Fathomless by Greig Beck
My rating: ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ Very Good
Carcharodon Megalodon – the largest and most fearsome predator to have ever existed on our planet. Rumors of its existence in our modern oceans have persisted for centuries. Now, in a new adventure, the rumors explode into brutal and terrifying reality in FATHOMLESS, by GREIG BECK.
Baranof Island, Gulf of Alaska, 1952
Jim Granger is searching for a place of legend. Known as ‘Bad Water’ by the island’s elders, it’s reputed to be home to many dangerous creatures. Through a seam in a cliff face, Jim finds what he seeks. He also finds, too late, that the water demon he was warned about is horrifyingly real.Today, Cate Granger is following in her grandfather’s footsteps. Along with a team of scientists and crew, she accidentally releases a creature from Earth’s primordial past into today’s oceans. The giant Megalodon shark follows its instinct and a genetic memory of a home that once existed millions of years ago along the Californian coast. Nothing is safe on or below the water as the monster stakes its claim on the world’s oceans.
Now Cate and her team must do battle with a creature that has no rival, knows no fear, and regards humans as nothing more than prey.
This is a quite okay thriller/fantasy book from Greig Beck. It is a wee bit like Jaws on steroids. Big chark…check. Stuck on boat…check. Shark jumps onto boat…check. Shark wrecks boat…check. Shark…oh no, that would be a spoiler. Anyway, I quite liked it.
Greig Beck must have some kind of love for dark and musty places deep under ground and preferably with some underground lake in them. At least it is a recurring theme in his books. Although the shark plays the center role in the book there is a lot more to the book than the shark. The author throws in a little bit of Journey to the Center of the Earth as well. As there often is in Greig Beck’s book there is a bit of scientific explanation as well to make the incredible somewhat less incredible.
I quite liked the characters, especially the Russian billionaire and his female assistant and protector, not to mention the Russian harpooner. Most of the other characters were quite good as well.
There is a nice mix between suspension, mystery research and action as well as a twist or two. I really felt like I wanted to read the next page to see what came next most of the time.
There were a few things that I did not like that much. Mild spoiler ahead. The first one was the use of thermonuclear devices for the dual purpose of sabotage and prevention of future access. Can you say overkill? That was just over the top. No one noticed that someone threw nuclear weapons around, seriously, even in Alaska that is just a joke. Governments all over the world would be up in arms about a nuclear device going off above ground.
The other thing I did not like was the green fanatics showing up sabotaging everything. Apart from the fact that I do not like fanatics very much these ones where possibly even dumber than they usually are. Especially their dumb ass leader annoyed the bloody hell out of me. These green assholes kind of sabotaged not only our heroes’ plans but a lot of the last part of the book for me as well.
Otherwise, as I wrote above I quite liked the book. The ending? Well it was a bit unimaginative. That has to be said. Standard horror movie type ending straight out of the box.
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