A death cult led by a box of Kraft mac and cheese. The Bermuda Triangle. Lizard people walking among us. When every conspiracy theory, urban legend, and fever-dream headline is true, someone has to keep it all cataloged, contained, and out of sight. That someone is the Bureau of the Bizarre.
John Doe always thought his paranoid father was crazy, then the crazy showed up on his doorstep with a job offer. Now, he’s a Collector for the Bureau, partnered with Edith Sinner, a metanatural vampire with a murder glare and a past that refuses to stay buried. Their office is The Deep Estate, a liminal space carved out of The Backrooms, where nightmares take shape and reality bends to the collective unconscious. Their coworkers are anything but normal. Carrie is a stab-happy flying pencil. Marybeth is a Victorian doll with serious Devil Daddy issues. And then there is the Murder Clown...
But when John and Edie bump into a conspiracy the Bureau was never meant to see, reality itself is rewritten to frame them for murder. Hunted by their own and pursued through impossible corridors, they have to expose the truth before the Deep Estate’s secrets swallow them whole.
Equal parts cosmic horror and comic absurdity, Welcome to the Deep Estate is what happens when Men in Black stumbles into the Backrooms carrying a copy of Hitchhiker’s Guide.
Welcome to your new nine-to-five. Welcome to the Deep Estate.
Kevin Kane is, without question, a real author. He enjoys doing writer things in between human-person activities, like itching himself and occasionally worrying that he may be too itchy and might have bed bugs. In his spare time, he peruses local handmade paper and artisanal vellum.
His favorite saying is “To err is human,” because we’re all humans here, and it would be an error to assume he was anything else, such as a Ticonderoga No.2 pencil manufactured in Versailles, Missouri, circa 1974.
I was instantly intruiged by the book, it had a diffrent cover on netgally, and by the blurb. It was a strange bit very fun story. Even tough so much happens and a lit of strange and quirky things it never felt to much. 3.5 stars rounded down. While I enjoyed the story it wasn't enough for 4 stars.
Welcome to the Deep Estate by Kevin Kane The Deep Estate #1 Science Fiction Humor NetGalley eARC Pub Date: Sept 1, 2025 Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op Ages: 16+
His father named him John Doe, so it would be harder for 'Them' to find him. Even though thinking his dad was crazy, John still finds himself jumping into a rabbit hole when a newspaper shows up on his doorstep, a paper that has similar but different events. While exploring, he finds a hidden message for a job opportunity.
Now he's a rookie Collector for the Bureau of the Bizarre, B.O.B, partnered with Edith, who is a vampire thanks to Halloween fangs. But there's a conspiracy in the Bureau, and they are accused of murder. Knowing the truth, they find themselves arrested, John in a cell, but Edith is taken to The Backrooms, a place where people get lost and are never found.
This book started off funny, with Stephen King references and others, but sadly it tapered off to a few snickers here and there. Sure, I still liked the concept of Carrie, a sentient pencil, and the idea of a wacky 'Men in Black' type organization, but it got boring when John ventured into The Backrooms, which was the main plot of the story. If the reason he went back there was different, something that matched the conspiracy, then it might have been more engaging. I get why and admire the heroic act, but I don't think it worked. I was expecting more of the bizarre that the blurb advertised.
Another issue I had with the book was the sudden jumps between the two other subplots. One had something to do with the conspiracy and the other involved Bobo... spoiler... The jumps were sudden, and because the characters weren't fully developed in the first part of the story, I wasn't sure what was going on, why, or who the people were.
There is some violence, a lot of language, and humorously described adult content, but it's still suitable for readers sixteen and older, but if a person is not a Stephen King fan, a lot of the jokes will not make sense.
Not a bad story, but it lost my interest before the halfway mark, and I had to push myself to finish, so it's highly doubtful I'll continue with the series.
Thank you to Victory editing, Kevin Kane and NetGalley for providing me with an ALC of this title that I have no clue how to rate or review and spent the entirety of in a state of confusion laced with some giggles!
Note: I received advance review copy of Welcome to the Deep Estate.
Welcome to the Deep Estate is the epitome of dumb humor. This is a really fun book to read as long as your not expecting to much.
The characters in this story really fit the type of humor though the main character definitely grated on my nerves from time to time, but the Garden Gnome Bobo makes up for that. Then when it comes to women, the only real female character is interestingly written, which works most of the time (but definitely feels like "women written by men" type of character). Best character in the book is Carrie (an anomalous pencil), and that is non-negotiable.
The story is pretty spot on for a SCP style story, and though it can be wholly nonsensical at times, it all mostly works. Sometimes the story does veer off into left field in a way that makes zero sense even in the context of a a story like this.
My biggest issue is that this book is NOT a complete story and ends without any resolution. The author notes that this is just book one, however this was so short that I'm thinking the book should have released as a single self contained story.
Overall, Welcome to the Deep Estate had me laughing throughout. Still there is not really much of substance here. Check this book out if your looking for either almost pure comedy or a new SCP style story.
received as a NetGalley arc in exchange for an honest review
Ever wonder what would happen if the quirkiest, most delusional, and clueless guy that just ran into that lamp post could vibe his way through life using quantum (NOT magic) powers? I mean, probably not, but consider reading this anyway.
This book was an ARC provided by NetGalley. Deep Estate is a fun surreal experience that feels right at home alongside Welcome to Nightvale and Tales From the Gas Station. I enjoyed the modern stream of consciousness style of writing and the authors quick wit and sense of humor drew me in immediately. The story is rooted in surrealism and takes place largely in the backrooms which both allows for engaging off the wall randomness but also acts as a bandaid to cover places where the plot seems thin or meandering. And once the story moved into the backrooms, meander it did. I found the characters of John and Bobo to be very fun and entertaining. Their banter felt real, and it was a constant source of amusement. The other B.O.B workers were a lot of fun too and I enjoyed getting to know them. When it comes to Edie, I can say that the she was far outshined in both charisma and dialogue by a character that is a pencil(do with that information what you will). When it comes to plot, the main story line moves and a nice pace that keeps tension high, and you invested in all the characters the story jumps between. I DEVOURED the first half of the book! Sadly things began to drop off once the main character moved into the back rooms. The back rooms portion of the book tends to deviate into long non sequitur tangents. I understand this is the nature of liminal space but, it felt like there were some disjointed short stories just injected into the main narrative. The monsters and encounters were really tense and fun to read and I think if the second half was trimmed down a bit it would be able to really shine. The romantic sub plot between the two main characters also fell flat for me. There was no real chemistry and everything to do with the romance moved quickly and felt forced. They went from acquaintances to hooking up and considering they barely spoke and had the non existent chemistry of two coworkers who just met, it just felt weird. Overall I really enjoyed this book and look forward to part two. I’m excited to see this author continue to hone his craft and can’t wait to see where the B.O.B takes us next!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Every once in a while, I read a book where I am completely conflicted with what rating to give it, and, you guessed it, this is one such book. First, I have to say this is a well-written, snarky, smart aleck-y, clever, tiny bit gory, lots of fun, and engaging book. I did want to throw my ereader across the room when I finished it with that very frustrating cliffhanger. LOL! So, why the conflict? I’m not sure, but at times I did find this almost too snarky, and that says a lot because I love snark, and sometimes I found John Doe a little too…something I can’t put my finger on. Otherwise, I just loved this book, the characters, and the premise, and it’s more than worth a read. I definitely want to get my hands on the next book. Recommend. I was provided a complimentary copy which I voluntarily reviewed.
John seems like a cool fella, flawed, a little strange, but someone you can sit down and have a drink with. It wouldn't be a dull night, you know?
I was all in on his adventure through meeting up with Carrie, who's another delight, zipping all over the place. After this point, things really start to get unhinged.
At some points, I'm like, ok here we go, we're back with John and Carrie again. Let's do this. Or, we're sometimes with Edie, and that's fine too. But, there are points in the book where I was like who are these people? Where are we? What even is going on? Bizarre things are afoot in the backrooms.
(Audio courtesy of Victory Editing NetGalley Co-op and NetGalley.)
5 really wild, really bizarro ⭐s
First, and CLEARLY, most important: Kansas City representation for the win! Wild seeing my town—was not expecting that.
So, what's this book about?
Well …
Uh…
Hrm.
Okay, so John Doe’s best friend is a garden gnome he got from a garage sale as a kid. They drop a lot of acid together, and the acid may or may not have paranormal properties. There you go, now you have a complete and total understanding of the book. (You really, really don't.)
It’s easier to just say that this story is an experience. Very silly, in the best ways. I really loved John Doe as the MC. He's good-humored and not an asshole. (Traits we should all aspire to.)
The plot leans hard into the liminal space—but I’m not sure that it does the best job of showing liminality. Since Doe’s POV feels like he’s talking to you, the reader, there isn’t the complete sense of isolation that you get if you’re, say, playing a liminal horror video game. Does the book suffer for it? Not even a little.
Now, the monster work? Excellent. The creatures are grotesque and menacing, but never shift the story out of its humor. It's all very well balanced.
Also, I was super stoked to see that this is a series, because it landed on a very satisfying stopping place for book one, but I’m already chomping at the bit for a sequel on audio.
Audio-Specific 🎧: Christopher Harbour really fits the main character’s vibes. The voice he created for Doe is rough and grimy, with a little bit of sleaze, and somehow also has “total fuck-up” baked right in. It's really nuanced.
I ran the book at 1.5x, but honestly? 1x isn't awful. I find most stories are pretty intolerable at 1x these days, to the point that I wonder if they aren’t actually slowing down a narrator’s normal reading speed in post-production. But with this one, I think you'll be pretty pleased with the default speed.
📌 TL;DR: Bizarre, liminal-ish, crazy-ass masterpiece. Read it. Or not, your loss.
I very rarely feel the need to tell everyone I have a casual conversation with about a book. I have had that need CONSTANTLY since I finished this one.
This is a wonderful topsy-turvey mashup between Men in Black, Hitchhikers guide to the galaxy, twilight zone and X-files, with a little weed humor for good measure. The absurdity very carefully walks the line between being "Okay this is just ridiculous" and "Maybe lizard people really DO run everything"
The author does a good job of maintaining just enough pseudo scientific credibility for you to have an easy time suspending your disbelieve, while keeping you engaged and not losing the average reading in the minutia.
I adored how it lovingly mocked the common TV and Literature tropes while also bending them to their advantage. Like how when someone has a moment of clarity in a horror movie that maybe they SHOULDN'T go down the creepy basement stairs.
I also enjoyed the ebb and flow of the chemistry between the two main characters. Watching their relationship grow in a natural, organic way through shared trauma and disasters. It felt like a really rewarding character development.
Despite its length, I flew through it and cannot wait for the next one. And I told everyone I know they should get a copy and read it because it's awesome.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
I had a great time with this. This is actually pretty short but I really think it was the perfect length for the story, I think it accomplishes everything it set out to do and leaves some room for more stories in this world.
It was a little slow near the beginning for me, as it seemed there was a section that was a little more character driven than plot driven but it did pick up then. This was funny in a quippy way and full of heart and found family. Maybe we’ll get a little more of the romance in a future installment. Full of pop culture references and some literal fart jokes, if you like your sci fi unserious and light hearted this is the perfect book for you.
The audiobook narrator does a great job with all the characters and really conveys the spirit of the book. I think it adds to the comedic timing and enhances the experience. Definitely recommend this on audio.
Thank you to Netgalley and the author/publisher for this ALC in exhange for an honest review.
I'm pretty conflicted by this book. But before we get to that, I gotta get some obvious praise out of the way. Cause damn, this book sets up so many fun conventions it's kind of hard not to grin.
Many of the ideas here are incredibly fun and also funny. The magic forms that ask exactly the right questions to advance the plot are just one of them, and you realise their potential when the last question on one of those forms is "Wait, were those gunshots? ( ) Yes ( ) No".
This is just one of them, and I'll keep it there because it has a lot of ideas like this that deserve their spotlight in the narrative and not a simple review. This is distilled Prachett/Adams weirdness, and while the quality of the prose never reaches that level of mastery, it certainly scratches the lower bound of that limit pretty frequently.
Characters are fun, for the most part, the setting's fun, for the most part, and so's the way it's written. John Doe is a relatable and enjoyable first-person protagonist, and his best friend Bobo is just the right amount of crazy for a sidekick. Edie Sinner, deuteragonist, is a little less interesting and I didn't enjoy her dialogue as much compared to the chemistry that John and Bobo have, but she's still a good character, even if the archetype is nothing new and a little on the nose. I guess the entire book could be seen as a satire on a whole laundry list of things, starting at bureaucracy and ending somewhere in the library of Babel's supply closet.
It's good. The book's good, and I enjoyed it, but it's not flawless. It doesn't really become more than its constituent parts, and some of the exchanges feel a little bit too quippy for my tastes. There is however a big, nearly glaring flaw that I wish I didn't have to talk about.
Each chapter is punctuated by a full-page image, which in the narrative is explained as being a sketch that the main character puts in his journal. Superficially, I am fine with this, it's cute and underscores the levity that the entire book requires as a load bearing element, but...
...look, I'm just gonna rip off the band aid. The drawings are AI-generated. It's obvious, and while they're not *bad*, I don't get why they're here. If you can't draw yourself, that's one thing, but adding stuff made by a machine with human direction just seems like a weird choice I didn't understand and crucially didn't make the book any better. The illustrations could be removed, and that'd be that. But they're here, the rubicon has been crossed, and now the nagging cynic in me calls into question if Kane himself wrote all the words, and if not, what that means for the medium and so on.
But I'm off to the doctor next week to get a nagging-cynic-ectomy, so this shall get a pass from me. I'm willing to give it the benefit of the doubt. It's fun, charming, enjoyable to read, more than competent and a solid B+.
Thank you so much to NetGalley, Victory Editing, and Kevin Kane, for this audiobook.
This was a great time from start to finish. It is chaos, it is absurdity, it is….heartfelt? Listening to it gave me similar vibes to the Dungeon Crawler Carl series, which I swear is very high praise. The way that the author could weave a solid story with so much hilarity and folly while simultaneously having heartfelt moments and truly caring about the characters, was fantastic.
This is absolutely worth the read/listen. And I would be remiss to not mention that Christopher Harbour (narrator) was the *perfect* choice for this book and role.
This was super–entertaining, but at times, very difficult to follow. The pace was frantic and, as it’s a comparatively short book, this makes for a fast read. However, the unexpected changes in POV, timeline and scene changes, along with the unannounced introduction of new characters, confused me. At times I had to reread pages to check I hadn’t missed parts. I feel like it could have been better structured which would have helped a lot with the flow. Towards the end I honestly found myself wondering whether the author may have enjoyed one too many fruit pastilles, as some chapters definitely got a little trippy. Christopher Harbour does a brilliant job on the narration. A fun but confusing read. 3.5 stars from me with thanks to NetGalley and specifically the Victory Editing NetGalley co-op for the ARC. Welcome to the Deep Estate published on 16 December.
literally felt like you were on the weirdest trip of your life and also like dreams? 😭 like the most random things happening with new people showing up and being like wait what? how? then you’d have something more coherent then random but i strangely want to read the next one 😭 2.75 or a 3 (DON’T JUDGE ME 😭)
A thoroughly clever and pun-filled romp of an adventure through a crazy multiverse. If you like Douglas Adams' work, give this book a read! I laughed out loud a lot as I was reading.
I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.
I wasn’t sure about this book at first. You have to understand guy humor and Stephen King references but if you do, I think you’ll really enjoy this book. I found it quite funny and I appreciated the sarcasm lack of seriousness.
This novel is gloriously weird, deliciously demented, generously gory, and absolutely hilarious.
Stay with me here, it's about a guy who's a slacker who's best friend is not at all what you would ever think (still here?). There's also a woman who has all the characteristics of a vampire but actually isn't one (don't leave yet). They get a job at the Deep Estate which deals with every weird and bizarre things in this world and others, including a sentient flying pencil (don't go yet), fighting a blood thirsty Amelia Earhart, more Schrodinger's cats than you'll ever believe, lizard people, and seemingly normal objects which have time/space continuum implications...all of them bad.
Yeah, there's more references in here about everything from liminal spaces and conspiracy theories than you can imagine. And it's all written with a razor sharp humor that'll leave you laughing like a fool.
And special kudos to all the awesome references to the Church of the Subgenius, a very real thing which I've been a psrt of since the 80s. Google it! Praise "Bob" and pass the froop pipe.
This is the first book in a series and I'm all in on diving back in when the second book releases. I highly recommend it. I received an ARC of this book through Netgalley. This review is voluntary and is my own personal opinion.
This review is for the audio version of the book, provided by NetGalley, and narrated by Christopher Harbour.
3.75/5
This was one of the most bizarre and a unique experiences I've had with a book, in a while.
Following John Doe, yes really, as he stumbles into the existence and employment of, the Bureau of the Bizarre (the Deep Estate), he finds himself in a world that he's, oddly, suited to be in (his dad is an extremely devoted conspiracy theorist, but like, for all of the conspiracies).
On his 1st day of work he finds himself in and out of pocket dimensions, with a "meta-vampire" partner and a sentient pencil.
And that's just where the story starts.
Once I managed to stop trying to figure how things got from one point to another realm with a possessed lawn ornament, it became much more enjoyable.
This is going to be a fun time for a lot of people, but be prepared to have some of your norms poked fun at. There is racism (feudal Japan? really?) and sexism, but it also calls itself out for making the jokes in the 1st place.
I was literally thinking about the best way to describe this book the whole through reading it. Best I could come up with - A group of friends play a big game of Cards Against Humanity, every turn is the next paragraph, every round is a chapter. The cards don't make sense, random words smushed together, but it's hilarious and you want to keep going...
I tried describing this to my husband several times and failed every time. Finally found a way he could kinda understand - We went for an over night stay in the city and to get to our room in the hotel we had to walk past about 40 doors along one winding corridor. "THIS. THIS IS WHAT THIS BOOK IS LIKE!". It doesn't make sense. The dimensions are off. The artwork is weird. Does this corridor have an end? I need to lie down.
Side note - I did not know this was in two parts and did not expect the abrupt end.
I love the idea of the weird and the mystical paired with bureaucracy. The Checquy Files does it with gravitas. Welcome to the Deep Estate by Kevin Kane does it like a 2004 stoner comedy. John’s dad raised him to be paranoid of the government, lizard people, and a variety of other conspiracies. Turns out, dad may have been on to something. Despite being broke burnout with no formal education, John finds his way into a vague yet menacing government agency and potential employment. A downside of enjoying this in audiobook was that I had a hard time keeping track of all the characters and happens at the bureau. Edie also has some Men Writing Women vibes I didn’t love. Nothing terrible but a few parts made me 🤨 Overall, I liked the narrator. Accents, inflection, and humor were done competently. However, a couple of the female agent characters were indistinguishable (to me). I was meh on his version of this female voice so that was suboptimal. Despite how that sounds, I liked it. This was fun, funny, and ridiculous. The writing was uncomplicated and the plot moved quickly. I get the feeling it was written by nerdy white men for other nerdy white men but not maliciously. If that’s not your bag, cool. It won’t change your life but it will distract you from reality for a few hours. I was entertained enough that I want to see how Kane resolves this cliffhanger. 3.5/5
First off, the narrorator for this audiobook was amazing. Voices were 10/10, the style was 10/10.
The story was fun, engaging, and unpredictable. Its from one of those genres I love but dont really have a name for. For me it started with Captain Moxley and the Embers of the Empire. Then The Janitors of the Post Apocalypse series. My new obsession is Dungeon Crawler Carl. Its just a fun genre where you dont know how in the heck someone came up with this fantastic idea but youre enjoying the ride.
Welcome to the Deep Estate is a mess of insanity and conspiracy theories in the best way possible. John Doe doesnt believe in many conspiracy theories because his dad was a nut. Then John gets a job at the headquarters of what make the conspiracies "theories". Que adventure, romance, and a lot of blood. Fantastic book. Looking forward to part 2
Totally ludicrous and so much fun to listen to this audiobook! Absolutely anything is possible when working for the Deep Estate, as John Doe is about to find out when he answers a job offer hidden in a newspaper that does not come from this universe. I was on board for this wild ride and enjoyed seeing what John and Edith get into while exploring the Back Rooms on their first day at work. Add in lizard people, a pencil that may or may not have authored many famous works, and some really creepy smilers and a rewriting of reality itself to cover up something truly nefarious and you have an entertaining story that sadly ends too soon. It does get a bit frantic and convoluted by the end up I still enjoyed it. I cannot wait to see what happens in the next part!
A great audiobook and the narrator, Christopher Harbour, does a wonderful job in bringing the craziness of the Bureau of the Deep Estate to life and the characters that end up being sucked into all the trouble it brings.
I’ve never dropped acid, but I’m guessing this is what it feels like. Actually, I’ve never done drugs, so maybe this is what taking 3 Benadryl feels like.
I told a co-worker why I was laughing so hard (I was listening to this audiobook that is brilliantly narrated by Christopher Harbour). I best explained it as if the author just takes the next word that AI suggests for the sentence and then tried to make it work. IF, and that is a huge “if”, you think you have an idea where any sentence in this novel is going, you are highly mistaken. You have no clue what you are in for.
As the author notes at the end of the audiobook, more is on the way. And I, for one, can’t wait.
And back to the audiobook. I know the novel has to be fun to read, but Christopher Harbour really adds so much to it. He is perfect. Absolutely flawless in his narration.
For me, some of the language just got to be too much. It was adding cuss words just to have them.
You want something totally off the wall and crazy? This book fits the bill. I would not recommend any conspiracy theorists reading this though. Any off the wall theory is proven true in this first book of the weirdness of the Deep Estate, especially in the back rooms. It is a good introduction for new hires, John Doe and Edith on their first job in the back rooms, meeting Carrie and discovering that lizard people are making a power grab.
It is best just to suspend all disbelief and prepare for a wild ride where anything can happen when picking up this book. Be warned though that it does end on quite the cliffhanger but I am interested in seeing who will come out on top in the end, be it John or the lizard people who are surprisingly not all that bad (at least some of them). I am glad I got the chance to read this oddball of a story!
This is a polyamorus quad of: laugh out loud stoner comedy; deep in the rabbit hole tinfoil hat conspiracy theories; pop culture and media deconstruction; and The Entities that stalk the abandoned Backrooms of society. You're not quite sure how that polycule manages to stay together, but the love remains inspiring. It effortlessly bounces from John and Bobo having pot-infused talks about the most pressing matters but with the lowest stakes possible, to the lizard people that secretly run everything, to Stephen King's haunting prolificness, to oh-my-god-don't-look-it's-behind-you. I got roller coaster whiplash and I screamed the entire ride. Nothing is as you think it is, but everything is as you imagined it to be, and I can't wait for another ride on the next book.