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Dreaming Deep
By the Winner of two Readers’ Choice Awards from The House of Crime & Mystery...
The Story
The hardworking men and women at the Port of Long Beach, California have no idea what’s waiting for them in the deep water. Tugboat Captain Ed Angelus discovers the horror first in a death match aboard the Lady Bulldog, a high-tech z-drive vessel. But when the Coast Guard and Homeland Security arrive on the scene, there’s no trace, and Ed is declared delusional and unfit for duty. A few months later Ed’s former crewmen dredge up something chilling from the depths of Alamitos Bay—something horrific and possibly paranormal. Soon, the truth turns into ugly lies by authorities unwittingly manipulated by a dirty bureaucrat masterminding the investigation. Overnight, Ed finds himself a public enemy at the center of extraterrestrial black ops—outrunning the law until he can warn the world.
Reviewers are saying...
“With characters you care about and unpredictable twists aplenty, Dreaming Deep is so fun, fast-moving and compelling that I read this start-to-finish in a packed subway car in New York City, at rush hour, stuck in a tunnel—and didn’t even notice how uncomfortable I must’ve been—I was dreaming too deep. Anonymous-9 writes with such a skilled mix of realistic detail and poetic atmosphere that the uncanny events seem to unfold before your eyes, leaving you more witness than reader. There’s no way you won’t enjoy it.”
— Erik T. Johnson , author of The Chapman Delirium and winner of Written Backwards’ DRAWA Voice Award
" Dreaming Deep is full of love and terror in equal measure... a powerful opening salvo in what promises to be a dynamite series. H.P. Lovecraft would have approved."
— Charles Gramlich , author of In the Language of Scorpions
"Lovecraftian fiction does not normally mesh well with crime—cold logic and straight facts explode on contact with the ineffable, the impossible, and the tentacular. But this time, it's an explosion you can enjoy."
— Nick Mamatas, Bram Stoker Award nominee and author of Move Under Ground and The Nickronomicon
"It left me thinking about Kafka’s Gregor Samsa and The X-Files —a tantalizing mix."
— S.W. Lauden , BadCitizenCorporation blogspot
"Whether you wish to acknowledge it or not; we live in a world inhabited, run, choreographed and enforced by a real live Cthulhu... It knows no sex, no state of origin and no political party. It is a leviathan... created by our own government out of an ignorance of ideas. This book is not only entertaining but it is thought provoking and brave... something literature and our culture have sorely missed. Buy this book."
— Joseph Patchen , LuridLit
The Story
The hardworking men and women at the Port of Long Beach, California have no idea what’s waiting for them in the deep water. Tugboat Captain Ed Angelus discovers the horror first in a death match aboard the Lady Bulldog, a high-tech z-drive vessel. But when the Coast Guard and Homeland Security arrive on the scene, there’s no trace, and Ed is declared delusional and unfit for duty. A few months later Ed’s former crewmen dredge up something chilling from the depths of Alamitos Bay—something horrific and possibly paranormal. Soon, the truth turns into ugly lies by authorities unwittingly manipulated by a dirty bureaucrat masterminding the investigation. Overnight, Ed finds himself a public enemy at the center of extraterrestrial black ops—outrunning the law until he can warn the world.
Reviewers are saying...
“With characters you care about and unpredictable twists aplenty, Dreaming Deep is so fun, fast-moving and compelling that I read this start-to-finish in a packed subway car in New York City, at rush hour, stuck in a tunnel—and didn’t even notice how uncomfortable I must’ve been—I was dreaming too deep. Anonymous-9 writes with such a skilled mix of realistic detail and poetic atmosphere that the uncanny events seem to unfold before your eyes, leaving you more witness than reader. There’s no way you won’t enjoy it.”
— Erik T. Johnson , author of The Chapman Delirium and winner of Written Backwards’ DRAWA Voice Award
" Dreaming Deep is full of love and terror in equal measure... a powerful opening salvo in what promises to be a dynamite series. H.P. Lovecraft would have approved."
— Charles Gramlich , author of In the Language of Scorpions
"Lovecraftian fiction does not normally mesh well with crime—cold logic and straight facts explode on contact with the ineffable, the impossible, and the tentacular. But this time, it's an explosion you can enjoy."
— Nick Mamatas, Bram Stoker Award nominee and author of Move Under Ground and The Nickronomicon
"It left me thinking about Kafka’s Gregor Samsa and The X-Files —a tantalizing mix."
— S.W. Lauden , BadCitizenCorporation blogspot
"Whether you wish to acknowledge it or not; we live in a world inhabited, run, choreographed and enforced by a real live Cthulhu... It knows no sex, no state of origin and no political party. It is a leviathan... created by our own government out of an ignorance of ideas. This book is not only entertaining but it is thought provoking and brave... something literature and our culture have sorely missed. Buy this book."
— Joseph Patchen , LuridLit
80 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 30, 2015
About the author
Anonymous-9
11 books65 followersHARD BITE and BITE HARDER are coming home. For years now, the e-books and the paperbacks have been split between publishers in UK and the US. Now, I'm proud that the whole family will be with Down & Out Books, helmed by Eric Campbell.
The name "Anonymous-9" came about because I wasn't sure if my experimental stories would be accepted. But they were. Tragic, comic and hardboiled are words that apply to my work. Uncanny Books released my Lovecraftian tribute of action, adventure and horror called DREAMING DEEP. In 2014 I self-published CRASHING THROUGH MIRRORS, a hardboiled novelette set in the music biz of Los Angeles. It was named a Top Crime Read of 2014 alongside Joe Lansdale, Karin Slaughter and Matthew McBride by Just a Guy Who likes to Read book review blog.
HARD BITEl features a paraplegic serial killer who targets hit and run drivers in Los Angeles with the aid of a helper monkey named Sid. It was named one of the Top 5 Debut Novels of 2013 by MYSTERY PEOPLE. The follow-up was BITE HARDER which won a 2014 Readers' Choice Award for Best Indie Novel (Down & Out Books) from The House of Crime and Mystery, Canada.
I live in Los Angeles, party in Texas and love to hear from Goodreads people who like the same books I do.
The name "Anonymous-9" came about because I wasn't sure if my experimental stories would be accepted. But they were. Tragic, comic and hardboiled are words that apply to my work. Uncanny Books released my Lovecraftian tribute of action, adventure and horror called DREAMING DEEP. In 2014 I self-published CRASHING THROUGH MIRRORS, a hardboiled novelette set in the music biz of Los Angeles. It was named a Top Crime Read of 2014 alongside Joe Lansdale, Karin Slaughter and Matthew McBride by Just a Guy Who likes to Read book review blog.
HARD BITEl features a paraplegic serial killer who targets hit and run drivers in Los Angeles with the aid of a helper monkey named Sid. It was named one of the Top 5 Debut Novels of 2013 by MYSTERY PEOPLE. The follow-up was BITE HARDER which won a 2014 Readers' Choice Award for Best Indie Novel (Down & Out Books) from The House of Crime and Mystery, Canada.
I live in Los Angeles, party in Texas and love to hear from Goodreads people who like the same books I do.
Ratings & Reviews
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
April 6, 2015
I'm not sure what's more sinister - the depths of the ocean or the depths of the mind!
When you go for a swim in the sea you try not to think about all the other creatures you're sharing the water with. You know they are in there and you simply hope that they don't brush past your leg. Your mind can play tricks on you when you don't know what's swimming around below you. Anxiety builds and before long, panic can set in - that growing panic, and what it can do to your mind, is brilliantly captured in this new effort from Anonymous9 aka Elaine Ash.
The terror that exists in this story comes from the heartfelt and tragic search a Father undertakes for his missing child. Building characters like these, and forming that sense of darkness in so few pages can't be easy as the author has made it look. This is a quick read and is one of those books that makes you hug your kids that little bit tighter.
I knew of HP Lovecraft prior to reading this but wasn't really familiar with his work. At the end of this novella I was left wanting to know more of Lovecarft and was definitely left hanging for more Anonymous9. You'll want to read this with the lights on, and probably as far away from the ocean as you can get!
When you go for a swim in the sea you try not to think about all the other creatures you're sharing the water with. You know they are in there and you simply hope that they don't brush past your leg. Your mind can play tricks on you when you don't know what's swimming around below you. Anxiety builds and before long, panic can set in - that growing panic, and what it can do to your mind, is brilliantly captured in this new effort from Anonymous9 aka Elaine Ash.
The terror that exists in this story comes from the heartfelt and tragic search a Father undertakes for his missing child. Building characters like these, and forming that sense of darkness in so few pages can't be easy as the author has made it look. This is a quick read and is one of those books that makes you hug your kids that little bit tighter.
I knew of HP Lovecraft prior to reading this but wasn't really familiar with his work. At the end of this novella I was left wanting to know more of Lovecarft and was definitely left hanging for more Anonymous9. You'll want to read this with the lights on, and probably as far away from the ocean as you can get!
April 4, 2015
An awesome tribute to the amazing Lovecaft. I really enjoyed this quick read. You never know what you are going to get when you see the name Anonymous-9 on a book. This was an eerie and creepy ride down Longbeach and into the ocean. I can't wait to read what is next from this huge talent!!
April 6, 2015
Wow! Creepy & very well done with a Lovecraftian bend. The first person present tense made it very immediate.
April 3, 2015
A horror hiding in the deathly dark and deeply disturbing undercurrents of the sea surfaces to torment the father of a missing boy. Whispering sweet nothings honey dripped in hope to mask a deception that is a prolonged form of both cruel and unusual punishment.
Ed Angelus is a fifty-year-old captain employed by the Wildwater Maritime. He's also father to a missing boy. One who calls to him from deep under water.
As part of a broader picture, DREAMING DEEP is a great vehicle to launch an episodic series format not dissimilar to THE DEAD MAN. Comprising a mix of horror and subtle haunting, author Anonymous-9 borrows from Lovecraft while crafting her own style of ghostly goodness. It's this aspect I found most enjoyable; the disembodied voice from the sea calling to a wounded father, luring him into a world more complex and confusing than he currently lives.
This review first appeared on my blog: http://justaguythatlikes2read.blogspo...
Ed Angelus is a fifty-year-old captain employed by the Wildwater Maritime. He's also father to a missing boy. One who calls to him from deep under water.
As part of a broader picture, DREAMING DEEP is a great vehicle to launch an episodic series format not dissimilar to THE DEAD MAN. Comprising a mix of horror and subtle haunting, author Anonymous-9 borrows from Lovecraft while crafting her own style of ghostly goodness. It's this aspect I found most enjoyable; the disembodied voice from the sea calling to a wounded father, luring him into a world more complex and confusing than he currently lives.
This review first appeared on my blog: http://justaguythatlikes2read.blogspo...
June 2, 2015
I’m going to guess that fans of H.P. Lovecraft (who I’ve never read, although I at least recognize the name) will pick up on subtle things in Dreaming Deep that flew right past me. It was a good read, regardless. As the author explains in an explanation at the book’s conclusion, it started as a short story in a collection that was a tribute to Lovecraft (later available as a standalone short called Just So You Know I’m Not Dead) and now expanded to novelette length.
Although it has horrific elements, as you’d expect due to the Lovecraft-ian origin, Dreaming Deep reads like a thriller as much as a typical horror story. I found it an intriguing thought experiment. I don’t want to give details not in the book description, so need to be vague, but consider the possibility that things happen to you which if you talk about them would be interpreted as a sign that you’re insane. However, they’re really happening. How do you react? How do you deal with it? A short, fast-paced read that comes to a satisfying conclusion, while setting up for more to come.
**Originally written for "Books and Pals" book blog. May have received a free review copy. **
Although it has horrific elements, as you’d expect due to the Lovecraft-ian origin, Dreaming Deep reads like a thriller as much as a typical horror story. I found it an intriguing thought experiment. I don’t want to give details not in the book description, so need to be vague, but consider the possibility that things happen to you which if you talk about them would be interpreted as a sign that you’re insane. However, they’re really happening. How do you react? How do you deal with it? A short, fast-paced read that comes to a satisfying conclusion, while setting up for more to come.
**Originally written for "Books and Pals" book blog. May have received a free review copy. **
July 6, 2015
Review coming soon.
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews