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Dead Water
In a chilling blend of folk horror and twisting suspense, this modern masterpiece depicts isolation and dread within a small island community.
There's something in the water...
On the edge of the Northern Atlantic lies a remote island. The islanders are an outwardly harmonious community—but all have their own secrets, some much darker than others. And when a strange disorder begins to infect them all, those secrets come to light.
Ferry service fails and contact with the mainland is lost. Rumors begin to swirl as a temporary inconvenience grows into nightmarish ordeal. The fabric of the once tight-knit island is unnervingly torn apart—and whatever the cause, the question soon stops being how or why it happened, but who, if anyone, will survive.
There's something in the water...
On the edge of the Northern Atlantic lies a remote island. The islanders are an outwardly harmonious community—but all have their own secrets, some much darker than others. And when a strange disorder begins to infect them all, those secrets come to light.
Ferry service fails and contact with the mainland is lost. Rumors begin to swirl as a temporary inconvenience grows into nightmarish ordeal. The fabric of the once tight-knit island is unnervingly torn apart—and whatever the cause, the question soon stops being how or why it happened, but who, if anyone, will survive.
512 pages, Hardcover
First published July 19, 2022
169 people are currently reading
5226 people want to read
About the author
C.A. Fletcher
3 books434 followersC. A. Fletcher has children and dogs. He lives in Scotland and writes for a living.
Also see Charlie Fletcher
Also see Charlie Fletcher
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 330 reviews
July 23, 2022
NOW AVAILABLE!!
i, for one, loved this book, and it got me through day one of my covid bedrest/reading marathon - the same illness currently preventing me from reviewing it right now. but SOON (knock wood).
i, for one, loved this book, and it got me through day one of my covid bedrest/reading marathon - the same illness currently preventing me from reviewing it right now. but SOON (knock wood).
July 9, 2022
3.0 Stars
This is a slow burning folk horror novel that was admittedly not to my tastes. The narrative was very slow. The prose was quite good but the horror elements were just too subtle for me. I understand that the book was written to be more atmospheric than overtly scary but it was just too quiet.
If you enjoy quiet, character driven folk horror in the vein of Pines, then you'll likely enjoy this one more than I did.
Disclaimer I received a copy of this book from the publisher.
This is a slow burning folk horror novel that was admittedly not to my tastes. The narrative was very slow. The prose was quite good but the horror elements were just too subtle for me. I understand that the book was written to be more atmospheric than overtly scary but it was just too quiet.
If you enjoy quiet, character driven folk horror in the vein of Pines, then you'll likely enjoy this one more than I did.
Disclaimer I received a copy of this book from the publisher.
February 16, 2023
“And then Walter John sees them. Reaching for him. Out of the water, out of the heaving sea where no people should be. Hands and heads with dulled, drowned faces coming to drag him under, drowned men and women walking up out of the waves to bring him home, except it is no home he wants to visit.”
This was a book that took me by surprise! It’s a thick 500+ pages (which can be intimidating) and a good chunk of it is a slow burn (which can be demotivating). But I’m so grateful for that slow burn because C.A. Fletcher's Dead Water is a book you really want to settle into. You want to make yourself a hot cup of tea on a day when you’ve got nowhere to be and just float through the plot as if you're riding a lazy river. Next thing you know, that lazy river becomes fast-moving rapids and the plot is taking off!
Readers are introduced to a large cast of characters living on a Scottish fishing island accessible by ferry. Long story short, a curse is exhumed and the island’s population starts to dwindle as they are turned into–get this–not the Walking Dead but the "Walking Drowned". That’s right folks, water zombies!!!!!
For me personally, this book had so many great factors going for it. Norse folklore, the isolation trope, developed characters, small-town setting, a creative use of the zombie trope, and compelling prose. Not to mention there were plenty of moments in the book that sent chills down my spine (as someone who's terrified of zombies). The book felt a little reminiscent of the supernatural elements found in Dir. John Carpenter’s 1980 film The Fog while holding much of the slow-building dread of Dir. Mike Flanagan’s Netflix miniseries Midnight Mass. But the character development and storytelling reminded me very much of Stephen King's writing.
Dead Water was *chef’s kiss* perfection and I’m so glad I waited to be in the right mood to read it. And the right mood really is important for a book like this because you don’t want to pick it up expecting fast-paced action on a day you’re craving fast-paced action. This would be an excellent book to bring along for a relaxing Summer vacation near the beach.
If any of what I've just mentioned above grabs you, I recommend this one for the patient "thicc" book readers who love folk horror, zombies, oceanic atmosphere, and fantastic characters.
This was a book that took me by surprise! It’s a thick 500+ pages (which can be intimidating) and a good chunk of it is a slow burn (which can be demotivating). But I’m so grateful for that slow burn because C.A. Fletcher's Dead Water is a book you really want to settle into. You want to make yourself a hot cup of tea on a day when you’ve got nowhere to be and just float through the plot as if you're riding a lazy river. Next thing you know, that lazy river becomes fast-moving rapids and the plot is taking off!
Readers are introduced to a large cast of characters living on a Scottish fishing island accessible by ferry. Long story short, a curse is exhumed and the island’s population starts to dwindle as they are turned into–get this–not the Walking Dead but the "Walking Drowned". That’s right folks, water zombies!!!!!
For me personally, this book had so many great factors going for it. Norse folklore, the isolation trope, developed characters, small-town setting, a creative use of the zombie trope, and compelling prose. Not to mention there were plenty of moments in the book that sent chills down my spine (as someone who's terrified of zombies). The book felt a little reminiscent of the supernatural elements found in Dir. John Carpenter’s 1980 film The Fog while holding much of the slow-building dread of Dir. Mike Flanagan’s Netflix miniseries Midnight Mass. But the character development and storytelling reminded me very much of Stephen King's writing.
Dead Water was *chef’s kiss* perfection and I’m so glad I waited to be in the right mood to read it. And the right mood really is important for a book like this because you don’t want to pick it up expecting fast-paced action on a day you’re craving fast-paced action. This would be an excellent book to bring along for a relaxing Summer vacation near the beach.
If any of what I've just mentioned above grabs you, I recommend this one for the patient "thicc" book readers who love folk horror, zombies, oceanic atmosphere, and fantastic characters.
September 15, 2022
Oooh yeeeaaaah. A chunky slow burn of a watery horror-adjacent novel that's best dived into blind. Don't read the reviews before you read the book. Trust me.
I won't give anything away here so if you end up reading it, you gotta come back and tell me what you thought.
It's atmospheric and unhurried. The short chapters help you glide through the book pretty quickly despite it being so page-heavy. It's set on a pretty isolated island, so as the good stuff gets going it starts to feel a little claustrophobic. And it's very character heavy but that's not a bad thing in this case.
In tone and pacing, it reminded me a bit of The Town That Forgot To Breathe and The Shipbuilder of Bellfairie.
Go on. Get it. I think you'll really like it.
I won't give anything away here so if you end up reading it, you gotta come back and tell me what you thought.
It's atmospheric and unhurried. The short chapters help you glide through the book pretty quickly despite it being so page-heavy. It's set on a pretty isolated island, so as the good stuff gets going it starts to feel a little claustrophobic. And it's very character heavy but that's not a bad thing in this case.
In tone and pacing, it reminded me a bit of The Town That Forgot To Breathe and The Shipbuilder of Bellfairie.
Go on. Get it. I think you'll really like it.
July 7, 2022
1.5/5 stars
From the author of the beloved dystopian novel A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World comes a new, folklore inspired horror story, that unfortunately left me as cold and dead as the waters it centres on...
Synopsis
A water-borne blight hits an isolated community on a remote island on the edge of the Northern Atlantic. When ferry-services fail and all contact with the mainland is lost, a sense of paranoia and claustrophobia sets in. what is this strange affliction that is picking their community apart from the inside? Is it a biological illness, an ancient curse or something else entirely? And more importantly: can our cast of characters figure out the answers to these questions in time to escape this thread enclosing all around them?
What I liked:
On paper Dead Water had all the elements to be a new favourite. Isolated island setting: check. Folklore-inspired horror: check. Prioritising low-building psychological suspense over gore: double check. There’s even representation of a heroine with a physical disability and chronic pain, something I didn’t even know about before starting this read. There’s a nice sense of setting that is accentuated by the authors descriptive writing style.
Overall, here was the inspiration and set-up for a wonderful novel. Unfortunately that was all this story felt like to me: a set-up that asks a lot of investment from the reader, to ultimately never get completely off the ground.
What I didn’t like:
This books overall downfall was its pacing, that ranges from pedestrian at best, to glacial at its worst. It takes the story about until the 60% mark to really get to the advertised plot and suspense, which for a 500+ page novel is too much time to take for a “build up”. While I’m usually all about the slow burning stories, I actually found myself bored and unmotivated to pick the book back up. My thoughts began to drift whilst reading and my investment in the characters and the mystery dwindled the further I got. Even the atmospheric descriptions I loved to start with became repetitive over time: there’s only so many times you can read about ravens before feeling like you get the point by now.
Still, I was hoping for a phenomenal ending to make it worth the investment. Unfortunately; the ending was even less to my liking.
At about the 90% mark, the story start to pick up in pace, feeling very unbalanced when compared to everything before it. We end with a reveal that is a (admittedly quite cool) twist on a familiar trope, followed by a deus-ex-machina solution that felt like the author didn’t know how else to get their characters out of this mess.
Considering this author’s talent for creating atmosphere and the previous success of A Boy and his Dog at the End of the World, this story felt a few edits short of the version it could have been.
Many thanks to Little Brown Book Group for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
From the author of the beloved dystopian novel A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World comes a new, folklore inspired horror story, that unfortunately left me as cold and dead as the waters it centres on...
Synopsis
A water-borne blight hits an isolated community on a remote island on the edge of the Northern Atlantic. When ferry-services fail and all contact with the mainland is lost, a sense of paranoia and claustrophobia sets in. what is this strange affliction that is picking their community apart from the inside? Is it a biological illness, an ancient curse or something else entirely? And more importantly: can our cast of characters figure out the answers to these questions in time to escape this thread enclosing all around them?
What I liked:
On paper Dead Water had all the elements to be a new favourite. Isolated island setting: check. Folklore-inspired horror: check. Prioritising low-building psychological suspense over gore: double check. There’s even representation of a heroine with a physical disability and chronic pain, something I didn’t even know about before starting this read. There’s a nice sense of setting that is accentuated by the authors descriptive writing style.
Overall, here was the inspiration and set-up for a wonderful novel. Unfortunately that was all this story felt like to me: a set-up that asks a lot of investment from the reader, to ultimately never get completely off the ground.
What I didn’t like:
This books overall downfall was its pacing, that ranges from pedestrian at best, to glacial at its worst. It takes the story about until the 60% mark to really get to the advertised plot and suspense, which for a 500+ page novel is too much time to take for a “build up”. While I’m usually all about the slow burning stories, I actually found myself bored and unmotivated to pick the book back up. My thoughts began to drift whilst reading and my investment in the characters and the mystery dwindled the further I got. Even the atmospheric descriptions I loved to start with became repetitive over time: there’s only so many times you can read about ravens before feeling like you get the point by now.
Still, I was hoping for a phenomenal ending to make it worth the investment. Unfortunately; the ending was even less to my liking.
At about the 90% mark, the story start to pick up in pace, feeling very unbalanced when compared to everything before it. We end with a reveal that is a (admittedly quite cool) twist on a familiar trope, followed by a deus-ex-machina solution that felt like the author didn’t know how else to get their characters out of this mess.
Considering this author’s talent for creating atmosphere and the previous success of A Boy and his Dog at the End of the World, this story felt a few edits short of the version it could have been.
Many thanks to Little Brown Book Group for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own.
October 10, 2025
I really, really enjoyed this one. Bit of an abrupt ending, but honestly that can be mostly forgiven because of the excellent creeping tension.
I've had Dead Water on my radar for quite some time. When it came out, I saw quite a few mutuals online who hyped it up—the title, the cover, the description—and I was so excited. It sounded gothic adjacent, paranormal in a way I always love, and just plain atmospheric.
But then the reviews trickled in, and I let them sway me. (Don't let them do that! Learn from me, another random reviewer trying to sway you! Lol.) People said this was boring, too long, not exciting, not horror enough, not interesting enough, not "enough" enough.
I'm kind of at the point in my reading lifecycle where those kinds of negative reviews are almost like a siren call to me now. Usually, in my experience this means that a genre purist has found a book to be multi/hybrid genre and boyyy do they not like that. As a multi-genre person myself, I usually go OOooooo, alright, it's time for me.
Dead Water is one of those multi-genre feeling stories. A little bit literary, a little bit gothic, a little bit horror, a little bit small-town isolated community diary, and a little bit fable.
If you like book journeys where the point of the thing is to get a bone-deep sense of an entire community, this is the novel for you. The multiple POVs, the unflinching depictions of a large handful of flawed characters, their issues and wants and hates convalescing into one tangle with the backdrop of a creeping horror.... Yeah. That's the stuff. This literary-dominant atmospheric neo-Gothic northern island story is delicious if you're in it for the unfolding experience.
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I've had Dead Water on my radar for quite some time. When it came out, I saw quite a few mutuals online who hyped it up—the title, the cover, the description—and I was so excited. It sounded gothic adjacent, paranormal in a way I always love, and just plain atmospheric.
But then the reviews trickled in, and I let them sway me. (Don't let them do that! Learn from me, another random reviewer trying to sway you! Lol.) People said this was boring, too long, not exciting, not horror enough, not interesting enough, not "enough" enough.
I'm kind of at the point in my reading lifecycle where those kinds of negative reviews are almost like a siren call to me now. Usually, in my experience this means that a genre purist has found a book to be multi/hybrid genre and boyyy do they not like that. As a multi-genre person myself, I usually go OOooooo, alright, it's time for me.
Dead Water is one of those multi-genre feeling stories. A little bit literary, a little bit gothic, a little bit horror, a little bit small-town isolated community diary, and a little bit fable.
If you like book journeys where the point of the thing is to get a bone-deep sense of an entire community, this is the novel for you. The multiple POVs, the unflinching depictions of a large handful of flawed characters, their issues and wants and hates convalescing into one tangle with the backdrop of a creeping horror.... Yeah. That's the stuff. This literary-dominant atmospheric neo-Gothic northern island story is delicious if you're in it for the unfolding experience.
Blog | Instagram | Libro.fm Audiobooks
November 25, 2022
Wow that was disappointing...
Dead Water by C. A. Fletcher is more of a dying ember than a slow burn, and I'm honestly a bit pissed about it. I wish I hadn't wasted my time!
First of all, this book is 500 pages long, and it needed a good 200 of those pages snipped right out. No joke, Dead Water's plot doesn't really show up until AFTER the halfway mark. So there are like 300 pages of setup and what I can only describe as "atmosphere building".
And yeah, the atmosphere is definitely one of this book's strengths, but at a certain point, it also felt over-indulgent. We spend all this time lingering in places and languishing with people that the focus and plot of this narrative got lost somewhere along the way.
There are SO MANY unnecessary perspective shifts in this book that it was an absolute chore to read. I think the author wanted us, as readers, to feel like we were a part of this island community by forcing us to spend time with damn near all of it's residents. However, because there really is no plot and motivations are not explained, it left me feeling like I was at a party I couldn't wait to leave instead of one I didn't want to end.
I want to take a second to mention that the horror elements in this book just don't cut it. Especially with a page count this high, it's kinda embarrassing how little horror is here tbh.
Dead Water was frustratingly slow, but I soldiered on hoping I'd get to the good part.
Spoiler alert: it never got good.
Despite it's hefty page count, this book never really explained or clarified any aspect of it's mystery. There are hints of some kind of ancient, Nordic curse, but the few italicized sections that address it directly only make it more confusing. Why is there a curse, first of all? Second of all, why does it do what it does to people? Third of all, who made the tattoo/nipple skin book? And wtf with all the ravens???
It's an absolute goddamn shame that this book didn't come together like it should have. For some reason, I can't shake the feeling that this story was the retelling of a popular folktale that I'm just not familiar with. And maybe it was, but that wouldn't change the fact that this book, in a word, was disappointing.
I rated Dead Water by C. A. Fletcher 2.5 out of 5 stars.
The author's previous novel, A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World, is STUNNING. My recommendation is to read it and pretend this one doesn't exist.
You might like this if you like: creepy seaside towns.
Dead Water by C. A. Fletcher is more of a dying ember than a slow burn, and I'm honestly a bit pissed about it. I wish I hadn't wasted my time!
First of all, this book is 500 pages long, and it needed a good 200 of those pages snipped right out. No joke, Dead Water's plot doesn't really show up until AFTER the halfway mark. So there are like 300 pages of setup and what I can only describe as "atmosphere building".
And yeah, the atmosphere is definitely one of this book's strengths, but at a certain point, it also felt over-indulgent. We spend all this time lingering in places and languishing with people that the focus and plot of this narrative got lost somewhere along the way.
There are SO MANY unnecessary perspective shifts in this book that it was an absolute chore to read. I think the author wanted us, as readers, to feel like we were a part of this island community by forcing us to spend time with damn near all of it's residents. However, because there really is no plot and motivations are not explained, it left me feeling like I was at a party I couldn't wait to leave instead of one I didn't want to end.
I want to take a second to mention that the horror elements in this book just don't cut it. Especially with a page count this high, it's kinda embarrassing how little horror is here tbh.
Dead Water was frustratingly slow, but I soldiered on hoping I'd get to the good part.
Spoiler alert: it never got good.
Despite it's hefty page count, this book never really explained or clarified any aspect of it's mystery. There are hints of some kind of ancient, Nordic curse, but the few italicized sections that address it directly only make it more confusing. Why is there a curse, first of all? Second of all, why does it do what it does to people? Third of all, who made the tattoo/nipple skin book? And wtf with all the ravens???
It's an absolute goddamn shame that this book didn't come together like it should have. For some reason, I can't shake the feeling that this story was the retelling of a popular folktale that I'm just not familiar with. And maybe it was, but that wouldn't change the fact that this book, in a word, was disappointing.
I rated Dead Water by C. A. Fletcher 2.5 out of 5 stars.
The author's previous novel, A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World, is STUNNING. My recommendation is to read it and pretend this one doesn't exist.
You might like this if you like: creepy seaside towns.
February 14, 2025
The blurb for C.A. Fletcher’s Dead Water refers to a waterborne blight, which led me to believe the story would center around a pathogen in the water. In reality, it’s a zombie-like horror tale with folkloric undertones. Despite the misleading blurb, and the fact that I’m not the target audience for a zombie apocalypse story, I found myself enjoying Fletcher’s writing.
📚
Set on a small island off the coast of Scotland, Dead Water starts as a slow-burning character study, introducing nearly every island resident while little actually happens. Though the plot takes its time to emerge, the novel is well-written and atmospheric, with a haunting sense of place and a sinister undercurrent.
📚
The zombie action doesn’t kick in until about halfway through the book (and at over 500 pages, that’s quite a wait). The island’s inhabitants gradually transform into the drowned undead, attempting to drag the survivors down into the depths of the surrounding sea with them. Interwoven with the action are shorter chapters referencing an old Norse curse, which (sort of) explains the supernatural events.
📚
I probably shouldn’t have finished this book—I didn’t find the zombie storyline particularly convincing, I didn’t care for any of the characters (even the dogs annoyed me), and the ending left me unimpressed. Still, the eerie island setting was compelling, and Fletcher’s writing kept me turning the pages.
📚
📚
Set on a small island off the coast of Scotland, Dead Water starts as a slow-burning character study, introducing nearly every island resident while little actually happens. Though the plot takes its time to emerge, the novel is well-written and atmospheric, with a haunting sense of place and a sinister undercurrent.
📚
The zombie action doesn’t kick in until about halfway through the book (and at over 500 pages, that’s quite a wait). The island’s inhabitants gradually transform into the drowned undead, attempting to drag the survivors down into the depths of the surrounding sea with them. Interwoven with the action are shorter chapters referencing an old Norse curse, which (sort of) explains the supernatural events.
📚
I probably shouldn’t have finished this book—I didn’t find the zombie storyline particularly convincing, I didn’t care for any of the characters (even the dogs annoyed me), and the ending left me unimpressed. Still, the eerie island setting was compelling, and Fletcher’s writing kept me turning the pages.
📚
April 19, 2023
Slow, snail slow story. Very atmospheric, but slow.
I spent most of the story confused and just kept going. Two timelines, one in middle-aged and the now. Nothing really happened until like 60% , when it turns into water zombies and some curse from the middle ages.
I read reviews from pre readers where they said it was 500 pages, (now its 368) that it was way too long. I think it had way too many characters and I kept getting lost.
I suppose its classified as horror, but it wasn't that scary. I guess its gothic horror or mythological horror? I am not sure who I'd recommend this to. People who like long slow books and have the fear of water??
I spent most of the story confused and just kept going. Two timelines, one in middle-aged and the now. Nothing really happened until like 60% , when it turns into water zombies and some curse from the middle ages.
I read reviews from pre readers where they said it was 500 pages, (now its 368) that it was way too long. I think it had way too many characters and I kept getting lost.
I suppose its classified as horror, but it wasn't that scary. I guess its gothic horror or mythological horror? I am not sure who I'd recommend this to. People who like long slow books and have the fear of water??
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
August 27, 2022
I kind of enjoyed this but also it was a strange story that never really took off for me.
The group dynamic of characters is excellent and the descriptive style of writing appealed to me in the same way as it did with A Boy and his Dog one of my favourite books of its year. For whatever reason the central theme didn't resonate with me but I happily read it first page to last based on the quality writing.
The group dynamic of characters is excellent and the descriptive style of writing appealed to me in the same way as it did with A Boy and his Dog one of my favourite books of its year. For whatever reason the central theme didn't resonate with me but I happily read it first page to last based on the quality writing.
May 22, 2023
Full text review: https://jamreads.com/reviews/dead-wat...
Dead Water is a folkloric horror novel, written by C.A. Fletcher, and published by Orbit Books. A slow-burn story, which takes its time to build complex characters to later introduce the horror elements, making a great combination for those that loved horror in the style of Stephen King.
On a remote Scottish island, which is only accessible by ferry, we are introduced to a large cast of characters, each one with some secrets and flaws. Fletcher takes its time to introduce us to them, letting us observe how their lives were before a curse is unburied from the sea.
The island becomes aisled from the rest of the world, as a big storm hits and the communications are interrupted.
In this situation, the population starts to dwindle, getting attracted to the water and becoming Drowneds. The few survivors are having to deal with this situation without being aware of what is happening, thinking it's mostly a collective hysteria.
The aspect that worked better in this novel is how detailed and complex the characters become, something that later is used to generate a huge pay-off once the situation goes out of control; most of them are hugely flawed, and those flaws tend to act against them during the novel (we can think of Sigi as an example, who almost dies during to her diving activities).
Said that, this way of building characters affects heavily pacing, as approximately 50% of this novel is used for this aspect; but the payoff works well enough to don't think much about it.
Fletcher decides to go for the folkloric horror way, introducing elements related to the water and Norse mythology; those elements mixed with the aisled nature of the island are more than enough to create a really tense situation, diving into some of my favourite horror subgenres, the one that plays with human psychology.
If you like slow-burn horror, novels that have deeply developed characters, Dead Water is certainly a book you should read. A recommended novel for fans of Stephen King.
Dead Water is a folkloric horror novel, written by C.A. Fletcher, and published by Orbit Books. A slow-burn story, which takes its time to build complex characters to later introduce the horror elements, making a great combination for those that loved horror in the style of Stephen King.
On a remote Scottish island, which is only accessible by ferry, we are introduced to a large cast of characters, each one with some secrets and flaws. Fletcher takes its time to introduce us to them, letting us observe how their lives were before a curse is unburied from the sea.
The island becomes aisled from the rest of the world, as a big storm hits and the communications are interrupted.
In this situation, the population starts to dwindle, getting attracted to the water and becoming Drowneds. The few survivors are having to deal with this situation without being aware of what is happening, thinking it's mostly a collective hysteria.
The aspect that worked better in this novel is how detailed and complex the characters become, something that later is used to generate a huge pay-off once the situation goes out of control; most of them are hugely flawed, and those flaws tend to act against them during the novel (we can think of Sigi as an example, who almost dies during to her diving activities).
Said that, this way of building characters affects heavily pacing, as approximately 50% of this novel is used for this aspect; but the payoff works well enough to don't think much about it.
Fletcher decides to go for the folkloric horror way, introducing elements related to the water and Norse mythology; those elements mixed with the aisled nature of the island are more than enough to create a really tense situation, diving into some of my favourite horror subgenres, the one that plays with human psychology.
If you like slow-burn horror, novels that have deeply developed characters, Dead Water is certainly a book you should read. A recommended novel for fans of Stephen King.
November 14, 2022
Pretty let down by this one. I was super intrigued about a group of islanders who are infected by a water borne illness. Or so I thought.
Over the course of a weekend, where most of the islands population leave for a fun time, those staying behind run in to trouble in the form of a water curse.
So minor spoilers ahead due to my rant! Stop 🛑 reading 📖 now ❗️Or risk the story you might enjoy more than me🙂
Some unanswered questions don’t always annoy me. Not wrapping up the central part of the story bugs the crap out of me. I can deal with a few dangly strings that I can weave an ending to. This was not that.
Sparsely interwoven chapters tell of the Viking water curse. Not a water borne illness 🤦♀️The Viking backstory felt like the real story to me but was only a handful of scattered chapters throughout the here and now chapters. It’s like reverse 🔄 not sure how I can explain it really 🤔most of the books I read that flip POV between the here and now and the ‘then’ tend to use the historical to get you to understand why the now is happening but the focus of the story is still the here and now. Dead Water felt like the real story was the ‘then’ as that’s how the ending wraps up. With the Viking story. Yeah great whatever but what the hell happens in the here and now? Did you forget that’s still part of the story?
We learn almost from chapter 1 that someone dug up the cursed book. Well, not sure it’s a book or just a nipple covered piece of skin as the backstory claims. Not sure why the present keeps referring to it as a book. Did the folded skin curse evolve to a book? Did more untold horrors occur over the centuries? 😔 We never learn who digs it up or why. If the Viking and his family are the only ones who knew where this was buried, who dug it up??? Was it an inside familial betrayal? Was it descendants of those who placed the curse? If so, why now? We aren’t told of strife or continued war between the Water and Sand enemies (if you will). The story flirts all around the ‘detector’ who dug it up, describing clothes, actions, etc so we know what someone has done but never learn who or why.
Four adults and 3 children survive. Literally everyone else turns violent and tries to attack them or simply blanks out and walks in to the sea to drown. Sig, Matt, Magda and Kevo are the adults with wheelchair-bound teen Evie, new nurses son Tom and his infant stepsister Ruby. How will they explain all of the dead ☠️ people when the ferry shows up with the returning islanders? We don’t know cuz it ends by wrapping up the Vikings backstory. Yes, I know backstory is the key but it feels like it was the real story here that the author was trying to wrap up instead of what was happening in the present.
Sig’s husband died a few years (?) ago and she stayed on the island, not a native born. Sig is just crotchety as my MeeMaw would say. But making her the heroine was just weird. Apparently the females in Matt’s lineage are descendants of the Viking family. Sig married his cousin so not blood related yet the water Viking who emerges at the end to kill the zombies and really save the day speaks to her as if SHE is the direct descendant. It makes no sense at all.
Do the islanders know the history enough to NOT call police and BELIEVE this happened? IDK 🤷♀️ but probably not since even Sig herself didn’t believe in Matt’s second sight. Magda, another survivor isn’t a believer either.
Even after seeing, they still can’t grasp it. Kevo,the other surviving adult is the only one with the understanding that this is a water zombie apocalypse on this tiny 1-2 mile island. Oh btdubs Kevo is introduced to us at the beginning as a violent con newly released from prison out to get revenge on the ex girl who put him there, a non native born islander. Yet near the end we are expected to believe he is on step 9…repairing the past. All kumbaya right! Ok 👍
So many great reviews but I find myself on the other side of the fence with the uncut grass on this one 😂 Just so many contradictions and dangly strings.
Hope you enjoy it more than me 🤷♀️
Over the course of a weekend, where most of the islands population leave for a fun time, those staying behind run in to trouble in the form of a water curse.
So minor spoilers ahead due to my rant! Stop 🛑 reading 📖 now ❗️Or risk the story you might enjoy more than me🙂
Some unanswered questions don’t always annoy me. Not wrapping up the central part of the story bugs the crap out of me. I can deal with a few dangly strings that I can weave an ending to. This was not that.
Sparsely interwoven chapters tell of the Viking water curse. Not a water borne illness 🤦♀️The Viking backstory felt like the real story to me but was only a handful of scattered chapters throughout the here and now chapters. It’s like reverse 🔄 not sure how I can explain it really 🤔most of the books I read that flip POV between the here and now and the ‘then’ tend to use the historical to get you to understand why the now is happening but the focus of the story is still the here and now. Dead Water felt like the real story was the ‘then’ as that’s how the ending wraps up. With the Viking story. Yeah great whatever but what the hell happens in the here and now? Did you forget that’s still part of the story?
We learn almost from chapter 1 that someone dug up the cursed book. Well, not sure it’s a book or just a nipple covered piece of skin as the backstory claims. Not sure why the present keeps referring to it as a book. Did the folded skin curse evolve to a book? Did more untold horrors occur over the centuries? 😔 We never learn who digs it up or why. If the Viking and his family are the only ones who knew where this was buried, who dug it up??? Was it an inside familial betrayal? Was it descendants of those who placed the curse? If so, why now? We aren’t told of strife or continued war between the Water and Sand enemies (if you will). The story flirts all around the ‘detector’ who dug it up, describing clothes, actions, etc so we know what someone has done but never learn who or why.
Four adults and 3 children survive. Literally everyone else turns violent and tries to attack them or simply blanks out and walks in to the sea to drown. Sig, Matt, Magda and Kevo are the adults with wheelchair-bound teen Evie, new nurses son Tom and his infant stepsister Ruby. How will they explain all of the dead ☠️ people when the ferry shows up with the returning islanders? We don’t know cuz it ends by wrapping up the Vikings backstory. Yes, I know backstory is the key but it feels like it was the real story here that the author was trying to wrap up instead of what was happening in the present.
Sig’s husband died a few years (?) ago and she stayed on the island, not a native born. Sig is just crotchety as my MeeMaw would say. But making her the heroine was just weird. Apparently the females in Matt’s lineage are descendants of the Viking family. Sig married his cousin so not blood related yet the water Viking who emerges at the end to kill the zombies and really save the day speaks to her as if SHE is the direct descendant. It makes no sense at all.
Do the islanders know the history enough to NOT call police and BELIEVE this happened? IDK 🤷♀️ but probably not since even Sig herself didn’t believe in Matt’s second sight. Magda, another survivor isn’t a believer either.
Even after seeing, they still can’t grasp it. Kevo,the other surviving adult is the only one with the understanding that this is a water zombie apocalypse on this tiny 1-2 mile island. Oh btdubs Kevo is introduced to us at the beginning as a violent con newly released from prison out to get revenge on the ex girl who put him there, a non native born islander. Yet near the end we are expected to believe he is on step 9…repairing the past. All kumbaya right! Ok 👍
So many great reviews but I find myself on the other side of the fence with the uncut grass on this one 😂 Just so many contradictions and dangly strings.
Hope you enjoy it more than me 🤷♀️
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 24, 2025
There are a few interesting ideas in Dead Water, but they generally don't cohere as well as C. A. Fletcher may have wanted. The combination of folk and zombie horror is promising, but Dead Water fails to follow the internal logic that both of those genres depend on.
Case in point, there is an equivalent to the "bitten by a zombie" method of infection, but we see 3-5 different Patient Zeros who all zombify with different and often ambiguous causes. None of those seem to affect anybody else exposed to the same circumstances.
Similarly, the folk curse side of the plague doesn't really follow its own rules. The curse's language about being given "clean water" applying to plant-water spilled from a broken vase is a little dubious, but acceptable if that were all that was questionable. But then it goes on to say it will "first poison the oathbreakers and the liars"... but the first apparent infection is literally a dog. And none of the first affected Islanders, while not always pleasant, are people that I would call oathbreakers. Certainly no more than people who go unaffected.
There are also a lot of issues that I would really have expected to be fixed during revision and editing. A character picking up a cup two sentences in a row, vague pronouns obfuscating essential information, sentences that run on and on and on, and the like. They aren't incredibly distracting, but they do hurt the tone of a book already thin on atmosphere.
The plot is pretty barebones. A handful of people need to survive and reach safety while their world is collapsing around them. But this is par for the course in horror and only worth mentioning because of the other failings of Dead Water. There are a couple of moments where it feels like the scene exists only to indulge itself. It doesn't support the time or atmosphere, progress the plot, allow a character to change or introspect, or even inspire any particular emotion in the reader. It just exists. It doesn't even up the tension, it degrades it by putting a character very close to danger but never acknowledging, interacting with, or experiencing any consequence from the fact. So... how much danger can they really be in?
That's kind of how I feel about the book in general. It exists. I read it. It isn't offensive or inspiring. It just lingered a while and now it's gone.
Case in point, there is an equivalent to the "bitten by a zombie" method of infection, but we see 3-5 different Patient Zeros who all zombify with different and often ambiguous causes. None of those seem to affect anybody else exposed to the same circumstances.
Similarly, the folk curse side of the plague doesn't really follow its own rules. The curse's language about being given "clean water" applying to plant-water spilled from a broken vase is a little dubious, but acceptable if that were all that was questionable. But then it goes on to say it will "first poison the oathbreakers and the liars"... but the first apparent infection is literally a dog. And none of the first affected Islanders, while not always pleasant, are people that I would call oathbreakers. Certainly no more than people who go unaffected.
There are also a lot of issues that I would really have expected to be fixed during revision and editing. A character picking up a cup two sentences in a row, vague pronouns obfuscating essential information, sentences that run on and on and on, and the like. They aren't incredibly distracting, but they do hurt the tone of a book already thin on atmosphere.
The plot is pretty barebones. A handful of people need to survive and reach safety while their world is collapsing around them. But this is par for the course in horror and only worth mentioning because of the other failings of Dead Water. There are a couple of moments where it feels like the scene exists only to indulge itself. It doesn't support the time or atmosphere, progress the plot, allow a character to change or introspect, or even inspire any particular emotion in the reader. It just exists. It doesn't even up the tension, it degrades it by putting a character very close to danger but never acknowledging, interacting with, or experiencing any consequence from the fact. So... how much danger can they really be in?
That's kind of how I feel about the book in general. It exists. I read it. It isn't offensive or inspiring. It just lingered a while and now it's gone.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 15, 2022
Hi and welcome to my review of Dead Water!
I absolutely adored A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World by this author, so the second I heard of Dead Water, I knew I had to read it.
I added the blurb to this review because I always add the blurb, but I do feel it sort of misrepresents Dead Water. If you’ve been looking at reviews for this book, you may have noticed some lower ratings, mostly by readers who were waiting for all the stuff in the blurb to happen and felt it took too long to get there.
They’re not wrong, Dead Water does take its time setting the scene on this remote Scottish island, allowing its reader to get acquainted with its main characters by alternating points of view. So if you’re a reader who wants to be thrown in the deep end without any sort of warning, this is not that kind of story, it’s far more insidious than that.
I know they’re big shoes to fill but I’m going there anyway: as far as build-up and atmosphere go, Dead Water could have been written by Stephen King. We’ve all read at least one King novel that made us think: well that could have been a lot shorter. Should it have been, though, would we change it if we could? Of course we wouldn’t, it’s that build-up of suspense that makes the action that follows hit us even harder. You watch the clouds gather, hear the distant rumble, and wait for the storm to hit.
Dead Water is an understated, atmospheric, psychological kind of horror novel. If you’re in it for the gore and/or in-your-face horror elements, odds are this won’t be your cup of tea. However, that doesn’t mean there is no action. The pace increases along the way and in the second half there are quite a few on-the-edge-of-your-seat scenes that had me clasping my e-reader in suspense.
I had a great time with Dead Water. While I do enjoy a bookish gore fest from time to time, I also very much appreciate a more slow-burning and subtle horror novel and Dead Water is an excellent example of the latter. I won’t go into details concerning the plot, I went in with little information and few expectations because I honestly didn’t know what to expect, and it worked out brilliantly for me.
For readers who enjoyed A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World and are hoping for more of the same, I can only say that they do share that dystopian feel, but they are completely different books. I, for one, can’t wait to find out where C.A. Fletcher will take me next, but wherever he goes, this reader will follow.
Dead Water is out on 19 July in digital forms and on 21 July in hardcover and audio.
Many thanks to Orbit and NetGalley for the eARC. All opinions are my own.
I absolutely adored A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World by this author, so the second I heard of Dead Water, I knew I had to read it.
I added the blurb to this review because I always add the blurb, but I do feel it sort of misrepresents Dead Water. If you’ve been looking at reviews for this book, you may have noticed some lower ratings, mostly by readers who were waiting for all the stuff in the blurb to happen and felt it took too long to get there.
They’re not wrong, Dead Water does take its time setting the scene on this remote Scottish island, allowing its reader to get acquainted with its main characters by alternating points of view. So if you’re a reader who wants to be thrown in the deep end without any sort of warning, this is not that kind of story, it’s far more insidious than that.
I know they’re big shoes to fill but I’m going there anyway: as far as build-up and atmosphere go, Dead Water could have been written by Stephen King. We’ve all read at least one King novel that made us think: well that could have been a lot shorter. Should it have been, though, would we change it if we could? Of course we wouldn’t, it’s that build-up of suspense that makes the action that follows hit us even harder. You watch the clouds gather, hear the distant rumble, and wait for the storm to hit.
Dead Water is an understated, atmospheric, psychological kind of horror novel. If you’re in it for the gore and/or in-your-face horror elements, odds are this won’t be your cup of tea. However, that doesn’t mean there is no action. The pace increases along the way and in the second half there are quite a few on-the-edge-of-your-seat scenes that had me clasping my e-reader in suspense.
I had a great time with Dead Water. While I do enjoy a bookish gore fest from time to time, I also very much appreciate a more slow-burning and subtle horror novel and Dead Water is an excellent example of the latter. I won’t go into details concerning the plot, I went in with little information and few expectations because I honestly didn’t know what to expect, and it worked out brilliantly for me.
For readers who enjoyed A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World and are hoping for more of the same, I can only say that they do share that dystopian feel, but they are completely different books. I, for one, can’t wait to find out where C.A. Fletcher will take me next, but wherever he goes, this reader will follow.
Dead Water is out on 19 July in digital forms and on 21 July in hardcover and audio.
Many thanks to Orbit and NetGalley for the eARC. All opinions are my own.
August 10, 2022
At first, I had this down as a book I was not going to review, but then I decided against it.
Not entirely sure why I changed my mind, but I did. So, this is my review for Dead Water.
Well let me start off by telling you why I chose this book in the first place.
I think that it safe to say that any medical professional would immediately be curious about this synopsis.
“When a strange disorder begins to infect them all” that right there had my Spidey senses tingling.
“Strange disorder” “INFECT” (That word was the one that got me) what in the hell could be going on this book?
So! Downloaded the book, then what did I get? Slow burn is what I got.
Did I need all of the back stories, probably not? So, I put the book down, then picked it back up and this went on and on for many months. Now here we are back at this review.
So, we have these group of people on this remote island, cut off from the rest of humanity. Plagued by the very thing that A. they need to survive and B. the thing that they are literally surrounded by on all sides of them. “Water.” Not just water, but a water borne illness!
This book is dragged out over one weekend on this remote island, a fishing village that survives on tourism also.
Half the village has gone on the mainland, and half has stayed due to work or whatever reasoning has caused them to miss the last ferry. (Sounds like Staten Island a bit. No! New York has other ways off the Island, Thank God!)
During this time, the Telecom company is out there working on the wiring. They are supposed to making sure that the entire island is routed to the mainland. Instead, one of the workers cuts the wires and there is NO service whatsoever, leaving the islanders stranded.
Now this group of about 100 stranded individuals, have NO way off the island until Monday, and no way to call for help. This story follows the many points of view of the remaining islanders and what happens to people when there is no where for them to turn.
Especially when the “Drowned” cannot be killed!
This book gives you nothing but slow burn the entire first half, with an introduction to a host of characters, their POV’s, mixed with their secrets.
Fletcher does, however, give the perfect atmospheric world setting based on his novel. The Island is definitely creepy and water zombie enough.
The Island curse does give that Nordic/Viking touch, it just could have gone into more detail. You can never go wrong with a Viking tale.
The main dislike for me was the disability aspect.
Disabilities are never a hindrance, nor should they be portrayed as one.
People in wheelchairs, prosthetic limbs, crutches, etc... These all give Strength, Purpose, Survival, Mobility, Freedom, and most of all their Lives back. I’d give a point for including disability in the book. However, next time maybe work with disabled patients at the VA hospital. This way you see exactly how they feel. I promise you; they will not feel their chair as being “Stuck” or are a burden to anyone. Some can get around better than you or I.
Other than that, Overall, the book was good! Just long and a very slow start to get anywhere good.
Thank you, NetGalley/C.A. Fletcher/Redhook Books/Redhook
Not entirely sure why I changed my mind, but I did. So, this is my review for Dead Water.
Well let me start off by telling you why I chose this book in the first place.
I think that it safe to say that any medical professional would immediately be curious about this synopsis.
“When a strange disorder begins to infect them all” that right there had my Spidey senses tingling.
“Strange disorder” “INFECT” (That word was the one that got me) what in the hell could be going on this book?
So! Downloaded the book, then what did I get? Slow burn is what I got.
Did I need all of the back stories, probably not? So, I put the book down, then picked it back up and this went on and on for many months. Now here we are back at this review.
So, we have these group of people on this remote island, cut off from the rest of humanity. Plagued by the very thing that A. they need to survive and B. the thing that they are literally surrounded by on all sides of them. “Water.” Not just water, but a water borne illness!
This book is dragged out over one weekend on this remote island, a fishing village that survives on tourism also.
Half the village has gone on the mainland, and half has stayed due to work or whatever reasoning has caused them to miss the last ferry. (Sounds like Staten Island a bit. No! New York has other ways off the Island, Thank God!)
During this time, the Telecom company is out there working on the wiring. They are supposed to making sure that the entire island is routed to the mainland. Instead, one of the workers cuts the wires and there is NO service whatsoever, leaving the islanders stranded.
Now this group of about 100 stranded individuals, have NO way off the island until Monday, and no way to call for help. This story follows the many points of view of the remaining islanders and what happens to people when there is no where for them to turn.
Especially when the “Drowned” cannot be killed!
This book gives you nothing but slow burn the entire first half, with an introduction to a host of characters, their POV’s, mixed with their secrets.
Fletcher does, however, give the perfect atmospheric world setting based on his novel. The Island is definitely creepy and water zombie enough.
The Island curse does give that Nordic/Viking touch, it just could have gone into more detail. You can never go wrong with a Viking tale.
The main dislike for me was the disability aspect.
Disabilities are never a hindrance, nor should they be portrayed as one.
People in wheelchairs, prosthetic limbs, crutches, etc... These all give Strength, Purpose, Survival, Mobility, Freedom, and most of all their Lives back. I’d give a point for including disability in the book. However, next time maybe work with disabled patients at the VA hospital. This way you see exactly how they feel. I promise you; they will not feel their chair as being “Stuck” or are a burden to anyone. Some can get around better than you or I.
Other than that, Overall, the book was good! Just long and a very slow start to get anywhere good.
Thank you, NetGalley/C.A. Fletcher/Redhook Books/Redhook
July 25, 2022
Okay, so I am back again with a bit of the mixed feelings, friends! I was really exited for this one, and it wasn't bad, but it did drag a bit. So let's break down what I liked versus what didn't quite work for me!
What I Liked:
►The atmosphere was perfect. You knew you were on a creepyass island, and you knew it wasn't going to go well, from page one. Basically all the things that can go wrong on the island do, and you have a very real sense of ominousness from the beginning.
►I did grow to really like the characters and their stories. Despite having like, roughly three hundred and thirty five points of view characters, I ended up quite enamored with some of their stories! Not all, mind, because again, so many, but the more significant ones certainly.
►The story really picked up around the 75% mark. Here's the thing: it did get good! And I did end up feeling more positive about it than negative. But really, how many readers are going to stick with it through the slow bits? I can't say much about the end obviously, but it was at least an exciting conclusion.
What I Struggled With:
►Honestly it was just too slow. Especially at the beginning, I was just flat out bored. We're hearing from every fool on this island and I felt like it was overkill. Too much description, not enough plot movement. And the thing is, it really did have some good moments, that would have packed a lot more of a punch had some of the extraneous bits been pared down.
►The whole island had a turn to be a featured character. Look, I can deal with a handful of POV characters. But genuinely characters who really ended up either having nothing whatsoever to do with the plot, or whose stories didn't end up being resolved in the end, had chapters of needless narration. There were even some POVs from birds and you guys know how I feel about that.
Bottom Line: Certainly atmospheric, and with a cast of characters that grew on me, this one moved a bit slower and with much detail- for better, and for worse.
You can find the full review and all the fancy and/or randomness that accompanies it at It Starts at Midnight
What I Liked:
►The atmosphere was perfect. You knew you were on a creepyass island, and you knew it wasn't going to go well, from page one. Basically all the things that can go wrong on the island do, and you have a very real sense of ominousness from the beginning.
►I did grow to really like the characters and their stories. Despite having like, roughly three hundred and thirty five points of view characters, I ended up quite enamored with some of their stories! Not all, mind, because again, so many, but the more significant ones certainly.
►The story really picked up around the 75% mark. Here's the thing: it did get good! And I did end up feeling more positive about it than negative. But really, how many readers are going to stick with it through the slow bits? I can't say much about the end obviously, but it was at least an exciting conclusion.
What I Struggled With:
►Honestly it was just too slow. Especially at the beginning, I was just flat out bored. We're hearing from every fool on this island and I felt like it was overkill. Too much description, not enough plot movement. And the thing is, it really did have some good moments, that would have packed a lot more of a punch had some of the extraneous bits been pared down.
►The whole island had a turn to be a featured character. Look, I can deal with a handful of POV characters. But genuinely characters who really ended up either having nothing whatsoever to do with the plot, or whose stories didn't end up being resolved in the end, had chapters of needless narration. There were even some POVs from birds and you guys know how I feel about that.
Bottom Line: Certainly atmospheric, and with a cast of characters that grew on me, this one moved a bit slower and with much detail- for better, and for worse.
You can find the full review and all the fancy and/or randomness that accompanies it at It Starts at Midnight
July 25, 2022
"Dead Water" is one hell of an exciting story that takes place on a small island with a hundred inhabitants who live off fishing and a bit of tourism. For one weekend, half of the residents travel to the mainland. Those who find it difficult to move, who have to work and who have just come to the island to start a new life or to try their old life again stay on the island, stay on the island.
The story follows the actions of those left on the island and the incidents that happen to them. In addition, there are also a couple of ravens monitoring what is happening on the island, and they have noticed the malevolent darkness that has appeared on the island, which has affected both animals and people. Someone has broken down an old seamark, Viking cairn, and it seems that something has also been found under it, which should have been left alone. A vest is also found washed up on the beach, with a metal box in the pocket containing a folder made of a strange material, full of strange writing. Employees of a telecommunications company come to the island, which should improve the internet connection on the island, but due to a stupid mistake, they cut off the island from net altogether.
Even if the book has been labeled as horror by readers, it's more of a psychological thriller with horror elements, and although the beginning is slow, introducing all the main characters, their backstories, secrets and the island itself, and the suspense builds calmly until it reaches the climax and the whole story is very cinematic, it was seriously good to read. It was similar to how the main character thinks about diving, that at first the air in the divers lungs drags them back to the surface, and then from a certain depth, gravity grabs the diver and starts to drag them down - when you start reading, the story doesn't seem particularly engaging, but once it gets a hold of you, it's very difficult get out again.
The story follows the actions of those left on the island and the incidents that happen to them. In addition, there are also a couple of ravens monitoring what is happening on the island, and they have noticed the malevolent darkness that has appeared on the island, which has affected both animals and people. Someone has broken down an old seamark, Viking cairn, and it seems that something has also been found under it, which should have been left alone. A vest is also found washed up on the beach, with a metal box in the pocket containing a folder made of a strange material, full of strange writing. Employees of a telecommunications company come to the island, which should improve the internet connection on the island, but due to a stupid mistake, they cut off the island from net altogether.
Even if the book has been labeled as horror by readers, it's more of a psychological thriller with horror elements, and although the beginning is slow, introducing all the main characters, their backstories, secrets and the island itself, and the suspense builds calmly until it reaches the climax and the whole story is very cinematic, it was seriously good to read. It was similar to how the main character thinks about diving, that at first the air in the divers lungs drags them back to the surface, and then from a certain depth, gravity grabs the diver and starts to drag them down - when you start reading, the story doesn't seem particularly engaging, but once it gets a hold of you, it's very difficult get out again.
October 10, 2023
It was okay but not my kind of book. Definitely not a horror book as it’s meant to be.
November 30, 2022
A variety of people on a small island in the North Atlantic are featured in this quiet story. We meet:
-Sig, who's full of guilt and grief after her beloved husband died,
-Matt, Sig's brother-in-law, with whom she has an argumentative relationship because of her grief-induced behaviour, including a solo climbing accident where she badly broke one of her legs
-Rex, Sig's stouthearted dog
-Evie, Sig's niece by marriage who's recovering from a car crash that killed her parents,
-Tom, newly arrived on the island with his divorced father and new wife and baby half-sister, and
-Kevo, an ex-con newly arrived on the island to reunite with a former girlfriend
There are several other characters, but most play supporting roles, and end up essentially becoming fodder when a malevolent, ancient curse is released on the island, transforming those it takes over into essentially zombies.
The first half of this quiet book has a measured pace, allowing you to get comfortable with the characters' lives. The author delivers a slow build of suspense; the book is atmospheric, claustrophobic, and has a great sense of growing dread.
I liked how C.A. Fletcher gave me time to care about the characters, before destroying the peace and safety of the island in the back half of the book when the pace picked up. Though this was not a gore fest, there were enough sudden deaths and mayhem to keep me worried about the main cast.
I had no idea what to expect from this author's work, as I haven't yet read "A Boy and His Dog", but I thoroughly enjoyed this creepy and disturbing pleasure.
Thank you to Netgalley and to Redhook Books for this ARC in exchange for my review.
-Sig, who's full of guilt and grief after her beloved husband died,
-Matt, Sig's brother-in-law, with whom she has an argumentative relationship because of her grief-induced behaviour, including a solo climbing accident where she badly broke one of her legs
-Rex, Sig's stouthearted dog
-Evie, Sig's niece by marriage who's recovering from a car crash that killed her parents,
-Tom, newly arrived on the island with his divorced father and new wife and baby half-sister, and
-Kevo, an ex-con newly arrived on the island to reunite with a former girlfriend
There are several other characters, but most play supporting roles, and end up essentially becoming fodder when a malevolent, ancient curse is released on the island, transforming those it takes over into essentially zombies.
The first half of this quiet book has a measured pace, allowing you to get comfortable with the characters' lives. The author delivers a slow build of suspense; the book is atmospheric, claustrophobic, and has a great sense of growing dread.
I liked how C.A. Fletcher gave me time to care about the characters, before destroying the peace and safety of the island in the back half of the book when the pace picked up. Though this was not a gore fest, there were enough sudden deaths and mayhem to keep me worried about the main cast.
I had no idea what to expect from this author's work, as I haven't yet read "A Boy and His Dog", but I thoroughly enjoyed this creepy and disturbing pleasure.
Thank you to Netgalley and to Redhook Books for this ARC in exchange for my review.
May 9, 2025
"she knows that it's a curse now, knows it's more than a hostile darkness, knows it has a kind of predatory will, knows it has a sort of unchallengable belief in its own inevitability, an ancient malign entitlement. It has no words, it does not speak to her, but she can feel the shape of its sense of itself butting up against her: it is a curse, and what is cursed will be, for what can stand against a curse?"
After thoroughly enjoying 'A Boy and His Dog at the End of The World' by CA Fletcher, I was very excited to get into this book, especially considering that it shares a similar Scottish Isle setting. This one definitely skews more horror than apocalyptic, and is significantly longer, but the craggy, isolated island vibes and familiar writing style are definitely still there.
Dead Water tells the tale of a remote Scottish Isle, accessible only by an intermittent ferry from the mainland, focusing mainly on the residents of the island, and their interconnected stories within this small community. We experience grief and its aftermath, neighbors helping neighbors, marriages and relationships breaking, and the intricacies of aging and being lonely on an island in the middle of nowhere - and this is all before the conflict of the book even begins! An ancient curse is unwittingly released on the island, which is coupled with a sky-opening storm and the communication to/from the island failing - a 'perfect storm' of sorts. The curse, without going into too much detail or spoiling the plot, turns people into 'water zombies' at its simplest, turning them into mindless creatures roving the isle and attempting to drag people into the deeps of the rough oceans surrounding the island.
At 500+ pages, this was a LONG read, although it didn't really drag for me, I have heard others mention that the introductory portion and buildup to the curse taking hold of the island was excessively lengthy - I didn't really share this viewpoint, although as mentioned, I very much enjoyed the setting and the characters. I think having family from Scotland, I take particular enjoyment from reading some of the descriptions of the gray, bleak island setting, the little idiosyncrasies linguistically, etc. My only qualm with the length is that once the curse/plague took hold, it had been so long since the beginning of the book that the ramp/up in tension and horror/drama felt out of place, if that makes any sense. The short chapters and ensemble cast of characters definitely helped the pages to fly by though.
I'm not too familiar with 'folk horror' as an overarching genre, but this definitely wasn't conventional, keep-you-up-at-night horror writing. I think it was more akin to a thriller, based on what I've read in the past. Certainly zombie-ish horror elements at the end though! CA Fletcher does a good job of balancing exposition and description with dialogue, and despite the slow pacing, there is enough going on with the various characters to keep the plot moving steadily. I specifically liked the way that both Matt and Sig were written, and it was an interesting dynamic to explore.
At the beginning of of each 'part' of the book, each part being composed of approximately 15 chapters, excerpts from some type of Norse Mythology were used to explain the origins of the water-borne curse inflicted upon the island. I wasn't huge on these and ended up mostly just skimming them.
Overall, 4/5, very atmospheric and took its time introducing the characters and growing your interest in them. Avoided several tired tropes that zombie-type books typically fall prey to. Well-written and engaging throughout. My only knocks would be the length seemed slightly excessive, and the Norse Mythology portions didn't really do it for me
After thoroughly enjoying 'A Boy and His Dog at the End of The World' by CA Fletcher, I was very excited to get into this book, especially considering that it shares a similar Scottish Isle setting. This one definitely skews more horror than apocalyptic, and is significantly longer, but the craggy, isolated island vibes and familiar writing style are definitely still there.
Dead Water tells the tale of a remote Scottish Isle, accessible only by an intermittent ferry from the mainland, focusing mainly on the residents of the island, and their interconnected stories within this small community. We experience grief and its aftermath, neighbors helping neighbors, marriages and relationships breaking, and the intricacies of aging and being lonely on an island in the middle of nowhere - and this is all before the conflict of the book even begins! An ancient curse is unwittingly released on the island, which is coupled with a sky-opening storm and the communication to/from the island failing - a 'perfect storm' of sorts. The curse, without going into too much detail or spoiling the plot, turns people into 'water zombies' at its simplest, turning them into mindless creatures roving the isle and attempting to drag people into the deeps of the rough oceans surrounding the island.
At 500+ pages, this was a LONG read, although it didn't really drag for me, I have heard others mention that the introductory portion and buildup to the curse taking hold of the island was excessively lengthy - I didn't really share this viewpoint, although as mentioned, I very much enjoyed the setting and the characters. I think having family from Scotland, I take particular enjoyment from reading some of the descriptions of the gray, bleak island setting, the little idiosyncrasies linguistically, etc. My only qualm with the length is that once the curse/plague took hold, it had been so long since the beginning of the book that the ramp/up in tension and horror/drama felt out of place, if that makes any sense. The short chapters and ensemble cast of characters definitely helped the pages to fly by though.
I'm not too familiar with 'folk horror' as an overarching genre, but this definitely wasn't conventional, keep-you-up-at-night horror writing. I think it was more akin to a thriller, based on what I've read in the past. Certainly zombie-ish horror elements at the end though! CA Fletcher does a good job of balancing exposition and description with dialogue, and despite the slow pacing, there is enough going on with the various characters to keep the plot moving steadily. I specifically liked the way that both Matt and Sig were written, and it was an interesting dynamic to explore.
At the beginning of of each 'part' of the book, each part being composed of approximately 15 chapters, excerpts from some type of Norse Mythology were used to explain the origins of the water-borne curse inflicted upon the island. I wasn't huge on these and ended up mostly just skimming them.
Overall, 4/5, very atmospheric and took its time introducing the characters and growing your interest in them. Avoided several tired tropes that zombie-type books typically fall prey to. Well-written and engaging throughout. My only knocks would be the length seemed slightly excessive, and the Norse Mythology portions didn't really do it for me
October 24, 2025
3.0/5
I love folk horror and even enjoy slow-burns (Andrew Michael Hurley is a favorite) but this book missed the mark. The pacing is excruciatingly slow for the majority of this 528-page novel. Most of the action is packed into the last quarter of the book and by then I was beyond exasperated. The concept of a remote Scottish isle, its reclusive inhabitants inflicted by an insidious waterborne blight, is intriguing. Sadly, the execution just didn’t work for me.
I love folk horror and even enjoy slow-burns (Andrew Michael Hurley is a favorite) but this book missed the mark. The pacing is excruciatingly slow for the majority of this 528-page novel. Most of the action is packed into the last quarter of the book and by then I was beyond exasperated. The concept of a remote Scottish isle, its reclusive inhabitants inflicted by an insidious waterborne blight, is intriguing. Sadly, the execution just didn’t work for me.
September 27, 2025
A slow-burn horror with some fantastic character development, set on an isolated Scottish island - what’s not to like?
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July 14, 2022Thank you so much to Orbit for the early copy, all opinions are my own.
Unfortunately I have decided to DNF this one at least for the time being. I made it halfway through before deciding to put it down. It was a bit too heavy and dark for what I wanted to read at the time. I had a hard time trying to keep the many characters straight in my head. While this excelled at being atmospheric, and the author had obviously spent time setting the scene of this town, I just wasn't interested in the spooky/horror aspect at all.
This has a slowly creeping plot, with lots of groundwork and characters to keep track of, and I think it will work for many readers, but I think I just happened to pick this one up at the wrong time. I'm hoping to pick it back up again in the future to give it another shot though!
Thanks again to Orbit for the early copy!
Unfortunately I have decided to DNF this one at least for the time being. I made it halfway through before deciding to put it down. It was a bit too heavy and dark for what I wanted to read at the time. I had a hard time trying to keep the many characters straight in my head. While this excelled at being atmospheric, and the author had obviously spent time setting the scene of this town, I just wasn't interested in the spooky/horror aspect at all.
This has a slowly creeping plot, with lots of groundwork and characters to keep track of, and I think it will work for many readers, but I think I just happened to pick this one up at the wrong time. I'm hoping to pick it back up again in the future to give it another shot though!
Thanks again to Orbit for the early copy!
July 16, 2022
Thank you to Redhook for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.
CONTENT WARNING: death of a parent (off-page), gore, suicide, death of a child, grief, trauma, violence, mention of miscarriage
I have a few confessions to make before starting my review. First of all, I know I often loudly proclaim that I absolutely do not read horror, but this one definitely came across more as what I like to think of as “horror lite.” It was delightfully “creeptastic,” as I described it to a friend, and while it was more spooky and creepy, it wasn’t the kind of horror that is going to keep me from sleeping at night, and peering around dark corners of my house, petrified for my life, much like Fletcher’s other book (A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World). Second of all, as someone who values alone time and lives very close to a metropolitan area, I’ve absolutely dreamed of picking up and moving to an isolated island in the middle of nowhere. After reading this book, I’ve reevaluated that dream, and will most likely not be fantasizing about that in the near future.
The pace is admittedly extremely slow-burn for the first half of the book. It gave me time to familiarize myself with the people who were on the island, and the third-person narrative allowed me to get to know not only who these people were and what they were going through, but what they were all thinking and feeling. I liked it, and despite the fact that there was a pretty wide range of characters introduced, it never felt overwhelming. It also provided room for me to get to know which of the characters would be main characters in this narrative, some of whom I definitely liked more than others. Not all of the characters are what I’d call “good guys,” and every single one of our characters is complex and flawed in different ways. As always, they’re each keeping secrets, and it’s part of what continually draws me into the small town dynamic—my curiosity about what people are hiding from the people they come into contact with every day.
There are also some flashbacks interspersed, which play a major role in explaining how the current situation has developed and why. I found them to be intriguing, and loved the way everything came full circle by the ending.
Throughout the story, there’s a building of tension. The elements of weather and loss of ability to communicate with the outside world only serve to further the sense of isolation that increases throughout the story, which leads to the need for various people to work through their individual differences and cooperate in order to survive. There’s action once you hit the midpoint of the novel, and after that it was nonstop. I found myself unable to put the book down until I reached the finish, and felt completely satisfied, if more than a little unnerved by the ending.
One of the things that I especially appreciated about this novel is that there were several prominent characters with disabilities. One has a mobility issue, another is in a wheelchair, and two are hearing impaired, although the ways that they have adapted and coped with their disabilities are front and center in this story. There aren’t any magical fixes, and it doesn’t render them powerless or superhuman, they’re just ordinary people placed in difficult situations, and they function as best they can.
As my first foray into folk horror, I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked it, although I am definitely a bit off-center today and probably won’t be delving too much further into the genre simply because I’m a wuss who enjoys sleep more than being scared out of my mind, if that makes any sense. However, this book was more creepy and suspenseful, rather than being overly scary, and I can confidently say that I fully loved this book and will be recommending it to all my horror-loving friends (and a few who may be on the fence about horror, like myself).
CONTENT WARNING: death of a parent (off-page), gore, suicide, death of a child, grief, trauma, violence, mention of miscarriage
I have a few confessions to make before starting my review. First of all, I know I often loudly proclaim that I absolutely do not read horror, but this one definitely came across more as what I like to think of as “horror lite.” It was delightfully “creeptastic,” as I described it to a friend, and while it was more spooky and creepy, it wasn’t the kind of horror that is going to keep me from sleeping at night, and peering around dark corners of my house, petrified for my life, much like Fletcher’s other book (A Boy and His Dog at the End of the World). Second of all, as someone who values alone time and lives very close to a metropolitan area, I’ve absolutely dreamed of picking up and moving to an isolated island in the middle of nowhere. After reading this book, I’ve reevaluated that dream, and will most likely not be fantasizing about that in the near future.
The pace is admittedly extremely slow-burn for the first half of the book. It gave me time to familiarize myself with the people who were on the island, and the third-person narrative allowed me to get to know not only who these people were and what they were going through, but what they were all thinking and feeling. I liked it, and despite the fact that there was a pretty wide range of characters introduced, it never felt overwhelming. It also provided room for me to get to know which of the characters would be main characters in this narrative, some of whom I definitely liked more than others. Not all of the characters are what I’d call “good guys,” and every single one of our characters is complex and flawed in different ways. As always, they’re each keeping secrets, and it’s part of what continually draws me into the small town dynamic—my curiosity about what people are hiding from the people they come into contact with every day.
There are also some flashbacks interspersed, which play a major role in explaining how the current situation has developed and why. I found them to be intriguing, and loved the way everything came full circle by the ending.
Throughout the story, there’s a building of tension. The elements of weather and loss of ability to communicate with the outside world only serve to further the sense of isolation that increases throughout the story, which leads to the need for various people to work through their individual differences and cooperate in order to survive. There’s action once you hit the midpoint of the novel, and after that it was nonstop. I found myself unable to put the book down until I reached the finish, and felt completely satisfied, if more than a little unnerved by the ending.
One of the things that I especially appreciated about this novel is that there were several prominent characters with disabilities. One has a mobility issue, another is in a wheelchair, and two are hearing impaired, although the ways that they have adapted and coped with their disabilities are front and center in this story. There aren’t any magical fixes, and it doesn’t render them powerless or superhuman, they’re just ordinary people placed in difficult situations, and they function as best they can.
As my first foray into folk horror, I was pleasantly surprised at how much I liked it, although I am definitely a bit off-center today and probably won’t be delving too much further into the genre simply because I’m a wuss who enjoys sleep more than being scared out of my mind, if that makes any sense. However, this book was more creepy and suspenseful, rather than being overly scary, and I can confidently say that I fully loved this book and will be recommending it to all my horror-loving friends (and a few who may be on the fence about horror, like myself).
May 8, 2022
Such a slow burner to start, that I began to doubt it was ever going to take off.
I should have had more faith, the writer was just setting the scene and getting us to know the characters before everything goes more than a bit wrong.
Pace really picks up, as does creepiness levels, making me glad for the slow introduction I getting to know these people and how they think.
This book wasn't quite what I expected, but I was pleasantly surprised by it.
I should have had more faith, the writer was just setting the scene and getting us to know the characters before everything goes more than a bit wrong.
Pace really picks up, as does creepiness levels, making me glad for the slow introduction I getting to know these people and how they think.
This book wasn't quite what I expected, but I was pleasantly surprised by it.
June 29, 2022
Well, well
My thanks to the author, C.A. Fletcher, Hachette Books Group and Goodreads Giveaways for this Digital Galley Edition. What makes me chuckle is that I was prepared to not like or enjoy this book. Instead, the story kept me involved enough that I made extra time in my day to finish it. The characters were good with enough insight given to make their actions and decisions relatable. A small island community, reliant upon a ferry to connect them to civilization, faces an ancient curse. It got a five star rating from me.
My thanks to the author, C.A. Fletcher, Hachette Books Group and Goodreads Giveaways for this Digital Galley Edition. What makes me chuckle is that I was prepared to not like or enjoy this book. Instead, the story kept me involved enough that I made extra time in my day to finish it. The characters were good with enough insight given to make their actions and decisions relatable. A small island community, reliant upon a ferry to connect them to civilization, faces an ancient curse. It got a five star rating from me.
July 29, 2022
A zombie-esque tale with images that will continue to haunt you well after you've finished the book. The characters not only drive the story but their richness and stories pull you fully into their world. Beautifully creepy and worth the read.
May 5, 2023
This was... okay.
November 15, 2023
I love a good character study but this book was Too Dang Long
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