Book Review: Something in the Water

SOMETHING IN THE WATER | Catherine Steadman
06.05.2018 | Ballantine
Rating: 3.5/5 stars

Erin is a documentary filmmaker researching prisoners who are soon getting out and making their way back into the real world. Mark is a successful investment banker who has made it through the financial crash and has big dreams for the future. The couple has just gotten married and are about to embark on the honeymoon of their dreams. They’re going to spend two weeks soaking up the sun and relaxing in Bora Bora. Everything is going according to plan until one day while out scuba diving towards the end of their trip they find a mysterious duffel bag floating in the ocean. Despite having good intentions to turn the bag in and find the rightful owner, they ultimately end up opening the bag. What they find changes the course of their lives.

The duffel is filled with riches. Buried among the stacks of cash and diamonds they also find a USB, gun, and phone. After deliberating repeatedly, Erin and Mark decide that their find is a dangerous one, but something they are willing to take risks to keep. The couple’s plan to keep their riches sets off a spiral of events that will result in mistrust and bloodshed. Just how far will Erin and Mark go?

Have you ever wondered how long it takes to dig a grave? Wonder no longer. It takes an age. However long you think it takes, double that.

SOMETHING IN THE WATER is a book that makes you want to scream at the main characters. I constantly found myself shaking my head and chanting lines such as, don’t do that, why are you doing that, have you lost your mind? Erin and Mark genuinely made me exhausted at times with their decision making and for me this added to the reading experience. I was constantly trying to guess what insane plan they would come up with next! Honestly, I don’t understand how they never got caught or even mildly close to getting caught, especially when at some point Erin is under investigation because of one of the prisoners she is following for her documentary.

But what could I have done? What can you do? You can’t save everyone. Sometimes you just have to save yourself.

I was a bit weary at first when Steadman went from a present day scene all the way back to following Erin and Mark meeting and planning for their wedding. I at first thought those details seemed unnecessary, but as the storyline progressed I grew to appreciate them as they gave me a more solid foundation for the couple. I found Steadman’s writing and storytelling to be engaging and quite entertaining. For this book I chose to listen to it as an audiobook and was delighted to find that Steadman herself was the narrator. I do contemplate if I had been reading this one and not listening if I would have felt things were too slow, but at the end of the day I enjoyed my experience and would recommend giving SOMETHING IN THE WATER a slot on your TBR.  If you’re looking for an over-the-top domestic thriller, this could be the book for you!

Disclosure: Thank you Ballantine and Random House for my free review copy!