What do you think?
Rate this book
Depth Charge
Art world darling Julian Le Sang paints with passion, with abandon, and with his own blood. Inside these blood paintings, Julian sees more than art... he sees the future.
"Propulsive and mesmerizingly original... This one is going to be felt far and wide." —K.C. Jones, author of White Line Fever
From Tyler Jones, author of Burn the Plans (one of Esquire's Best Horror Books of 2022), Heavy Oceans, and Midas, comes a new novel in which the future is written in blood.
In fifth grade, Julian is bullied and alienated until Marcy befriends him and learns the strange boy's dark he sees visions of death in his own blood. Visions that turn out to be eerily accurate.
When Julian becomes a famous artist, he inadvertently pulls Marcy and her son into a world of secret government programs, murder, blood soaked canvas, and a terrifying version of the future that's barreling toward them with all the force of a nuclear weapon. A horror story about fate and how every choice shapes what will become our world.
"Propulsive and mesmerizingly original... This one is going to be felt far and wide." —K.C. Jones, author of White Line Fever
From Tyler Jones, author of Burn the Plans (one of Esquire's Best Horror Books of 2022), Heavy Oceans, and Midas, comes a new novel in which the future is written in blood.
In fifth grade, Julian is bullied and alienated until Marcy befriends him and learns the strange boy's dark he sees visions of death in his own blood. Visions that turn out to be eerily accurate.
When Julian becomes a famous artist, he inadvertently pulls Marcy and her son into a world of secret government programs, murder, blood soaked canvas, and a terrifying version of the future that's barreling toward them with all the force of a nuclear weapon. A horror story about fate and how every choice shapes what will become our world.
327 pages, Kindle Edition
Published November 10, 2026
About the author
Tyler Jones
25 books211 followersTyler Jones is the author of CRITERIUM, THE DARK SIDE OF THE ROOM, ALMOST RUTH, BURN THE PLANS, TURN UP THE SUN, HEAVY OCEANS, MIDAS, and LONGSIGHT M40.
His upcoming books include:
DEPTH CHARGE (Shortwave Publishing)
NIGHT OF THE GLASS KNIVES (Shortwave Publishing)
GO (Clash Books)
His work has appeared in the anthologies BURNT TONGUES (edited by Chuck Palahniuk), ONE THING WAS CERTAIN, 101 PROOF HORROR, CAMPFIRE MACABRE, PARANORMAL CONTACT and in Dark Moon Digest, Coffin Bell, Aphotic Realm, Cemetery Dance, LitReactor, and The NoSleep Podcast.
He lives in Portland, Oregon.
He is represented by Elizabeth Copps at Copps Literary Agency and Alec Frankel at IAG for Film/TV.
His upcoming books include:
DEPTH CHARGE (Shortwave Publishing)
NIGHT OF THE GLASS KNIVES (Shortwave Publishing)
GO (Clash Books)
His work has appeared in the anthologies BURNT TONGUES (edited by Chuck Palahniuk), ONE THING WAS CERTAIN, 101 PROOF HORROR, CAMPFIRE MACABRE, PARANORMAL CONTACT and in Dark Moon Digest, Coffin Bell, Aphotic Realm, Cemetery Dance, LitReactor, and The NoSleep Podcast.
He lives in Portland, Oregon.
He is represented by Elizabeth Copps at Copps Literary Agency and Alec Frankel at IAG for Film/TV.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 56 reviews
October 10, 2026
I will never forget this book. Absolutely brilliant and beautiful, two adjectives I’ve come to know intimately when referring to Tyler Jones’ work. The effect this man’s writing has on me is unparalleled. I was sobbing so much of this book, not only because there was so much devastation but how much I was affected by his main character (and narrator) Marcy. My heart was constantly breaking but there was always moments to stop and look around at what is happening now, right in front of you. I always worry so much about the future I forget to enjoy the present. Tyler helped me to see the beauty of it. I am a mess, so my brain is scrambled. But just preorder this INCREDIBLE book!! It comes out November 10, 2026. Thank you so very much to Shortwave books for the advanced copy!
August 1, 2026
Flawless. Review to come.
Depth Charge is a deeply unnerving novel about an artist who can see death in his own paintings, yet, an even more disturbing idea comes to mind: can we somehow change that future? Julian Le Sang's gift is as grotesque as it is fascinating. His blood is the medium through which he is able to glimpse what is to come, and Jones uses that premise to craft a horror story that feels both immediate and enormous. What grows from a bullied child who finds a sense of belonging with friendship expands into something that is incredibly dangerous, drawing Marcy and her son into her longtime friend Julian's orbit. It is a nightmare of secrets and forces that seem to make fate unavoidable. A rather compelling element is the way Jones keeps the story's emotional center in Julian and Marcy. Their relationship gives the supernatural elements weight, making the question of whether anyone can stop fate feel like more than simply a plot device. This becomes a question of how much we can bear to know about the people we love most, and whether knowing what may happen is even a power at all. Jones has a knack for making the uncanny and strange feel pressing. The blood paintings, the visions, and an increasingly terrifying threat all contribute to the oppressive dread our characters carry. There is a palpable sense of desperate momentum, leading us readers somewhere we have no power over, but the emotional consequences hit just as heavy. Depth Charge is an imaginative and affecting horror novel, its very own piece of art. This kind of book leaves you wondering whether some futures are meant to be changed, or whether that attempt is what makes them all the more inevitable. Thank you Tyler for sending me an early copy of Depth Charge for review. You can preorder directly from Shortwave Publishing, which includes a companion chapbook. You don't want to miss this one so make sure you pick it up. Depth Charge publishes November 10, 2026! Full coverage to come over at Cemetery Dance soon.
Depth Charge is a deeply unnerving novel about an artist who can see death in his own paintings, yet, an even more disturbing idea comes to mind: can we somehow change that future? Julian Le Sang's gift is as grotesque as it is fascinating. His blood is the medium through which he is able to glimpse what is to come, and Jones uses that premise to craft a horror story that feels both immediate and enormous. What grows from a bullied child who finds a sense of belonging with friendship expands into something that is incredibly dangerous, drawing Marcy and her son into her longtime friend Julian's orbit. It is a nightmare of secrets and forces that seem to make fate unavoidable. A rather compelling element is the way Jones keeps the story's emotional center in Julian and Marcy. Their relationship gives the supernatural elements weight, making the question of whether anyone can stop fate feel like more than simply a plot device. This becomes a question of how much we can bear to know about the people we love most, and whether knowing what may happen is even a power at all. Jones has a knack for making the uncanny and strange feel pressing. The blood paintings, the visions, and an increasingly terrifying threat all contribute to the oppressive dread our characters carry. There is a palpable sense of desperate momentum, leading us readers somewhere we have no power over, but the emotional consequences hit just as heavy. Depth Charge is an imaginative and affecting horror novel, its very own piece of art. This kind of book leaves you wondering whether some futures are meant to be changed, or whether that attempt is what makes them all the more inevitable. Thank you Tyler for sending me an early copy of Depth Charge for review. You can preorder directly from Shortwave Publishing, which includes a companion chapbook. You don't want to miss this one so make sure you pick it up. Depth Charge publishes November 10, 2026! Full coverage to come over at Cemetery Dance soon.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
“Belief is a strange thing. We think it matters, but most of the time it doesn’t. Two black holes colliding somewhere out in the universe doesn’t require our belief. We can’t see them, and they don’t affect our lives in any way. But that doesn’t mean these events don’t occur.
Whatever I thought of the world before meeting Julian and learning what he saw was irrelevant to how I perceived it afterward.”
This was such a devastatingly wonderful read. Equally heartbreaking and horrifying and insightful.
I went into this thinking it was a horror story about an artist who uses blood as a medium. I left reflecting on life and death, wondering about worlds and threads and choices and people connected to us.
It was so good, and yes there were creepy/weird aspects to the tale, but they went hand in hand with the incredible characters on their journey. I just loved everything about this book.
Thank you to the author, NetGalley, and Shortwave Publishing for a copy!
Whatever I thought of the world before meeting Julian and learning what he saw was irrelevant to how I perceived it afterward.”
This was such a devastatingly wonderful read. Equally heartbreaking and horrifying and insightful.
I went into this thinking it was a horror story about an artist who uses blood as a medium. I left reflecting on life and death, wondering about worlds and threads and choices and people connected to us.
It was so good, and yes there were creepy/weird aspects to the tale, but they went hand in hand with the incredible characters on their journey. I just loved everything about this book.
Thank you to the author, NetGalley, and Shortwave Publishing for a copy!
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
We never know what can come of that strange, quiet kid in every single classroom, but this is another spun on that trope. He grows up to be a famous and mysterious painter. His latest showing ends in tragedy. This was so well written with this constant hum of anxiety that gets barely noticeably louder until the end, when it's blaring as the story unfolds. I was just a bit disappointed in the lack of uniqueness. This story didn't spin this classic trope enough because the twists and the ending were too predictable.
July 31, 2026
DEPTH CHARGE is one of those special kind of books. In one way, it is a page-turning thriller, impossible to put down because of short chapters and a need to know what happens next. In another, it is a deeply thought-provoking story about life, death, and how we spend our time knowing an end result is inevitable. Tyler Jones is such a strong writer and he just GETS character. The connections you build with the characters, Marcy (the narrator) and her son, as well as Julian, the artist who sees visions of death in his blood, are so important to take this from “just” another conspiracy thriller to a whole other level.
I also really appreciate how Jones does not pull his punches. He looks difficult topics in the face and makes you sit with them along with the characters. He does this so well in many of his works, but does it exceptionally with DEPTH CHARGE.
There are some really cool Easter eggs and full-on connections with some of his other works. DEPTH CHARGE is an expansion of his amazing short story “Full Fathom Five”, but I was pleasantly surprised to see a connection to another story from his collection Burn the Plans (I’ll let you discover that for yourself). I’m also looking forward to seeing where the world building regarding The Shed goes and how he builds off of that in the future, as it reminds me a lot (in a good way) of King’s use of The Shop.
DEPTH CHARGE is one of those books I will be thinking about for a long time. I only wish I had even more time to spend with these characters. A must-read novel from one of the best writers in genre fiction.
Thank you to the author and Shortwave for an eARC for review!
I also really appreciate how Jones does not pull his punches. He looks difficult topics in the face and makes you sit with them along with the characters. He does this so well in many of his works, but does it exceptionally with DEPTH CHARGE.
There are some really cool Easter eggs and full-on connections with some of his other works. DEPTH CHARGE is an expansion of his amazing short story “Full Fathom Five”, but I was pleasantly surprised to see a connection to another story from his collection Burn the Plans (I’ll let you discover that for yourself). I’m also looking forward to seeing where the world building regarding The Shed goes and how he builds off of that in the future, as it reminds me a lot (in a good way) of King’s use of The Shop.
DEPTH CHARGE is one of those books I will be thinking about for a long time. I only wish I had even more time to spend with these characters. A must-read novel from one of the best writers in genre fiction.
Thank you to the author and Shortwave for an eARC for review!
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
I can’t stop thinking about Depth Charge. I went into this book thinking it would be a gory tale about a young artist who can see the future in blood paintings. While that IS the premise, the book is SO much more and I’m rating it 10 out of 5 stars (my math is fine, I’m just obsessed with this).
First let me start with the gore factor - the visceral reactions I had to the author’s descriptions of blood made my stomach turn. I could smell and taste the blood on the page. I am not talking about descriptions of violent acts or torn open dead bodies, just… blood. It feels THAT real.
Now, aside from blood, there is a story that will make you think about the universe in ways you weren’t expecting. There is life, death, and all of the in-between… and this book challenges you to question what everything means and how it is all connected. There were times I had to stop reading, close my eyes, and just.. think. Think about the universe and our place in it. Not many stories allow me to do that, but Tyler Jones has a way of explaining so clearly the path he wants the reader to take and allows them the space to proceed on that journey.
I felt such deep emotions with each character, and yes, I shed a few tears. Tears I wasn’t expecting to shed. There is a character that can speak to everyone, and I think I saw myself in a few.
This novel is complex, profound, sad, happy, beautiful, terrifying, and ultimately I think it’s a book everyone should read (only after checking any trigger warnings)!
I am so thankful to Tyler Jones for creating a work of art that has affected me so deeply, and I hope this book gains all of the momentum it deserves once it is published.
Thank you so incredibly much to NetGalley and Shortwave publishing for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
First let me start with the gore factor - the visceral reactions I had to the author’s descriptions of blood made my stomach turn. I could smell and taste the blood on the page. I am not talking about descriptions of violent acts or torn open dead bodies, just… blood. It feels THAT real.
Now, aside from blood, there is a story that will make you think about the universe in ways you weren’t expecting. There is life, death, and all of the in-between… and this book challenges you to question what everything means and how it is all connected. There were times I had to stop reading, close my eyes, and just.. think. Think about the universe and our place in it. Not many stories allow me to do that, but Tyler Jones has a way of explaining so clearly the path he wants the reader to take and allows them the space to proceed on that journey.
I felt such deep emotions with each character, and yes, I shed a few tears. Tears I wasn’t expecting to shed. There is a character that can speak to everyone, and I think I saw myself in a few.
This novel is complex, profound, sad, happy, beautiful, terrifying, and ultimately I think it’s a book everyone should read (only after checking any trigger warnings)!
I am so thankful to Tyler Jones for creating a work of art that has affected me so deeply, and I hope this book gains all of the momentum it deserves once it is published.
Thank you so incredibly much to NetGalley and Shortwave publishing for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
"Depth Charge" is a spectacular take on the theme of precognition, crammed with highly original ideas and heartbreaking twists! The book is emotionally heavy, diving from very early on deep into several upsetting and disturbing issues, such as unaliving oneself, parent death, child neglect, and child death as well. It's also bold and brutally honest in its portrayal of how every significant story turn impacts the characters, always hitting the nail on the head, even about the most unimportant detail. The writing belongs right there with the best of Joe Hill and Josh Malerman, though the way life itself gets a voice in the plot is all Tyler Jones.
Call it grief, sorrow or deep sadness, the existence of a pervasive sense of anguish throughout the book can't be denied. Yet it's perfectly balanced by a mother's love for her boy, a friend's loyalty and devotion, and the human struggle against predetermination. Add a riveting, supernatural tale of epic scope about paranormal powers and life-changing events (the titular "depth charges") capable of affecting a whole world's destiny, and you get a perfect mix of horror thriller, cosmic horror, and conspiracy theory.
From the get go, it's clear this is a story of incredible ambition: Marcy, divorced and mother of seven-year-old Alex, is invited to Jules' opening night in a Manhattan gallery; Jules is a famous painter, and his new exhibition remains a mystery. Just from these simple elements, a stunning tale unfolds, as it's slowly revealed that Jules' art hides a most unsettling meaning - he can see a person's death in surfaces soaked in his own blood. This is an old secret kept between Marcy and Jules, as childhood friends they've both gone through it reacting in very different ways: Marcy wants to change fate, Jules is mostly resigned to the unavoidable certainty of what he sees. When Jules sees the worst outcome possible for Marcy, Marcy hits the deck running, and a whole lot of unpredictable (pun intended) curveballs take these friends' story into directions so horrifying and challenging, everything from then on is up for grabs.
Rest assured I've managed to keep the review spoiler-free: I've not even hinted at the utterly shocking and haunting ending. Plus, the lucidity of Jones' cosmic approach to fate and destiny, despite its abstraction and indirectness, remains one of the most attractive features of the book. It wouldn't surprise me if the book itself turned out to be a very much welcome depth charge for horror fiction!
Call it grief, sorrow or deep sadness, the existence of a pervasive sense of anguish throughout the book can't be denied. Yet it's perfectly balanced by a mother's love for her boy, a friend's loyalty and devotion, and the human struggle against predetermination. Add a riveting, supernatural tale of epic scope about paranormal powers and life-changing events (the titular "depth charges") capable of affecting a whole world's destiny, and you get a perfect mix of horror thriller, cosmic horror, and conspiracy theory.
From the get go, it's clear this is a story of incredible ambition: Marcy, divorced and mother of seven-year-old Alex, is invited to Jules' opening night in a Manhattan gallery; Jules is a famous painter, and his new exhibition remains a mystery. Just from these simple elements, a stunning tale unfolds, as it's slowly revealed that Jules' art hides a most unsettling meaning - he can see a person's death in surfaces soaked in his own blood. This is an old secret kept between Marcy and Jules, as childhood friends they've both gone through it reacting in very different ways: Marcy wants to change fate, Jules is mostly resigned to the unavoidable certainty of what he sees. When Jules sees the worst outcome possible for Marcy, Marcy hits the deck running, and a whole lot of unpredictable (pun intended) curveballs take these friends' story into directions so horrifying and challenging, everything from then on is up for grabs.
Rest assured I've managed to keep the review spoiler-free: I've not even hinted at the utterly shocking and haunting ending. Plus, the lucidity of Jones' cosmic approach to fate and destiny, despite its abstraction and indirectness, remains one of the most attractive features of the book. It wouldn't surprise me if the book itself turned out to be a very much welcome depth charge for horror fiction!
November 10, 2026
Depth Charge is a fascinating, unsettling, and emotionally charged read that takes a seriously unique premise and turns it into something much bigger than I expected. Julian Le Sang is an artist with an extraordinary and disturbing ability to see visions of death through his own blood paintings. What begins as a story about a strange gift gradually evolves into a much darker tale involving fate, grief, murder, and government secrets. I loved how the story expanded and continued to surprise me as the pieces came together.
The characters were one of my favorite aspects of this book. Julian is such a compelling character, carrying the weight of a gift that feels more like a curse. His lifelong friendship with Marcy adds a meaningful emotional layer to the story, and the relationships throughout the book make the darker moments hit even harder. There is a genuine sense of humanity beneath all the bloodshed and supernatural elements.
Tyler Jones's writing is engaging, atmospheric, and visceral. He does a great job balancing the disturbing imagery with emotional depth, and his storytelling kept me invested in where everything was heading. I especially appreciated how the story explores the idea of whether we can truly change our fate or if some things are inevitable. This is a book that blends horror, thriller, and supernatural elements while still managing to tug at your heartstrings.
Overall, Depth Charge was a gripping and thought-provoking read with an original concept, memorable characters, and writing that pulled me into its unsettling world. It was bloody, emotional, and unpredictable, and I definitely recommend it to readers who enjoy horror with a deeper emotional component.
The characters were one of my favorite aspects of this book. Julian is such a compelling character, carrying the weight of a gift that feels more like a curse. His lifelong friendship with Marcy adds a meaningful emotional layer to the story, and the relationships throughout the book make the darker moments hit even harder. There is a genuine sense of humanity beneath all the bloodshed and supernatural elements.
Tyler Jones's writing is engaging, atmospheric, and visceral. He does a great job balancing the disturbing imagery with emotional depth, and his storytelling kept me invested in where everything was heading. I especially appreciated how the story explores the idea of whether we can truly change our fate or if some things are inevitable. This is a book that blends horror, thriller, and supernatural elements while still managing to tug at your heartstrings.
Overall, Depth Charge was a gripping and thought-provoking read with an original concept, memorable characters, and writing that pulled me into its unsettling world. It was bloody, emotional, and unpredictable, and I definitely recommend it to readers who enjoy horror with a deeper emotional component.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
"We live like death belongs to the distant future when it could be only hours away."
Tyler Jones's novel begins with the friendship of Julien and Marcy. In fifth grade Julien was bullied until Marcy became his friend and learned about his dark secret, he can see visions of death in his own blood. Once Julian becomes a famous artist, he inadvertently pulls Marcy and her son into a secretive world where the visions of the future are harrowing.
This novel was quite the trip. I loved the premise of the artist being able to see accurate predictions through "blood tickets" from his paintings where he used his own blood. Quickly this book becomes charged with emotional and devastating decisions that will need to be made to shape their future.
The supernatural aspect of this story drove the fear and tension to the point where the outcome becomes unpredictable. There are so many twists and turns, very emotional moments and points where things become questionable.
I enjoyed that this book kept me on the edge of my seat because I would not have guessed what happened no matter how much I tried.
Many thanks to @shortwavebooks for the arc.
Tyler Jones's novel begins with the friendship of Julien and Marcy. In fifth grade Julien was bullied until Marcy became his friend and learned about his dark secret, he can see visions of death in his own blood. Once Julian becomes a famous artist, he inadvertently pulls Marcy and her son into a secretive world where the visions of the future are harrowing.
This novel was quite the trip. I loved the premise of the artist being able to see accurate predictions through "blood tickets" from his paintings where he used his own blood. Quickly this book becomes charged with emotional and devastating decisions that will need to be made to shape their future.
The supernatural aspect of this story drove the fear and tension to the point where the outcome becomes unpredictable. There are so many twists and turns, very emotional moments and points where things become questionable.
I enjoyed that this book kept me on the edge of my seat because I would not have guessed what happened no matter how much I tried.
Many thanks to @shortwavebooks for the arc.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Release Date: Nov 10 2026
How would your life change if you knew exactly how it would end? That question sat with me all the way through "Depth Charge," a dark, emotional thriller about an artist haunted by visions of death and their close childhood friend whose life is upended by them.
Continuing to defy my expectations and predictions the whole way through, I read Depth Charge at breakneck speed as the clean, direct prose flowed so easily. Chapter after chapter I was intrigued, never quite able to guess where the story was headed next. In the end, I finished wishing it were longer! It felt like so much time was spent building background, with most of the plot packed into the last third of the book, only for the story to end ambiguously. And I think this feeling came down to the structure and pacing; IMO the three titled parts of the book had very distinct themes and subject matter. Trying not to give too much away: part one felt like necessary context and buildup; part two then mainly explored mortality, life choices, and parental grief; then part three took a dramatic turn into thriller action regarding supernatural powers (becoming even a bit sci-fi thematically). The transition and pace from part two to part three didn't totally land for me, though I enjoyed reading all parts independently.
Reflecting upon this read, I would recommend it to fans of dark thrillers such as Dark Matter (Blake Crouch), The Gone World (Tom Sweterlitsch), and The Dead Zone (Stephen King).
Thank you to Shortwave Publishing for the ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts and review!
How would your life change if you knew exactly how it would end? That question sat with me all the way through "Depth Charge," a dark, emotional thriller about an artist haunted by visions of death and their close childhood friend whose life is upended by them.
Continuing to defy my expectations and predictions the whole way through, I read Depth Charge at breakneck speed as the clean, direct prose flowed so easily. Chapter after chapter I was intrigued, never quite able to guess where the story was headed next. In the end, I finished wishing it were longer! It felt like so much time was spent building background, with most of the plot packed into the last third of the book, only for the story to end ambiguously. And I think this feeling came down to the structure and pacing; IMO the three titled parts of the book had very distinct themes and subject matter. Trying not to give too much away: part one felt like necessary context and buildup; part two then mainly explored mortality, life choices, and parental grief; then part three took a dramatic turn into thriller action regarding supernatural powers (becoming even a bit sci-fi thematically). The transition and pace from part two to part three didn't totally land for me, though I enjoyed reading all parts independently.
Reflecting upon this read, I would recommend it to fans of dark thrillers such as Dark Matter (Blake Crouch), The Gone World (Tom Sweterlitsch), and The Dead Zone (Stephen King).
Thank you to Shortwave Publishing for the ARC in exchange for my honest thoughts and review!
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Julian is a successful artist with a dark gift, one that allows him to see images of death when painting in his blood. These visions appear to be accurate, immutable, the weight of them pressing heavily on his shoulders. Unbeknownst to him, however, this talent is coveted by others - something Julian only finds out when he inadvertently drags his childhood friend Marcy and her son Alex into the search for him.
Told from the perspective of Marcy, Depth Charge is a heavy read, the spectre of death, of loss, of grief hanging heavily over it. That doesn't mean it's a depressing read, though – my heart felt like it was close to breaking more than once, but the propulsive pacing and air of mystery mean it's never less than a thrilling experience. Although at times I almost didn't want to read the next chapter for fear of the inevitable, I equally found myself unable to put it down and blasted through it in a few quick days.
If I have a criticism here, it's that it's over almost too fast. The first part, Blood Tickets, is paced perfectly, taking up the first half of the page count; parts two, the beautifully named The Burning Now, and three feel more like a runaway train racing towards the climax. A part of me would like to live in this vividly crafted world for longer, spending more time with some characters and in certain locations.
It almost feels greedy to quibble about length, though. This is a fantastic book, one that I'm sure will be on my year-end list and, most importantly, one that Jones has poured real heart into. An easy recommendation for any horror reader who can handle some real sadness amongst the chills.
Told from the perspective of Marcy, Depth Charge is a heavy read, the spectre of death, of loss, of grief hanging heavily over it. That doesn't mean it's a depressing read, though – my heart felt like it was close to breaking more than once, but the propulsive pacing and air of mystery mean it's never less than a thrilling experience. Although at times I almost didn't want to read the next chapter for fear of the inevitable, I equally found myself unable to put it down and blasted through it in a few quick days.
If I have a criticism here, it's that it's over almost too fast. The first part, Blood Tickets, is paced perfectly, taking up the first half of the page count; parts two, the beautifully named The Burning Now, and three feel more like a runaway train racing towards the climax. A part of me would like to live in this vividly crafted world for longer, spending more time with some characters and in certain locations.
It almost feels greedy to quibble about length, though. This is a fantastic book, one that I'm sure will be on my year-end list and, most importantly, one that Jones has poured real heart into. An easy recommendation for any horror reader who can handle some real sadness amongst the chills.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Thank you so much to @shortwavebooks for this gifted eARC!
Depth Charge has me hooked from the first chapter. This was a perfect mix of needing to know what’s happening next and wanting to savor it slowly. This was more than your common horror book, it also is a deep look into life and death and how you live it if you inevitably know it’s ending. There are so many highlighted quotes in my arc, here are a few of my favorites-
“That’s where life really happens, in those moments. Not the big, obvious things but in the minutes and hours of a day where simply being alive is some kind of miracle.”
“Sometimes, where we come from never leaves us, and it shapes us in ways we don’t fully understand until we’re older.”
“‘It’s all the nothin’ moments,” he said. “Nothing moments?” “You do so much for a kid. Plan big trips, big birthdays, try and make things special, spend a hundred dollars on things they only play with once. But it’s all the nothin’ moments you remember.” He nodded at the rearview mirror. “Moments like that.’”
Depth Charge has me hooked from the first chapter. This was a perfect mix of needing to know what’s happening next and wanting to savor it slowly. This was more than your common horror book, it also is a deep look into life and death and how you live it if you inevitably know it’s ending. There are so many highlighted quotes in my arc, here are a few of my favorites-
“That’s where life really happens, in those moments. Not the big, obvious things but in the minutes and hours of a day where simply being alive is some kind of miracle.”
“Sometimes, where we come from never leaves us, and it shapes us in ways we don’t fully understand until we’re older.”
“‘It’s all the nothin’ moments,” he said. “Nothing moments?” “You do so much for a kid. Plan big trips, big birthdays, try and make things special, spend a hundred dollars on things they only play with once. But it’s all the nothin’ moments you remember.” He nodded at the rearview mirror. “Moments like that.’”
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
Oof, Depth Charge got me right in the feels.
This is my first book by Tyler Jones, and I absolutely loved it. Can we all take a moment to appreciate that striking cover? It's what got me invested in the first place.
While I think it was best experienced blind, it does include triggers some people may want to avoid. I think of them as spoilers, so I won't list them, but they can be sought out on apps like StoryGraph.
Recommended for fans of emotionally charged (get it?) thrillers, but maybe watch out for all the blood.
Thank you to NetGalley and Shortwave Publishing for the eARC.
This is my first book by Tyler Jones, and I absolutely loved it. Can we all take a moment to appreciate that striking cover? It's what got me invested in the first place.
While I think it was best experienced blind, it does include triggers some people may want to avoid. I think of them as spoilers, so I won't list them, but they can be sought out on apps like StoryGraph.
Recommended for fans of emotionally charged (get it?) thrillers, but maybe watch out for all the blood.
Thank you to NetGalley and Shortwave Publishing for the eARC.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
"When you're painting out of your unconscious, figures are bound to emerge" - Jackson Pollock
This is a MUST-READ! 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟
An artist who paints with blood and see visions of death. WOW, YEAH I WAS HOOKED!! I spiraled straight into Julian’s dark, twisted mind, and the deeper I got, the more I realized this was something completely unique and original. I had absolutely NO clue where this story was going or how it could possibly end and I couldn’t put it down! Dark, disturbing, unpredictable, and completely gripping.
When Julian first unveiled his art, everyone thought he was a psycho. His notoriety only grew over time, yet he remained fiercely private, speaking publicly about nothing but his work. Then came the unveiling of his latest collection: ten canvases painted in different hues of blood. The moment the paintings were revealed, the gallery erupted. Horrified bystanders fled as if the building were on fire, triggering a terrifying stampede that left two people dead and several others injured. And suddenly, Julian’s art wasn’t just disturbing it was deadly.
What starts as dark, creepy, bloody, suspenseful horror becomes something much more emotional tackling family, loss, cancer, grief, fate, and the lengths we’ll go to for the people we love. GRIEF HORROR. I didn't expect the book to go there. The creepy blood paintings and visions of death is what I had expected and got so much more. I don't want to spoil so go read. And that ending gave me GOOSEBUMPS. My heart aches a little too.
I'm looking forward to listening to the audiobook as soon as it's available.
This is a MUST-READ! 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟 🌟
An artist who paints with blood and see visions of death. WOW, YEAH I WAS HOOKED!! I spiraled straight into Julian’s dark, twisted mind, and the deeper I got, the more I realized this was something completely unique and original. I had absolutely NO clue where this story was going or how it could possibly end and I couldn’t put it down! Dark, disturbing, unpredictable, and completely gripping.
When Julian first unveiled his art, everyone thought he was a psycho. His notoriety only grew over time, yet he remained fiercely private, speaking publicly about nothing but his work. Then came the unveiling of his latest collection: ten canvases painted in different hues of blood. The moment the paintings were revealed, the gallery erupted. Horrified bystanders fled as if the building were on fire, triggering a terrifying stampede that left two people dead and several others injured. And suddenly, Julian’s art wasn’t just disturbing it was deadly.
What starts as dark, creepy, bloody, suspenseful horror becomes something much more emotional tackling family, loss, cancer, grief, fate, and the lengths we’ll go to for the people we love. GRIEF HORROR. I didn't expect the book to go there. The creepy blood paintings and visions of death is what I had expected and got so much more. I don't want to spoil so go read. And that ending gave me GOOSEBUMPS. My heart aches a little too.
I'm looking forward to listening to the audiobook as soon as it's available.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
The ability to see visions into the future sounds like fun, while also absolutely terrifying at the same time, especially when it involves death. Not to mention seeing these views of events to come in your own blood.
Depth Charge
by Tyler Jones is a fast-paced and thought-provoking tale that might be see as just another conspiracy theory thriller, but it's so much more.
In fifth grade, Julian is bullied and alienated until Marcy befriends him and learns the strange boy's dark secret: he sees visions of death in his own blood. Visions that turn out to be eerily accurate.
When Julian becomes a famous artist, he inadvertently pulls Marcy and her son into a world of secret government programs, murder, blood soaked canvas, and a terrifying version of the future that's barreling toward them with all the force of a nuclear weapon. A complex and deeply emotionally supernatural thriller about fate and how every choice shapes what will become our world.
I wasn't fully sure of what I was going to expect with Depth Charge, even after reading the first few chapters. An artist who can see visions of death in his own blood is a concept that starts with a familiar trope and takes it to an entirely different level. Depth Charge has glimpses of other stories I have read, but with a Jones voice attached to it. Predicting the future, even death is something I have seen or read, but with your own blood, not so much, and that is just the beginning.
So Tyler had me hooked with the premises, but this gets freak deep, quickly. What could've just been a story where Jules and Marcy help stop horrible things from happening after interpreting Julian's visions, turns into a story that makes you think inward about life, death, and the time we spend in between. What do we want to accomplish before our final days and how important it is to spend time with those you love and with purpose. Depth Charge had me hugging my own children and reflecting on how I want to be close to them as much as possible for the rest of our lives.
Julian and Marcy have not had it easy throughout their lives individually and separately, and things don't get any easier within the pages of this story. Jones writes a fast-paced story that quickly devolves into a place of conspiracy, death, and the lengths people will go to take advantage of someone with a special gift. I can usually make my way patiently through a story, but Tyler had me gripped to this book without the ability to set it down.
Depth Charge is an incredible blood-soaked psychological thriller with the fingerprints of horror all over it. Tyler Jones delivers a brutally intense and emotionally gripping tale that me racing through the pages all while reflecting on my own life. Depth Charge is a thought-provoking and bloody wild ride that hit me right in the heart and will stay there for a long time.
Depth Charge hits bookstores everywhere on November 10, 2026 from Shortwave Publishing.
NOTE: We received an advance copy of Depth Charge from the publisher. Opinions are our own.
In fifth grade, Julian is bullied and alienated until Marcy befriends him and learns the strange boy's dark secret: he sees visions of death in his own blood. Visions that turn out to be eerily accurate.
When Julian becomes a famous artist, he inadvertently pulls Marcy and her son into a world of secret government programs, murder, blood soaked canvas, and a terrifying version of the future that's barreling toward them with all the force of a nuclear weapon. A complex and deeply emotionally supernatural thriller about fate and how every choice shapes what will become our world.
I wasn't fully sure of what I was going to expect with Depth Charge, even after reading the first few chapters. An artist who can see visions of death in his own blood is a concept that starts with a familiar trope and takes it to an entirely different level. Depth Charge has glimpses of other stories I have read, but with a Jones voice attached to it. Predicting the future, even death is something I have seen or read, but with your own blood, not so much, and that is just the beginning.
So Tyler had me hooked with the premises, but this gets freak deep, quickly. What could've just been a story where Jules and Marcy help stop horrible things from happening after interpreting Julian's visions, turns into a story that makes you think inward about life, death, and the time we spend in between. What do we want to accomplish before our final days and how important it is to spend time with those you love and with purpose. Depth Charge had me hugging my own children and reflecting on how I want to be close to them as much as possible for the rest of our lives.
Julian and Marcy have not had it easy throughout their lives individually and separately, and things don't get any easier within the pages of this story. Jones writes a fast-paced story that quickly devolves into a place of conspiracy, death, and the lengths people will go to take advantage of someone with a special gift. I can usually make my way patiently through a story, but Tyler had me gripped to this book without the ability to set it down.
Depth Charge is an incredible blood-soaked psychological thriller with the fingerprints of horror all over it. Tyler Jones delivers a brutally intense and emotionally gripping tale that me racing through the pages all while reflecting on my own life. Depth Charge is a thought-provoking and bloody wild ride that hit me right in the heart and will stay there for a long time.
Depth Charge hits bookstores everywhere on November 10, 2026 from Shortwave Publishing.
NOTE: We received an advance copy of Depth Charge from the publisher. Opinions are our own.
Review of advance copy received from Author
An artist who paints in blood, a mother racing against a clock threatening to obliterate her life, government conspiracies, psychics …
Depth Charge by Tyler Jones is nothing short of incredible. Books like this are the reason I fell in love with reading when I was a kid. Rarely, as an adult, do I find myself so immersed that reality fades to black around me as I’m transported to the world I’m reading about. But this one grabbed me by the chest and pulled me inside without a moment’s hesitation. Tyler crafted a beautiful story filled with love, hope, and sorrow—one where I genuinely missed the characters when I had to put the book down for work. I get attached to fictional people pretty easily these days, but I can’t remember the last time I could hear their voices so clearly.
For me, this novel was an exploration of free-will, the present moment, and the singular common thread binding us all to the same fate … and of course, grief. As this is my first of Tyler’s novels, I don’t know if grief is often a theme he plays with, but Tyler’s presentation of it in Depth Charge was absolutely stunning and unique.
Julian, the artist, has a gift. He can see future deaths in paintings he creates from his own blood. But try as he might, it seems that nothing can be done to avoid what his visions show. Certain circumstances can change, but the end result is always the same. We are all mortal after all, and nothing any of us do can change that fact.
When I was in high school and first began to explore concepts like these, I was called nihilistic, which of course caused me to dive headfirst into the philosophy. I quickly learned I was not actually a nihilist, just somewhere in the process of understanding how insignificant I was on a cosmic scale. It was horrifying and oddly freeing. I remember having a deep discussion about the song “At the Bottom of Everything” by Bright Eyes with my girlfriend at the time (I was maybe fourteen) and she broke it down really beautifully … I was sure the song was about the futility of life, how we all die and no matter who we are, death finds us, “just like the setting sun is returned to the ocean.” Mary, on the other hand, claimed this song took nihilism to its limit and showed the next step on the path. After the plane crashes, the narrator of the song realizes that our shared condition—the knowledge that we all die—is what connects us to everything. If nothing matters, then everything does. Which turned out to be a major ideology of Julian’s—Everything Matters.
As Julian finds himself a target of a government organization that uses people like him, his best friend Macy and her son are pulled along for the ride. The trio’s relationship is a masterclass in the present moment. How we can take for granted all of the small and insignificant details in our day to day, too focused on what may come, or what has been; when the right now is the only truly tangible and certain thing outside of our shared eventuality.
Tyler’s exploration of grief was refreshing. A strange thing to say, I’m sure, but as someone who’s lived through his own nightmare recently… I felt seen in a way that I wasn’t expecting. Too often we seem to frame grief as a response to a tragic event. I think that limits the power of the phenomenon. Grief doesn’t respect the laws of nature or time, it is one of the few forces powerful enough to completely reshape a human being. Through Marcy and Julian, Tyler was able to show just how profound that change can be. The loss I experienced absolutely changed the way I view the world. I’ve felt myself growing hard and closed off which is the opposite of how I’ve always strived (strove?) to live. This book fell into my hands at exactly the right time. It reminded how precious these moments actually are … even the ones filled with a sadness that I still can’t describe anywhere close to how well Tyler Jones was able to portray these emotions.
I did not want this book to end, despite having ugly cried through a good chunk of the middle chapters (I’m serious, it’s heavy on grief, guys). Tyler managed to breathe so much life into each character he put on the page I just can’t let them go. This one is going to be with me for a looooooong time.
Thanks again to Tyler Jones for the ARC. I look forward to devouring the rest of your catalogue as soon as I possibly can! And to all of you reading, thanks for sticking with me on this one and letting me be a bit vulnerable … It’s not common for a book to open the reader up, amirite?
Depth Charge by Tyler Jones is nothing short of incredible. Books like this are the reason I fell in love with reading when I was a kid. Rarely, as an adult, do I find myself so immersed that reality fades to black around me as I’m transported to the world I’m reading about. But this one grabbed me by the chest and pulled me inside without a moment’s hesitation. Tyler crafted a beautiful story filled with love, hope, and sorrow—one where I genuinely missed the characters when I had to put the book down for work. I get attached to fictional people pretty easily these days, but I can’t remember the last time I could hear their voices so clearly.
For me, this novel was an exploration of free-will, the present moment, and the singular common thread binding us all to the same fate … and of course, grief. As this is my first of Tyler’s novels, I don’t know if grief is often a theme he plays with, but Tyler’s presentation of it in Depth Charge was absolutely stunning and unique.
Julian, the artist, has a gift. He can see future deaths in paintings he creates from his own blood. But try as he might, it seems that nothing can be done to avoid what his visions show. Certain circumstances can change, but the end result is always the same. We are all mortal after all, and nothing any of us do can change that fact.
When I was in high school and first began to explore concepts like these, I was called nihilistic, which of course caused me to dive headfirst into the philosophy. I quickly learned I was not actually a nihilist, just somewhere in the process of understanding how insignificant I was on a cosmic scale. It was horrifying and oddly freeing. I remember having a deep discussion about the song “At the Bottom of Everything” by Bright Eyes with my girlfriend at the time (I was maybe fourteen) and she broke it down really beautifully … I was sure the song was about the futility of life, how we all die and no matter who we are, death finds us, “just like the setting sun is returned to the ocean.” Mary, on the other hand, claimed this song took nihilism to its limit and showed the next step on the path. After the plane crashes, the narrator of the song realizes that our shared condition—the knowledge that we all die—is what connects us to everything. If nothing matters, then everything does. Which turned out to be a major ideology of Julian’s—Everything Matters.
As Julian finds himself a target of a government organization that uses people like him, his best friend Macy and her son are pulled along for the ride. The trio’s relationship is a masterclass in the present moment. How we can take for granted all of the small and insignificant details in our day to day, too focused on what may come, or what has been; when the right now is the only truly tangible and certain thing outside of our shared eventuality.
Tyler’s exploration of grief was refreshing. A strange thing to say, I’m sure, but as someone who’s lived through his own nightmare recently… I felt seen in a way that I wasn’t expecting. Too often we seem to frame grief as a response to a tragic event. I think that limits the power of the phenomenon. Grief doesn’t respect the laws of nature or time, it is one of the few forces powerful enough to completely reshape a human being. Through Marcy and Julian, Tyler was able to show just how profound that change can be. The loss I experienced absolutely changed the way I view the world. I’ve felt myself growing hard and closed off which is the opposite of how I’ve always strived (strove?) to live. This book fell into my hands at exactly the right time. It reminded how precious these moments actually are … even the ones filled with a sadness that I still can’t describe anywhere close to how well Tyler Jones was able to portray these emotions.
I did not want this book to end, despite having ugly cried through a good chunk of the middle chapters (I’m serious, it’s heavy on grief, guys). Tyler managed to breathe so much life into each character he put on the page I just can’t let them go. This one is going to be with me for a looooooong time.
Thanks again to Tyler Jones for the ARC. I look forward to devouring the rest of your catalogue as soon as I possibly can! And to all of you reading, thanks for sticking with me on this one and letting me be a bit vulnerable … It’s not common for a book to open the reader up, amirite?
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
‘Don’t waste time blaming yourself for losing what the world was gonna take away no matter what.’
Having only read Jones’s short stories, I was pleasantly surprised at how well he was able to sustain a much longer story, and how that story was able to morph from an intimate, tight, 3X5 index card space into something much larger—getting close to the dreadful and nihilistic ending of something like ‘Revival’ but somehow steering it to more hopeful (not sure that’s the word) shores. Maybe this line gets closer: ‘It was like he had painted a person at the exact moment of heartbreak. The very second hope left them.’ Hopeful for maybe a milli-second might be better.
So yeah, Julian’s a painter, but ‘most people didn’t even know his name, they just knew him as the kid who picked his nose until it bled.’ And although he doesn’t paint strictly with drops of blood that fall from his nose (that concept gets turned up to eleven in the later parts, IV bags and all), they do create these things called ‘blood tickets,’ possibly glimpses into how/when certain people will die. But it’s not an exact science, not even close. Let’s just say, ‘the bigger the canvas, the more Julian can see.’
Jones hits hard on the heartstrings, and ninety percent of the time it chisels away at your chest. There are a few moments where it feels like the characters are just going through the motions, though, and some of the more existential exposition can get a bit heavy-handed, but that’s just me being super picky about a pretty bulletproof story.
The pacing is greased-lightning (you can get through this one in 1-3 sittings, easy) and the prose is lean and to the point. It’d be interesting to know if Jones pantsed or plotted or did a little of both, because the hard left turn at roughly the half-way point is jarring yet consistent (something like ‘The Shop/Institute’) and opens the way for a devastating ending. Jones’s voice really shines through in the last few chapters, and he’s especially gifted at writing child characters, not an easy feat to pull off.
If you like ‘Firestarter,’ ‘Final Destination,’ or that one X-Files episode ‘Tithonus’ S6E10, you’ll love Depth Charge. I highly recommend this one, and look forward to Jones’s next novel.
Big thanks to NetGalley, Shortwave Publishing, and Tyler Jones for an awesome story.
Having only read Jones’s short stories, I was pleasantly surprised at how well he was able to sustain a much longer story, and how that story was able to morph from an intimate, tight, 3X5 index card space into something much larger—getting close to the dreadful and nihilistic ending of something like ‘Revival’ but somehow steering it to more hopeful (not sure that’s the word) shores. Maybe this line gets closer: ‘It was like he had painted a person at the exact moment of heartbreak. The very second hope left them.’ Hopeful for maybe a milli-second might be better.
So yeah, Julian’s a painter, but ‘most people didn’t even know his name, they just knew him as the kid who picked his nose until it bled.’ And although he doesn’t paint strictly with drops of blood that fall from his nose (that concept gets turned up to eleven in the later parts, IV bags and all), they do create these things called ‘blood tickets,’ possibly glimpses into how/when certain people will die. But it’s not an exact science, not even close. Let’s just say, ‘the bigger the canvas, the more Julian can see.’
Jones hits hard on the heartstrings, and ninety percent of the time it chisels away at your chest. There are a few moments where it feels like the characters are just going through the motions, though, and some of the more existential exposition can get a bit heavy-handed, but that’s just me being super picky about a pretty bulletproof story.
The pacing is greased-lightning (you can get through this one in 1-3 sittings, easy) and the prose is lean and to the point. It’d be interesting to know if Jones pantsed or plotted or did a little of both, because the hard left turn at roughly the half-way point is jarring yet consistent (something like ‘The Shop/Institute’) and opens the way for a devastating ending. Jones’s voice really shines through in the last few chapters, and he’s especially gifted at writing child characters, not an easy feat to pull off.
If you like ‘Firestarter,’ ‘Final Destination,’ or that one X-Files episode ‘Tithonus’ S6E10, you’ll love Depth Charge. I highly recommend this one, and look forward to Jones’s next novel.
Big thanks to NetGalley, Shortwave Publishing, and Tyler Jones for an awesome story.
Review of advance copy received from Publisher
I need to thank Tyler and especially Shortwave for this e-ARC of this book.
I must admit that I am a huge fan of Tyler's writing and his works. And with Depth Charge he's done it again. Another book that is so hard to put down. His grasp of character development, his descriptive language that begs you to not skip the prose that defines the action and emotion, and his ability to make you care so much about the people that deserve it, and to dislike the characters you just know instinctively are not what they try to convince everyone to believe what they say.
Marcy and Julian have been friends since grade school and have maintained that friendship through the years regardless of what the world has brought to each of them. Both of their lives appear to be great to the outside world. Marcy has a young son that she adores from her broken marriage, and Julian is a respected, and wealthy, artist living with a beautiful artist that he loves.
Julian is an artist, a good one, but he had a very unique ability. Every since Julian was a young boy he has been able to see things in his blood. He can bleed on a piece of paper, or a card, and see someone that will die in the future, or an event that will take lives, and shows him how they will die. He and Marcy want to know if he can stop these events from happening, and when he sees a classmates death they decide to try. It does not work. The death occurs no matter what they do.
Years later, while living with Julian and his girlfriend, Julian tells Marcy that he sees the death of Marcy's son, Alex. Then after the disappearance of his girlfriend and the knowledge that Alex will pass away soon, the two friends go their separate ways to fulfill their own lives.
What happens to them next you will have to read for yourself!! Tyler takes you on a thrill ride with government agents, friends that want to help them both, and the heart break that each character goes through. Depth Charge takes you places you think you can see coming, but then, just when you think you know what's happening, he throws you a curve ball.
I really enjoyed this book, a lot! And as I said I had a hard time putting it down from start to finish. It never lags. It grabs you from the beginning and your are so invested in both of these characters. Tyler just keeps surprising me with new stories that I love.
I must admit that I am a huge fan of Tyler's writing and his works. And with Depth Charge he's done it again. Another book that is so hard to put down. His grasp of character development, his descriptive language that begs you to not skip the prose that defines the action and emotion, and his ability to make you care so much about the people that deserve it, and to dislike the characters you just know instinctively are not what they try to convince everyone to believe what they say.
Marcy and Julian have been friends since grade school and have maintained that friendship through the years regardless of what the world has brought to each of them. Both of their lives appear to be great to the outside world. Marcy has a young son that she adores from her broken marriage, and Julian is a respected, and wealthy, artist living with a beautiful artist that he loves.
Julian is an artist, a good one, but he had a very unique ability. Every since Julian was a young boy he has been able to see things in his blood. He can bleed on a piece of paper, or a card, and see someone that will die in the future, or an event that will take lives, and shows him how they will die. He and Marcy want to know if he can stop these events from happening, and when he sees a classmates death they decide to try. It does not work. The death occurs no matter what they do.
Years later, while living with Julian and his girlfriend, Julian tells Marcy that he sees the death of Marcy's son, Alex. Then after the disappearance of his girlfriend and the knowledge that Alex will pass away soon, the two friends go their separate ways to fulfill their own lives.
What happens to them next you will have to read for yourself!! Tyler takes you on a thrill ride with government agents, friends that want to help them both, and the heart break that each character goes through. Depth Charge takes you places you think you can see coming, but then, just when you think you know what's happening, he throws you a curve ball.
I really enjoyed this book, a lot! And as I said I had a hard time putting it down from start to finish. It never lags. It grabs you from the beginning and your are so invested in both of these characters. Tyler just keeps surprising me with new stories that I love.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
A sci-fi thriller that lures you in from the first sentence and delivers an emotional roller coaster built on a premise of that every choice shapes our world. Though this is being hyped as horror and there are moments I would agree, but the plot line takes you further than just the horror of seeing “blood tickets.” It takes you to the future and how you shake it.
Julian LeSang, an acclaimed artist, is able to see into the future since he was little. He befriends Marcy in fifth grade where he feels protected by her caring. Fast forward to being grown up - Julian is still in Marcy’s world but one day he calls her desperate fur her to attend his latest galley showing. Marcy is finishing up her divorce and soon will be leaving with her son, Alex. She attends to find at the unveiling that Julian has painted a “blood ticket” - a painting made from his blood mirroring a future event which occurs right then. Without giving away spoilers, Julian and Marcy get trapped into a government conspiracy that changes everything they ever knew. It’s a chilling, intense and a very good read.
I think I requested the book in a horror reading mood moment (my thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for granting me access to this ARC) - so I was pleasantly surprised to have the sci-fi element included with this story as I usually don’t read much in that genre. I think that’s what I enjoyed most about the read - enough horror soothed by eerie possibilities. What I didn’t figure on was the government conspiracy in the plot - this adds an almostTwilight Zone feeling to the book.
Marcy is the narrator and she’s nicely drawn, realistic, a good friend to Julian and a devoted mother. Her acceptance of Julian is crucial as Julian is so torn by what he sees he’d like to stop seeing it - and, this is where there is implied horror. The plot is slowly drawn out but short chapters keep the book fast-paced and atmosphere and suspense abound.
Readers who enjoy horror that’s subtle and finessed with a sci-fi spin should consider this book. It could even make your Halloween reading list.
I gave this book five stars for some of the reasons above but mostly because this was a well written novel that grabbed me from the start and kept me on point throughout the read. That’s not easy to do. Kudos to the author.
Julian LeSang, an acclaimed artist, is able to see into the future since he was little. He befriends Marcy in fifth grade where he feels protected by her caring. Fast forward to being grown up - Julian is still in Marcy’s world but one day he calls her desperate fur her to attend his latest galley showing. Marcy is finishing up her divorce and soon will be leaving with her son, Alex. She attends to find at the unveiling that Julian has painted a “blood ticket” - a painting made from his blood mirroring a future event which occurs right then. Without giving away spoilers, Julian and Marcy get trapped into a government conspiracy that changes everything they ever knew. It’s a chilling, intense and a very good read.
I think I requested the book in a horror reading mood moment (my thanks to NetGalley and Simon & Schuster for granting me access to this ARC) - so I was pleasantly surprised to have the sci-fi element included with this story as I usually don’t read much in that genre. I think that’s what I enjoyed most about the read - enough horror soothed by eerie possibilities. What I didn’t figure on was the government conspiracy in the plot - this adds an almostTwilight Zone feeling to the book.
Marcy is the narrator and she’s nicely drawn, realistic, a good friend to Julian and a devoted mother. Her acceptance of Julian is crucial as Julian is so torn by what he sees he’d like to stop seeing it - and, this is where there is implied horror. The plot is slowly drawn out but short chapters keep the book fast-paced and atmosphere and suspense abound.
Readers who enjoy horror that’s subtle and finessed with a sci-fi spin should consider this book. It could even make your Halloween reading list.
I gave this book five stars for some of the reasons above but mostly because this was a well written novel that grabbed me from the start and kept me on point throughout the read. That’s not easy to do. Kudos to the author.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
It’s spooky season on Kindig Blog and the story of a painter who sees the future in his blood seemed like the perfect autumn read!
Julian sees death when he paints with his blood – victims with no context are revealed and his predictions come true in up to 3 months. But when he sees someone that he knows in his latest painting, it will change the world as he knows it forever.
Depth Charge is a story of three parts, and each part felt like very different books in their own right. I don’t want to give too many spoilers, so I’ll be somewhat vague, but Part 1 introduces Julian and his talent, through stories and flashbacks from his friend Marcy. This sits beside the present-day narrative, which is building up to one of his public gallery openings. This part really hooked and drew me in as I learnt more about his skill and a lot of the depictions of blood are visceral and gory.
The second part is then about loss and grief, with a road trip centred around a character only having less than 3 months to live. This was the part I felt less engaged with – it’s triggering and raw and it felt pretty jarring to the supernatural elements whilst also being a bit repetitive in places.
The end part of this story then centres back on the supernatural elements, introducing a facility and a bigger plot arc. Lots of new characters are introduced along with a lot of different powers and interpersonal relationships. However, there is no satisfying conclusion to this part - the ending just fizzles out to nothing. I would have preferred less of part two, if it had freed up space for an actual ending.
I would also argue against the labelling of this book as in the ‘horror’ genre. Although in the first part there are some gory descriptions of blood, it isn’t a horror book. It’s sad and moving in places, there’s elements of paranormal and the supernatural, but I don’t think it ever really strays into horror territory.
Overall, Depth Charge felt like three very different stories, (none of which were horror), with no real satisfying payoff. Thank you to NetGalley and Shortwave Publishing for the chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
For more of my reviews check out Kindig Blog
Julian sees death when he paints with his blood – victims with no context are revealed and his predictions come true in up to 3 months. But when he sees someone that he knows in his latest painting, it will change the world as he knows it forever.
Depth Charge is a story of three parts, and each part felt like very different books in their own right. I don’t want to give too many spoilers, so I’ll be somewhat vague, but Part 1 introduces Julian and his talent, through stories and flashbacks from his friend Marcy. This sits beside the present-day narrative, which is building up to one of his public gallery openings. This part really hooked and drew me in as I learnt more about his skill and a lot of the depictions of blood are visceral and gory.
The second part is then about loss and grief, with a road trip centred around a character only having less than 3 months to live. This was the part I felt less engaged with – it’s triggering and raw and it felt pretty jarring to the supernatural elements whilst also being a bit repetitive in places.
The end part of this story then centres back on the supernatural elements, introducing a facility and a bigger plot arc. Lots of new characters are introduced along with a lot of different powers and interpersonal relationships. However, there is no satisfying conclusion to this part - the ending just fizzles out to nothing. I would have preferred less of part two, if it had freed up space for an actual ending.
I would also argue against the labelling of this book as in the ‘horror’ genre. Although in the first part there are some gory descriptions of blood, it isn’t a horror book. It’s sad and moving in places, there’s elements of paranormal and the supernatural, but I don’t think it ever really strays into horror territory.
Overall, Depth Charge felt like three very different stories, (none of which were horror), with no real satisfying payoff. Thank you to NetGalley and Shortwave Publishing for the chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.
For more of my reviews check out Kindig Blog
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Note: This review is about an eARC I received from Shortwave Publishing via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
Depth Charge is a book that very much explores life and death and the inevitability of both. The story is told from the perspective of Marcy, a single mother who is dealing with life after divorce. She is friends with Julian, an artist, and has been friends with him since childhood. Julian has the ability to see peoples’ deaths when he paints with his blood. Marcy and Julian have different thoughts on how his ability could be used.
I had a hard time reading this book for a few reasons. The first is that I do feel that I would not classify this as a horror novel. While there are a few moments of horror, this is really an exploration of death and grief, and not so much using horror elements to explore them, but just that the death and grief ARE the horror. While there are obviously supernatural elements (like Julian’s ability), that to me does not a horror make. Going into it expecting to read a horror novel for spooky season made that a bit disappointing.
Secondly, while I obviously knew there was going to be death and grief, I did not anticipate the level that it got to in the middle section of the book. That was a hard read to experience, and again, I thought it would be looked at through a horror lens, but I felt that it wasn’t. That middle section felt very real and that was a bit hard for me to read at this current time in my life.
Lastly, I felt that the message was a bit nihilistic, which is not my favorite. There is an inevitability in death, sure, but I personally came away from the book feeling more like “what’s the point then” as opposed to “I guess I should enjoy my life.” I don’t know if that was the author’s intent, but that was my personal experience with this novel.
Overall, I think this book isn’t bad, but I do feel that it should have been marketed a bit differently. If you are wanting to look at an exploration of death and grief and the human condition, check it out. But if you are expecting horror while exploring those topics, I would read something else. Thank you, Shortwave Publishing, for the eARC and the chance to read and review!
Depth Charge is a book that very much explores life and death and the inevitability of both. The story is told from the perspective of Marcy, a single mother who is dealing with life after divorce. She is friends with Julian, an artist, and has been friends with him since childhood. Julian has the ability to see peoples’ deaths when he paints with his blood. Marcy and Julian have different thoughts on how his ability could be used.
I had a hard time reading this book for a few reasons. The first is that I do feel that I would not classify this as a horror novel. While there are a few moments of horror, this is really an exploration of death and grief, and not so much using horror elements to explore them, but just that the death and grief ARE the horror. While there are obviously supernatural elements (like Julian’s ability), that to me does not a horror make. Going into it expecting to read a horror novel for spooky season made that a bit disappointing.
Secondly, while I obviously knew there was going to be death and grief, I did not anticipate the level that it got to in the middle section of the book. That was a hard read to experience, and again, I thought it would be looked at through a horror lens, but I felt that it wasn’t. That middle section felt very real and that was a bit hard for me to read at this current time in my life.
Lastly, I felt that the message was a bit nihilistic, which is not my favorite. There is an inevitability in death, sure, but I personally came away from the book feeling more like “what’s the point then” as opposed to “I guess I should enjoy my life.” I don’t know if that was the author’s intent, but that was my personal experience with this novel.
Overall, I think this book isn’t bad, but I do feel that it should have been marketed a bit differently. If you are wanting to look at an exploration of death and grief and the human condition, check it out. But if you are expecting horror while exploring those topics, I would read something else. Thank you, Shortwave Publishing, for the eARC and the chance to read and review!
September 19, 2026
Big thanks to Netgalley for this ARC!
My thought is that this entire book is basically an ode to the present moment. And how we so often miss it because we’re too busy thinking about what’s ahead - good or bad.
I contemplated DNF’ing this throughout the first 30% but allowed myself to continue on because I enjoyed Jones work Heavy Oceans so much. Things picked up after the 30% mark and it almost felt that the back half was a different book than the first half. Like I thought it was going one direction (and honestly I couldn’t figure out the direction it would take) but then it went in another.
I did have a negative reaction to the scene below. One which I tried to articulate beneath the quote.
QUOTE: “It was such a Julian thing to do—just turn off the CD without asking what I wanted to listen to, or if I cared. Sometimes it bothered me, but most of the time I appreciated his lack of manners because it was honest. I’d already learned that men could hide their true feelings and motivations pretty well. With Julian, you didn’t have to wonder. He thought the music sucked, so he changed it.”
NOTES ON MY NEGATIVE REACTION: Something about this scene rubs me wrong. To just stop another persons music, throw their property around and then the other person likes it because of the “honesty”? Isn’t it more like not caring about the other persons desires and possessions - A lack of respect?
The ending is ambiguous and leaves me with questions:
1. who are the entities coming out of the cave?
2. Will Marcy ever give in and tell Marshall what she saw in the blood painting?
3. Is her father in the “Over There”?
Im glad to see Jones write another novel and hope he has more in the future!
QUOTE: ““Sometimes, where we come from never leaves us, and it shapes us in ways we don’t fully understand until we’re older. Even then, the past is a bit like possession—informing our choices, our fears, how we relate to others, how we form relationships—a demonic presence guiding our every move without our knowledge.”
My thought is that this entire book is basically an ode to the present moment. And how we so often miss it because we’re too busy thinking about what’s ahead - good or bad.
I contemplated DNF’ing this throughout the first 30% but allowed myself to continue on because I enjoyed Jones work Heavy Oceans so much. Things picked up after the 30% mark and it almost felt that the back half was a different book than the first half. Like I thought it was going one direction (and honestly I couldn’t figure out the direction it would take) but then it went in another.
I did have a negative reaction to the scene below. One which I tried to articulate beneath the quote.
QUOTE: “It was such a Julian thing to do—just turn off the CD without asking what I wanted to listen to, or if I cared. Sometimes it bothered me, but most of the time I appreciated his lack of manners because it was honest. I’d already learned that men could hide their true feelings and motivations pretty well. With Julian, you didn’t have to wonder. He thought the music sucked, so he changed it.”
NOTES ON MY NEGATIVE REACTION: Something about this scene rubs me wrong. To just stop another persons music, throw their property around and then the other person likes it because of the “honesty”? Isn’t it more like not caring about the other persons desires and possessions - A lack of respect?
The ending is ambiguous and leaves me with questions:
1. who are the entities coming out of the cave?
2. Will Marcy ever give in and tell Marshall what she saw in the blood painting?
3. Is her father in the “Over There”?
Im glad to see Jones write another novel and hope he has more in the future!
QUOTE: ““Sometimes, where we come from never leaves us, and it shapes us in ways we don’t fully understand until we’re older. Even then, the past is a bit like possession—informing our choices, our fears, how we relate to others, how we form relationships—a demonic presence guiding our every move without our knowledge.”
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Depth Charge by Tyler Jones
4-Stars
Going in, I figured this would be the kind of horror that leaves you staring at the ceiling at 2 a.m. second-guessing every noise in the house. The setup had that vibe: an artist who can see the future, dark stuff coming, the usual “you’re not going to sleep well” promise. What I actually got was something a little different—and honestly, still pretty unsettling.
It’s the story of an artist, Jullian, whose gift (or curse) lets him glimpse what’s coming, and the further you go, the clearer it becomes that no one can stop what he sees. The ending has that heavy, inevitable feel where you realize the characters are racing toward something none of them can actually stop. That part stuck with me.
What worked really well was the character work. These people feel real. You get enough of their lives and heads that you care what happens to them, which makes the darker turns hit harder. The plot keeps moving too—no long stretches of nothing happening just to pad the page count. It stays focused and builds without dragging.
Genre-wise, I’m not totally sold on calling it straight horror. There’s definitely some creepy, unsettling energy, but it felt closer to a dark mystery with some fantasy elements mixed in. That didn’t ruin it for me; it just wasn’t the pure “keep the lights on” scare-fest I was braced for. Still effective in its own way.
Overall, a solid, disturbing read that stuck the landing on the characters and the slow-burn dread. Not a perfect fit for the pure horror label, but a good story that delivered more than enough atmosphere and tension to earn the four stars. Worth picking up if you’re into dark, character-driven stories that leave you a little unsettled when you close the book.
Thanks to NetGalley and Shortwave Publishing for the opportunity to read an review this Advanced Reader's Copy.
4-Stars
Going in, I figured this would be the kind of horror that leaves you staring at the ceiling at 2 a.m. second-guessing every noise in the house. The setup had that vibe: an artist who can see the future, dark stuff coming, the usual “you’re not going to sleep well” promise. What I actually got was something a little different—and honestly, still pretty unsettling.
It’s the story of an artist, Jullian, whose gift (or curse) lets him glimpse what’s coming, and the further you go, the clearer it becomes that no one can stop what he sees. The ending has that heavy, inevitable feel where you realize the characters are racing toward something none of them can actually stop. That part stuck with me.
What worked really well was the character work. These people feel real. You get enough of their lives and heads that you care what happens to them, which makes the darker turns hit harder. The plot keeps moving too—no long stretches of nothing happening just to pad the page count. It stays focused and builds without dragging.
Genre-wise, I’m not totally sold on calling it straight horror. There’s definitely some creepy, unsettling energy, but it felt closer to a dark mystery with some fantasy elements mixed in. That didn’t ruin it for me; it just wasn’t the pure “keep the lights on” scare-fest I was braced for. Still effective in its own way.
Overall, a solid, disturbing read that stuck the landing on the characters and the slow-burn dread. Not a perfect fit for the pure horror label, but a good story that delivered more than enough atmosphere and tension to earn the four stars. Worth picking up if you’re into dark, character-driven stories that leave you a little unsettled when you close the book.
Thanks to NetGalley and Shortwave Publishing for the opportunity to read an review this Advanced Reader's Copy.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Holy fuck. Tyler Jones slid into my auto read category a while back. He’s not loud and flashy on the internet like some other popular indie horror authors (no hate, do whatever works for you) but his writing is incredible. I still feel as though he’s this amazingly kept secret in the more literary leaning horror world but HE NEEDS TO BE READ AND SHARED. So here’s hoping Depth Charge brings more Tyler Jones into the spotlight.
Depth Charge was gripping, visceral, disturbing, sad and sososososo beautiful. Just like life. We follow Marcy and her 8yo son, Alex. I want to mention here I have an 8yo son myself which made parts of this book feel TOO real which was unmistakably a blessing and a curse. Marcy’s best friend from puberty, Julian, is a well known painter with a unique talent. While using the proper medium (his blood) he can paint visions of deaths to come. When a gallery show goes awry and Marcy’s son begins to have health issues, all these threads begin to weave together into a horrific tapestry. The characterization was fantastic. Marcy and Julian have amazing friendship chemistry and Jones avoids cliche traps which keeps the focus on the story which was much more compelling. Marcy also frustrated the hell out of me at times, but virtually everyone does so that tracks. I also appreciated the ending has a bit of wiggle room so I can mull it around in my brain a bit.
This one has it all. Grief, preternatural vibes, supernaturally talented humans, EVIL BILLIONAIRES and blood. So much blood. Despite the amount of times I’ve said blood in this review please keep in mind Jones does an excellent job at keeping this book from just being gross. It’s not splatterpunk at all. Blood is frequently referenced but Jones is a gentleman and keeps the yucky bits off page. If my review isn’t clear enough this was amazing and I highly recommend it to each and every horror reader out there. It also leaves room for existential musings on how much of life is in our control (if any). My only regret is that it ended at all. Thanks Tyler for your fantastically weird brain!
Depth Charge was gripping, visceral, disturbing, sad and sososososo beautiful. Just like life. We follow Marcy and her 8yo son, Alex. I want to mention here I have an 8yo son myself which made parts of this book feel TOO real which was unmistakably a blessing and a curse. Marcy’s best friend from puberty, Julian, is a well known painter with a unique talent. While using the proper medium (his blood) he can paint visions of deaths to come. When a gallery show goes awry and Marcy’s son begins to have health issues, all these threads begin to weave together into a horrific tapestry. The characterization was fantastic. Marcy and Julian have amazing friendship chemistry and Jones avoids cliche traps which keeps the focus on the story which was much more compelling. Marcy also frustrated the hell out of me at times, but virtually everyone does so that tracks. I also appreciated the ending has a bit of wiggle room so I can mull it around in my brain a bit.
This one has it all. Grief, preternatural vibes, supernaturally talented humans, EVIL BILLIONAIRES and blood. So much blood. Despite the amount of times I’ve said blood in this review please keep in mind Jones does an excellent job at keeping this book from just being gross. It’s not splatterpunk at all. Blood is frequently referenced but Jones is a gentleman and keeps the yucky bits off page. If my review isn’t clear enough this was amazing and I highly recommend it to each and every horror reader out there. It also leaves room for existential musings on how much of life is in our control (if any). My only regret is that it ended at all. Thanks Tyler for your fantastically weird brain!
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Oh boy. Depth Charge is really quite special
Tyler Jones has created such a powerful, heart-breaking and thought-provoking story; a story that is going to live with me for a very, very long time.
Dealing with some very heavy themes, including death, grief and fate, Jones has created a cast of characters that are immediately likeable yet incredibly complex. The plot centres around Julian, an artist who can see future deaths in paintings created with blood, and how he deals with this 'ability'. The story is narrated by Marcy, Julian's best friend since school, as we follow their journey together in trying to understand why Julian sees what he sees and whether it can be used for good.
I found this book to be utterly addictive, emotionally gripping and tore through the pages, in desperate need to see how things unfolded. Short chapters, an engaging plot that doesn't give you a chance to stop and think, brilliant prose, combined with the ratcheting up of the stakes made for some late nights and the need to finish this as quickly as possible. I just wish it was longer!
As mentioned, the themes covered by Jones are dark, harrowing and visceral. They pack no punches, had me in tears and make you really step back and question the 'why' of life and our often blaise attitude to the time we have left.
I'm writing this the morning after finishing the book and have goosebumps just thinking back on it. I don't really do re-reads but am already considering one. It really is that good.
A masterful story that is fully deserving of 5 stars.
A huge thank you to NetGalley and Shortwave for the ARC.
Tyler Jones has created such a powerful, heart-breaking and thought-provoking story; a story that is going to live with me for a very, very long time.
Dealing with some very heavy themes, including death, grief and fate, Jones has created a cast of characters that are immediately likeable yet incredibly complex. The plot centres around Julian, an artist who can see future deaths in paintings created with blood, and how he deals with this 'ability'. The story is narrated by Marcy, Julian's best friend since school, as we follow their journey together in trying to understand why Julian sees what he sees and whether it can be used for good.
I found this book to be utterly addictive, emotionally gripping and tore through the pages, in desperate need to see how things unfolded. Short chapters, an engaging plot that doesn't give you a chance to stop and think, brilliant prose, combined with the ratcheting up of the stakes made for some late nights and the need to finish this as quickly as possible. I just wish it was longer!
As mentioned, the themes covered by Jones are dark, harrowing and visceral. They pack no punches, had me in tears and make you really step back and question the 'why' of life and our often blaise attitude to the time we have left.
I'm writing this the morning after finishing the book and have goosebumps just thinking back on it. I don't really do re-reads but am already considering one. It really is that good.
A masterful story that is fully deserving of 5 stars.
A huge thank you to NetGalley and Shortwave for the ARC.
Review of advance copy received from Netgalley
DEPTH CHARGE by TYLER JONES
Thank you to Shortwave Publishing and Netgalley for the Advance Reader Copy
Let me prefix this review by saying I have read everything Tyler Jones has ever published. He is my favourite author. The ease of which I can read his prose, at speed, and the way it paints an image but lets my imagination fill in the rest, amazes me.
I started writing this review at 94% because I genuinely did not want the story to end. It will also mean I have no new Tyler Jones left to read, a thought that causes further anguish to the book hangover I am already going to suffer.
Full Fathom Five, Tyler's short story upon which this novel is based, found at the end of his Burn the Plans collection, may be my favourite story ever. So, I had a mild (completely unjustified as everything he has written is excellent) trepidation to start Depth Charge.
THIS BOOK IS INCREDIBLE. It is probably his best yet. It expands and amplifies everything that made the original short story great. A thrilling meditation on life, death, loss, grief, acceptance, responsibility and fate/destiny.
A story of Depth charge, after Depth charge, after Depth charge. By the end I was a raw exposed nerve. I'm not sure I will be the same again.
"We all carry a little piece of armageddon inside us"
Thank you to Shortwave Publishing and Netgalley for the Advance Reader Copy
Let me prefix this review by saying I have read everything Tyler Jones has ever published. He is my favourite author. The ease of which I can read his prose, at speed, and the way it paints an image but lets my imagination fill in the rest, amazes me.
I started writing this review at 94% because I genuinely did not want the story to end. It will also mean I have no new Tyler Jones left to read, a thought that causes further anguish to the book hangover I am already going to suffer.
Full Fathom Five, Tyler's short story upon which this novel is based, found at the end of his Burn the Plans collection, may be my favourite story ever. So, I had a mild (completely unjustified as everything he has written is excellent) trepidation to start Depth Charge.
THIS BOOK IS INCREDIBLE. It is probably his best yet. It expands and amplifies everything that made the original short story great. A thrilling meditation on life, death, loss, grief, acceptance, responsibility and fate/destiny.
A story of Depth charge, after Depth charge, after Depth charge. By the end I was a raw exposed nerve. I'm not sure I will be the same again.
"We all carry a little piece of armageddon inside us"
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
A truly masterful work! Well written, deep and inspiring. This novel feels like it's portraying life itself and yet it vibrates with an energy that is more powerful than anything I've read before.
Julian is a famous and successful painter and Marcy is his best friend. They met at school when Marcy felt curious about Julian's peculiar aspect and quirks and they never drifted away from each other. Even though their friendship never turned into something else (and I'm so very grateful for that, honestly t wouldn't have made sense), they are as close as human beings can be.
I loved reading about the way they rely on each other to face a world that is at times too harsh to be faced alone. Julian has a gift. When they were still in school Marcy helped him use it for the greater good, but they still failed. Now they're adults and they still have to live with the consequences and the vast ramifications of Julian's gift.
I was heartbroken, moved to tears and such a deep sadness with what happens to both of them! I highly praise the author for conveying such resounding messages about what we're here for, who we are and why we are given the lives we have.
I really enjoyed reading this novel. I would've given it 5 stars had it not been for the ending which felt slightly anticlimactic especially after what happens at the end of the second act.
Julian is a famous and successful painter and Marcy is his best friend. They met at school when Marcy felt curious about Julian's peculiar aspect and quirks and they never drifted away from each other. Even though their friendship never turned into something else (and I'm so very grateful for that, honestly t wouldn't have made sense), they are as close as human beings can be.
I loved reading about the way they rely on each other to face a world that is at times too harsh to be faced alone. Julian has a gift. When they were still in school Marcy helped him use it for the greater good, but they still failed. Now they're adults and they still have to live with the consequences and the vast ramifications of Julian's gift.
I was heartbroken, moved to tears and such a deep sadness with what happens to both of them! I highly praise the author for conveying such resounding messages about what we're here for, who we are and why we are given the lives we have.
I really enjoyed reading this novel. I would've given it 5 stars had it not been for the ending which felt slightly anticlimactic especially after what happens at the end of the second act.
Review of advance copy received from Author
Did I love this? Hell yes. Another knock out from Tyler, is it me or are they just getting better and better? Which is hard when I can't think of a book that's missed for me yet from him.
Depth Charge, that cover, amazing and yes I have pre ordered this already 😅 Shortwave saw me coming.
Tyler knows grief horror, it sneaks up on you and have you before you realize and that gut punch of grief, it will get you.
Marcy and Julian, friends since they were young and he told her about what he could see, big news for a kid and even bigger news for another kids to believe. Seeing death isn't a easy or well child friendly thing to deal with.
Fast forward they are adults and the visions are still going on, Marcy has moved in with Julian and his gf, but then she goes missing, then Julian goes missing with only a quick call saying he has to go away... What the fuck yall.
Nothing is as it seems and who can you trust when you everyone is hiding something, secrets, lies and more govement secrets threatening everything she knows or knew.
Everything is connected somehow.. An thin thread, a depth charge can really send ripples and effect things you never dreamed of.
This was amazing.
Depth Charge, that cover, amazing and yes I have pre ordered this already 😅 Shortwave saw me coming.
Tyler knows grief horror, it sneaks up on you and have you before you realize and that gut punch of grief, it will get you.
Marcy and Julian, friends since they were young and he told her about what he could see, big news for a kid and even bigger news for another kids to believe. Seeing death isn't a easy or well child friendly thing to deal with.
Fast forward they are adults and the visions are still going on, Marcy has moved in with Julian and his gf, but then she goes missing, then Julian goes missing with only a quick call saying he has to go away... What the fuck yall.
Nothing is as it seems and who can you trust when you everyone is hiding something, secrets, lies and more govement secrets threatening everything she knows or knew.
Everything is connected somehow.. An thin thread, a depth charge can really send ripples and effect things you never dreamed of.
This was amazing.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
3.5/5
I enjoyed this book but was disappointed in the ending after all of the buildup. It's a well-written story, but I feel it needed a tighter ending. I would read more from Tyler Jones, and found the take on grief, acceptance, and fate intriguing.
Marcy befriended Julian in fifth grade, when he opened up about his strange ability to see visions of death in his own blood, visions that always come true. In adulthood Julian has become a famous artist, and at an opening for one of his shows, after a shock multiple people end up in the hospital, or the morgue. Soon after the incident, Marcy and her young son end up moving in with Julian and his girlfriend, who help take care of her son. They live mostly happily as a found family until Julian's girlfriend goes missing, and he goes to find her. Receiving only a call from Julian that he has to go away for some time, Marcy and her son find themselves drawn into a world of secret government programs, murder, and a 'Depth Charge' moment coming their way.
Thank you to NetGalley for an eARC of this novel.
I enjoyed this book but was disappointed in the ending after all of the buildup. It's a well-written story, but I feel it needed a tighter ending. I would read more from Tyler Jones, and found the take on grief, acceptance, and fate intriguing.
Marcy befriended Julian in fifth grade, when he opened up about his strange ability to see visions of death in his own blood, visions that always come true. In adulthood Julian has become a famous artist, and at an opening for one of his shows, after a shock multiple people end up in the hospital, or the morgue. Soon after the incident, Marcy and her young son end up moving in with Julian and his girlfriend, who help take care of her son. They live mostly happily as a found family until Julian's girlfriend goes missing, and he goes to find her. Receiving only a call from Julian that he has to go away for some time, Marcy and her son find themselves drawn into a world of secret government programs, murder, and a 'Depth Charge' moment coming their way.
Thank you to NetGalley for an eARC of this novel.
Review of advance copy received from NetGalley
Final Destination by way of string theory, but with a lot more heart.
Is there such a thing as fate? Is everything laid out before us or do we have the ability to change (and possibly correct) the trajectory of our lives? What would you do if you knew something bad would happen to someone you loved? What could you do?
The choices we make impact our own lives, yes. But we also affect others with our choices, no matter how small. Or at least that is what Tyler Jones posits in Depth Charge.
It seems a bit paradoxical that we can affect people around us so much through our actions and inactions, and yet the plot stays its course. We drift slowly to an inevitability. I guess that's true for only one thing in life--that's death. The only real certainty we have in our lives, as much as that sucks. It's true.
I'm glad I found this book.
Remember to make good choices and be kind to others. Remember your actions are tied to so many others, no matter how invisible those strings might seem. Spread love while you're still alive to do it.
Is there such a thing as fate? Is everything laid out before us or do we have the ability to change (and possibly correct) the trajectory of our lives? What would you do if you knew something bad would happen to someone you loved? What could you do?
The choices we make impact our own lives, yes. But we also affect others with our choices, no matter how small. Or at least that is what Tyler Jones posits in Depth Charge.
It seems a bit paradoxical that we can affect people around us so much through our actions and inactions, and yet the plot stays its course. We drift slowly to an inevitability. I guess that's true for only one thing in life--that's death. The only real certainty we have in our lives, as much as that sucks. It's true.
I'm glad I found this book.
Remember to make good choices and be kind to others. Remember your actions are tied to so many others, no matter how invisible those strings might seem. Spread love while you're still alive to do it.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 56 reviews