Nightmare Reef: A Deep Sea Thriller

by Deborah Sheldon

The ocean is vast. The danger is ancient. And nowhere is safe.
For the Wagner family, sailing across the Pacific was meant to be the adventure of a lifetime. But beneath their ageing yacht, Nauti Buoy, something stirs—something thought extinct for millions of years. Then the nightmare begins. Hunted by plesiosaurs—ferocious predators from a forgotten age—the Wagners are thrust into a relentless fight for survival.
From award-winning author Deborah Sheldon, Nightmare Reef is a harrowing tale of one family’s battle to the death against nature’s brutality.

199 pages, Kindle Edition

Published September 1, 2025

About the author

I'm a multi-award-winning author and anthology editor from Melbourne, Australia. I write poems, short stories, novelettes, novellas and novels across the darker spectrum of horror, crime and noir. My latest titles are the novel Nightmare Reef and the poetry collection The Broonie and Other Dark Poems.
My award-winning titles include the novella Redhead Town and the collection Perfect Little Stitches and Other Stories. My award-nominated titles include the novels Bodily Harm, Cretaceous Canyon, Body Farm Z, Contrition and Devil Dragon; the novella Thylacines; and the collections Figments and Fragments: Dark Stories and Liminal Spaces: Horror Stories.
My short fiction has appeared in many well-respected magazines, been shortlisted for numerous awards, translated, and included in various 'best of' anthologies such as Year's Best Hardcore Horror.
I've won the Australian Shadows 'Best Edited Work' Award three times: for Midnight Echo 14, and for the anthologies I conceived and edited, Spawn: Weird Horror Tales About Pregnancy, Birth and Babies, and Killer Creatures Down Under: Horror Stories with Bite.
Other credits include TV scripts such as NEIGHBOURS, feature articles, non-fiction books published by Reed Books and Random House, stage plays, award-nominated poetry, and award-winning medical writing including Better Health Channel.

Reviews

[Steven Paulsen · Rating 4 out of 5]

Prepare for the unexpected in Nightmare Reef. When the Wagner family buy a yacht in Australia and set sail for San Francisco, their holiday of a lifetime soon becomes a brutal battle between life and death. As the tension builds, the sense of terror and dread become almost overwhelming, and the book becomes unputdownable. The unpredictability of the Pacific Ocean, the claustrophobic confinement of the boat, and the mental and physical strain and tensions within the family are palpable. Not to mention the manifest threat and horror of prehistoric predators. This book is a gripping read. Highly recommended.

[Joe Stout · Rating 5 out of 5]

Turtles and sharks and dinosaurs?
*George Takei voice*: oh my…

Deborah (probably): “You know what? CRETACEOUS CANYON wasn’t horrifying enough. I should have told part of the story from the dinosaur’s perspective…”

Me, reading NIGHTMARE REEF: “Oooh, a shipwreck AND prehistoric drama?”

So I definitely feel like I should mention that this book might not be for animal lovers, for all the best reasons. Deb doesn’t hold back on letting the dinosaurs be dinosaurs, and it leads to some brutal, highly emotional moments.

NIGHTMARE reef, in Sheldon’s signature style, is a slow burn until it isn’t. Despite being limited in setting to the seas around a small sandbar, she crafts a story that seems to fill a much larger world, a tale of desperation and survival while dealing with a threat from long ago.

A fantastic read!

[Robyn O'Sullivan · Rating 5 out of 5]

It’s no secret that I’m a fan of Deb Sheldon’s. One thing that always surprises me about her writing is the incredible diversity, from monsters to human frailty to psychological thrillers to natural phenomena and more. Nightmare Reef covers it all: terrifying monsters, a wild cyclone, flawed people in a confined space, personal valour. This book is a roller-coaster journey through fear, anger, self-examination and triumph for the characters, and for me as a reader. In the end, I found myself wondering if I would have what it takes to survive this ‘nightmare reef’?

[Allen James · Rating 5 out of 5]

I think this is one of Deborah's best stories ever. So many unexpected twists, totally unpredictable. I had no idea how it was going to turn out. I really loved the ending. Get this book and read it now!

[Robin Knabel · Rating 5 out of 5]

Spoiler-Free Review!

Deborah Sheldon has done it again! Every time I think I have a favorite creature story that she’s written, she ups the ante and gives me another thrilling book! I sat down to start reading this book and ended up finishing it the same day. I was exhausted afterward from all of the adrenaline-inducing excitement!

Once you get introduced to the Wagners, prepare yourself for no-holds-barred suspense and terror as the family of five (and their dog!) embarks on a yearlong sailing excursion from Melbourne to San Francisco aboard the Nauti Buoy. You’ll experience the journey through the eyes of Marique, wife and mother of three. Though her self-confidence has been leeched out of her by her family since she was a young girl, and continues to be through her marriage, she finds a way to reconnect with herself and her inner strength on the trip.

There’s a lot of layering in this book. Of course, it’s no surprise if you look at the title and the cover, some monster madness that’s going to go down. Sheldon is clever with her braiding of POVs throughout the book, and I found the dueling storylines to be highly enjoyable and surprising.

Sheldon deftly adds in an emotional backbone to the story with themes of fatherhood, motherhood, and the double standards that can wreak havoc on relationships. This creates realistic characters and situations that readers can relate to in between the moments of heart-thumping terror. There is interesting commentary and food for thought about life and the changes that can happen to anyone, especially those relating to family dynamics and social etiquette in today’s world.

This story legitimately had me holding my breath and clenching my muscles. There is palpable danger and fear. I felt the fear of a parent desperate to protect my loved ones, the overwhelming and suffocating fear of drowning, and a claustrophobic fear gnawing at my gut as I imagined being below deck on a boat tossed around on the unforgiving open sea. The descriptions and well-placed (and plentiful) moments of suspense had me on edge the majority of the book. There is an intensity that brought the book to life for me, and it had my adrenaline flowing.

One of the things I enjoyed was experiencing so many “what now?!?!?” moments at every turn. Sheldon doesn’t let up, and it made me wonder what I would do if I were in Marique’s place. This book is intense, which is one of the reasons the story is so fantastic. Unlike any other sea creature story I’ve read to date, Nightmare Reef’s danger is relentless.

This book absolutely mesmerized me, causing my breath to hitch as I hungrily turned pages to learn what would happen in the end. It’s a book I wish I could read once more with the ability to experience it again for the first time.

So join me. Climb aboard the Nauti Buoy and explore the unknown—the cold, dark waters where monsters lurk above and beneath the surface. You might just learn a few things about yourself and what you’d be willing to do to survive.

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[Terry and dog · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have to say that at the beginning, and for quite a ways through the book, I didn't like the mom. I know she was damaged, going from a dominating father to a dominating husband and it made her into a submissive woman. It does happen in real life unfortunately. In this book, she is forced to stand up for herself and her kids, but it takes a while and she never does get too confident in herself.. I took no enjoyment in reading about that part. I expected a sea monster story, and I did get that in spades though, and by the end of the book, I was happy enough. The monster's story was quite interesting too.

[Eric]

Something hungry this way comes

Full review at MonsterBookClub