Book Review: Secrets of the Deep by James Churchill

SECRETS OF THE DEEP by James Churchill
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

An unusual underwater tale of mystery and horror involving a long-lost WWII German U-boat.

Markos and Jem, two divers on what appears to be a research or recovery vessel, unexpectedly find a long-lost WWII German U-boat, one that seems to have been hidden for 80 years and guarded from discovery by the sea itself. Inside is the captain and its original crew; time seems to have stopped for them, waiting to hand off the responsibility they’ve so faithfully executed all this time.

In Secrets of the Deep by James Churchill, the sea is a timeless, all-powerful, and sentient entity, protective and in charge of what occurs in the plot. It guides and informs the actions of the two main characters, Dr. Markos Leonides and his diving partner, Jem Taner, from the moment Markos makes his initial dive in the Aegean, where U-527 waits. In the story, the sea recognizes Markos as the one to decide what must be done: safeguard a secret older than mankind’s written history, or release it into the world, altering everything known about life.

We know little about the main characters prior to the dive; they’ve obviously worked together in the past, as they have an ongoing disagreement about something that happened on a previous dive and seem to have developed camaraderie. Jem is Turkish, but we don’t even know Markos’s full name or that he has earned the prefix of Dr. until much later in the story. His identity is initially confusing because his name is presented using a non-English alphabet. But we do know that they are both affected, changed by their experiences underwater, and they believe this to be true, especially for Markos, who is the one most connected to the consciousness of the sea.

The sea compels them and their vessel into an area of water believed to be unlucky or cursed, and definitely to be avoided by those who spend their lives on the water, where they learn the extent of what they’ve been tasked with. The author’s descriptions of the underwater sequences are vivid, evocative, and so eerie that I got goosebumps.

While we don’t have a wooden Nazi chest as teased in the blurb, there are shadowy, suspicious outsiders waiting for Markos and Jem when they return to land. They decide to trust the first one to approach them at their hotel room, an Israeli woman claiming to represent UNESCO, who convinces them that the two men they suspect of watching them have bad intentions. However, they soon return to the safety of the sea for the rest of the story.

So, while this wasn’t the story I expected, I did enjoy it. Rather than an Indiana Jones-like “beat the Nazis” plot, it was much more surreal and original with horror vibes. The main characters remain relative strangers to the reader throughout the book, with their actions alone shaping their development, and I was somewhat okay with that. What they are confronting remains as much a mystery as well, and this aspect of not knowing may perhaps reflect the true nature of the characters’ own understanding. However, the landside agents seem to know what they’re seeking. I felt off-balance and in the dark through most of the story, and I thought this was how the characters probably felt, too. I’d absolutely read more by this author and, in particular, about these two characters.

I recommend SECRETS OF THE DEEP to readers of underwater adventure and horror stories involving the sea.

I voluntarily reviewed this after receiving an Advance Review Copy from Reedsy Discovery.


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