Club Loser are back and this time, Year 8 are enjoying the summer with a boat trip off the coast of the south of France aboard the Melusine, there to learn about life beneath the ocean. However, it isn't long before strange things begin to happen, beginning with Angelo's possible sighting of an unknown shadow on the monitor. Then, when everybody is called to the restaurant after something hits the boat, the team know that things really aren't what they seem. When Captain Boyère announces that the ship is sinking and needs to be evacuated, the team know that something strange is afoot. But what is the shadowy creature lurking beneath the waves? Who is the unknown person aboard the ship? And can Club Loser save the day before it's too late?
Coming home from a week away always brings on the post-holiday blues so I was thrilled to find a copy of Deadly Deep waiting for me as I opened the door. Fortunately, I had finished a book on the flight home, so this automatically jumped to the top of my reading pile. After my scary experience reading Flock Horror (you can read my review and exploits here), I chose to begin reading Deadly Deep in the morning with the sun just about shining and far away from the ocean! I'll say now that I simply couldn't put the book down and I devoured the whole thing before sunset!
The book begins with rather wonderful descriptions of French sunshine, calm waters, warm weather and the promise of a wonderful trip for Year 8 but I wasn't fooled and knew that at some point, things would change despite the Latchitts being locked up. Jennifer Killick is, after all, the queen of MG horror and knows how to write the best scary books! And she didn't disappoint, from sinister shadows and sinking ships to new adversaries and life-threatening adventures, Deadly Deep shows that the Dread Wood series just gets better and better.
Once again, every member of Club Loser is completely relatable to readers and their characteristics, as well as the way they talk, are captured so perfectly by Jennifer that you can almost hear them as you read. She has a way of writing speech that brings characters to life and makes them completely believable, balancing the danger with bouts of humour (Gus, in particular, made me snigger this time with his one-liners and I now have a burning desire for a pair of sicks and some artisan fudge!). For Angelo, this is the trip of a lifetime and his in depth knowledge of sea creatures proves both embarrassing (that shark discussion with Ms Huxley...) and incredibly useful to him and his friends. I would be remis of me not to mention Mr C again; I know I've talked about him before, but he's just genius as a character and somebody I think every reader would love to have as a teacher. He is my hero! I may not have a bumbag but I do now have my own hot choccie station in my office for students! His phrasing is genius and I can imagine that he must be a dream to write. Then there are the new characters to mention, devious and creepy, I'm not giving anything away but a certain character made my stomach churn.
I can't really finish this review without mentioning Karen! Scary and one of a kind, Karen is certainly a force to be reckoned with and there are a few lines that refer to Karen that I'll be printing out to put up in the office next term!!
Publishing 31st August, Deadly Deep is yet another triumph of a book for Jennifer Killick; full of tension, tentacles and terrifying twists with perfectly balanced bouts of humour, it's an unputdownable read that will have readers on the edge of their seats.
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