Scorpion Deep

by C.G. Drews

CG Drews, New York Times-bestselling author of Don't Let the Forest In and Hazelthorn, weaves a disturbing and intoxicating siren-call in Scorpion Deep, about a lonely boy who accidentally awakens an obsessive eldritch sea god.

The only thing Jonathan Covey wants from the gloomy, moldering isle of Kelcarrow is to leave it. Summer is ending, and his friends are looking forward to college on the mainland, unaware that Jonathan was not accepted to join them. He'll be left behind with nothing but the ocean's haunts and a rising dread of being abandoned.

In an act of wild desperation, Jonathan pays a tithe to Scorpion Deep, an eldritch sea god who many of the locals have dismissed as myth. He wants to forget the past, he wants to follow his friends, and most of all he wants to finally escape.

To his shock and horror, the ritual works—Scorpion Deep awakens. And despite his terror, Jonathan can't help but feel drawn toward the ageless entity that seems just as mutually obsessed with him. As scales start growing down his spine and Scorpion Deep's adoration of him turns bloody, Jonathan realizes the only way to end the nightmare is to destroy the monster one way or another.

But once a god has awoken, the only way to be free is to pay a price of blood.

Genres: Horror, Fantasy, Queer, Young Adult, Gothic, LGBT, M M Romance

352 pages, Hardcover

Expected publication October 27, 2026

About the author

CG Drews is the award-winning NYT Bestselling author of Don’t Let The Forest In, Hazelthorn, and You Did Nothing Wrong. Their work has been translated into over 12 languages, was nominated for the 2020 CILIP Carnegie Medal, and won the B&N 2025 YA Book Awards, and are also Indie Next Picks and Junior Library Guild Gold Standard Selections. CG lives in Australia under a pile of unread books. Find on Instagram as @paperfury and TikTok as @cgdrews or at cgdrews.com.

Reviews

[Ophelia]

C.G. Drew's is just popping out books left and right, and I'm loving it

[Sidney]

ummm i'm sorry, Oct 2026?? cg drews i need this in my hands right now!!

[jenny reads a lot]

Anything mermaid adjacent I'm here for.

| IG | TikTok |

[❀]

cg drews release books in spooky season forever and my life is yours

[Freefall]

i breathe c.g. drews even underwater

(the fact that this hasn't released yet is making me scream ferally)

[Erika]

*Pushes You Did Nothing Wrong out of the way and makes grabby hands for the sea rot boys.*

[Emma]

I NEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEED this

@ CG Drews - if you're reading this, I would do anythinggg for an ARC when they become available :)

[patricia]

its an instant yes for me

[Frances White · Rating 5 out of 5]

Thank you to the author for an early copy of this book!

My quote:

'As enchanting and merciless as the ocean itself, Scorpion Deep embedded its stinger in me and wouldn't let go. CG Drews has done it again with this emotional, brutal and truly unique read.'

[mich ⚘]

climbing the walls and howling over how bad i need this

[the forest gremlin]

I don't think you understand how much I need this-

[Alaska]

give it to me already

[Sierra Eastep]

IM SAT

[Aleksandra Tonnon]

Cleared my schedule and emotionally braced for impact

[dani ♡]

NEW CG DREWS BOOK ANNOUNCEMENT IM UP !!!!!

[S.B. Bartlett]

AAAAAAA

[Nicki]

Need this in my hand immediately

[ruby]

absolute need omg

[meg · Rating 5 out of 5]

cg drews has done it again i’m OBSESSED