned in first novel or the three buceners part but still able to understand and enjoy and would recomend reading it as part of the series despite being a novella because its very good and fun little read for sure
13 reviews
March 2, 2012
Even though it is a small book it is really interesting. There are a lot of mystery and what will happen but in the beginning it starts slowly and the good thing is that you don't have to read the first one because it tells a different story from the real story in the series. I thought the story was strange but well thought and I really liked it and it is a very quick read.
8 reviews1 follower
November 13, 2012
This was a fantastic little read, written as a short story for national book week it is a stand alone story but still fits in the vampirate universe.

After reading the full series I am impressed how the writer references the story in this book without giving the plot away.

If you have read the other 6 books you really need to get a hold of this one.
Profile Image for Suzanne.
54 reviews8 followers
January 2, 2017
Not as good as the full length stories but that is to be expected in a world book day book. It was included in my WH Smith edition of Black Heart which is strange as it follows on from an earlier tale, but as that period is talked about as missing from the characters memories It doesn't detract from the books.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews

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