Alexander Bugaev and Ellen Alexander's "What Goes Around Comes Around" plunges readers into the depths of the Red Sea, where danger and mystery collide. Set against a backdrop of high-stakes exploration, this novel weaves a captivating tale of unforeseen consequences that ripple through both science and morality.

Meet Alex, a marine biologist whose connection to the sea is as deep as the abyss itself. When a series of enigmatic deaths occurs near the sleepy town of Obock, Djibouti, Alex's expertise draws him into treacherous waters. The Red Sea, once merely a canvas for coral gardens and shipwrecks, reveals its hidden secrets—an uncharted world teeming with life and peril.

Within the underwater caves lie the 'Octopus sapiens,' a peculiar species with intelligence beyond imagination. Their ability to influence human minds becomes the linchpin in a deadly puzzle. As the body count rises, Alex's investigation takes a harrowing turn. The source of their accelerated growth? A radiation-contaminated container resting on the seafloor, threatening not only marine life but also the very team racing against time.

The ethical quandaries intensify. These advanced octopuses thrive on radiation, their existence entwined with peril. As the world grapples with their discovery, international diplomacy teeters on the brink. Are they a scientific marvel or an impending catastrophe? The novel delves into existential questions, urging readers to ponder the consequences of unchecked progress and environmental exploitation.

In "What Goes Around Comes Around," Bugaev and Alexander masterfully blend suspense, science, and soul-searching. The Red Sea's depths hold more than secrets—they harbor a warning about the delicate balance between curiosity and consequence. Dive in, and let the currents of this thought-provoking adventure sweep you away. 🌊🔍🐙

A good, interesting geopolitical thriller, and I enjoyed reading it immensely. The characters were mostly well defined and the plot was solidly handled.

This story is one of the reasons why I am both awed and terrified of our oceans! A great story that explores how much we don't know about the big blue. This book was exciting and thought-provoking, making us question how far will we go to save our own kind. A very interesting read.

Interesting story and setting. Well written but not really my taste. Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book

Packed with suspense, ethical reflections, and geopolitical tension, this marine adventure skillfully blends underwater thrills with thoughtful commentary on humanity's responsibility to the planet and its diverse inhabitants. In this riveting narrative, "What Goes Around Comes Around" explores the delicate balance between scientific progress and environmental preservation, leaving readers on the edge, questioning our impact on the world's lesser-known ecosystems.

Did not finish reading this book, it wasn't very well formatted for Kindle, and the writing itself was very stilted and lacked character or nuance. Felt like a translation that wasn't done with care.

2.5

The topic of creatures in the sea is a fascinating one! With this book, you get a chronological tale of dealing with one of these creature in particular: octopus. I found it to be one of those books where you have to shut your brain and just go with the flow- some parts were confusing to understand and others had repetitive writing. Might be a translation problem, I’m not completely sure. I didn’t feel any strong emotions to any characters, there wasn’t much time spent with really diving into them, nor did I feel anything for the situation as well.

This book was not for me. I saw an octopus and underwater setting and I jumped on it without further research, and that's my fault.

First: I'm assuming this book is a translation, so I'm giving it 2 stars. I could not definitively find any info about the authors or whether this was written in another language initially, but the phrasing is so odd and stilted at times that I'm hoping it was a translation. A large part of my struggle with this book stems from the way it was written (confusing, disjointed language... sentences that don't really make sense, odd wording choices, etc).

Now, onto the review itself.

The concept of this is intriguing but the execution is lacking. I am 99% sure this was written by a non-scientist, because the science doesn't check out. Geiger counters don't measure in X-rays, and the dangerous number of x-rays isn't 15. I'm not sure what that even means? At one point they mention a limit not exceeding "three X-rays per hour." ????

The language can be very repetitive at times. There are lines that don't make sense - they seem like a translation error. There are also instances of excessive extra words that bog down the text without adding anything of value.

Examples:
"Absolute silence falls over the sea, not the ordinary morning silence, but a tense, ominous silence. It is the kind of silence that usually precedes something, when something is about to happen." - the word silence is used four times in two lines... and the second line is repetitive.
"The others, also with surprise clearly readable on their faces and with frank astonishment at my insolence, since many of our colleagues and almost all Americans considered me an FSB officer." - this doesn't really make sense. This feels mistranslated.
"Sergey meticulously checked and rechecked the results of the analysis, ensuring the accuracy of the methodology he employed." - the second part of this sentence could be slimmed down... it's not really saying anything?
"Call Robert or Sergey!" Ksenia asked." - she's not asking?

I struggled to get through this and felt like I wasn't really understanding what was happening most of the time. I spent a lot of time trying to parse out what the authors were getting at due to odd phrasing. I kept being taken out for many different reasons. The characters have to cook fish to feed dolphins? I'm googling why they would be doing that when dolphins can't cook in the wild. And there are statements that just don't track - like one about how pens became obsolete when computers became popular?

I've spent a lot of time criticizing, so I'll stop there and talk about what I liked:
The concept was neat! I love the idea of super smart octopuses with cool radiation powers. I like the idea of them making a little octopus city and mutating to be able to communicate effectively. I like the idea of training dolphins to do undersea exploration missions. I liked how dark this was.

I think the target audience would be people who aren't bothered by scientific inconsistencies or issues with translation. This has a lot of cool stuff - sea creatures/exploration, radiation causing mutations, intelligent species - but I just could NOT get into it. I'm a harsh critic and a scientist, so I think most other people would not have as much of an issue as I did? Maybe?