Six divers commit to an almost month-long diving job in the North Sea. When they’re not working on the sea bed, their time is spent together, in very cramped living quarters with virtually no privacy or time alone.

One dive in and the unthinkable happens. One of the six is found unresponsive - he hadn’t even left the chamber, so who or what is the cause?

Due to the extreme depth they’re at, it will take four days to safely decompress. Four days with nothing to do but think about their mortality. Four days with no distraction. Four days to try and stem the panic, paranoia, and suspicion. If one of them opens the hatch in the meantime - they’re all dead.

My nerves!

That was probably the most claustrophobic and anxiety-inducing book I’ve ever read. The sense of panic was so real and visceral - I felt stressed just reading this. Yet I could not put it down - I devoured it in two sittings.

Suspicion mounts in line with the feelings of cabin (chamber) fever. Imagine being trapped in an extremely confined space, doubting the very people that are there to keep you alive.

Dean has once again written great characters with interesting backstories, adding to the intrigue and suspense. I questioned each diver at one point or another.

It’s also a very interesting book, I learnt loads about sat diving and the extremely dangerous conditions people put themselves in for work. Kudos to those brave souls - I am NOT a fan of small spaces, so I’ll pass.

If you’re looking for a locked room thriller - they don’t come more locked room than this! Grab some Kwells and settle in.

A huge thanks to Will Dean, Hodder and Stoughton, and NetGalley for the advanced copy of this book for review consideration.  All opinions are my own.

So, I did like this book. It was tense and incredibly disturbing and when it was good, it was good. I just felt it was quite slow in parts.
It has an excellent premise but there's only so much you can write about from one small chamber I guess, so a lot of the story in the middle was sort of filler chapters and it felt a little repetitive.

Then there was a lot of excellent tension building that was stressing me tf out and I was loving it!!! Those last few chapters before the ending were very cleverly written! But then the ending fell a little flat and I was quite underwhelmed.

Overall, the story was mysterious and suspenseful and most of the ratings on GR are 4 and 5 stars so definitely worth a read, it just missed the mark a little for me.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

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Thank you @netgalley for the e-arc. All opinions are my own.

Unputdownable - really! - I glanced at it immediately when I’d downloaded it, and that set me off .. two and a half hours later, I’d absolutely jammed through it - a closed door mystery if there ever was one of a group stuck together in a deep dive pod: people keep dying off, and that despite the camaraderie of the crew who all, more-or-less, know each other - with no motive apparent either, even at the end. Characters are well drawn - I do not know how Will Dean can get inside a woman’s head and heart, but he does. And the numerous others. Their affections and fears etc. it will not surprise you when you find out who dunnit’ but there are lingering doubts … sensational …

If you suffer from claustrophobia, maybe check the trigger warnings...

This was quite the setting. I'd never even heard of divers working in these pressurisdd chambers, repairing underwater fixtures like bridges. It fascinated me, and Will Dean has done an incredible amount of research to make the intense and rather horrifying experience (but in a good way) it gives the readers. There is a lot of jargon to get to grips with, but the author has provided the readers with a glossary at the start.
Some scenes still stick in my mind days after reading, they are utterly unforgettable.

That was one of the most claustrophobic books I’ve ever read. I do suffer from claustrophobia so for me this really was a very tense read. It centres around six aquanauts who are spending a month inside a hyperbaric chamber in the North Sea making repairs to oil pipes. The story is told in the first person by Ellen Brooke, one of very few women ever to reach this level in the industry, but being a women does bring its own problems. The level of technical details in the book is very detailed so the author has clearly done a massive amount of research, and it’s fascinating, but not overwhelming.

Briefly, all is going well and the first dive has been completed, when Javad ‘tea-bag’ Assar is found unconscious in his bunk. The remaining divers, all medically trained to a high degree, do all they can to help him but he is dead. They are now responsible for taking samples for forensic analysis and bagging the body. The dive is called off but as it takes four days to decompress the chamber they have to wait the time out. They don’t know what killed him so the atmosphere is very strained, is there a killer on board? Or a poisonous gas? Or is their food being tampered with? Or was it just a natural death? So many possibilities…

Honestly I’ve never read anything quite like this, and I read a lot. The thought of being in such close proximity to five other people in a tiny metal box, reliant on others (their caretakers) for everything, literally everything, scares the heck out of me then having a dead body in with you - oh my god! There isn’t enough money, in all the world to make me do this! I’ve read some tense books in my time but I think this tops the lot for tension and if you like a locked room mystery it doesn’t get any more locked room than this. If I have any tiny misgivings then it’s the ending as I’m really not quite sure what happened! But I think that’s the point. I couldn’t put this down it was so compelling.

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley.

After loving The Last Passenger, I was geared up for more from Will Dean!

Ellen Brooke is a deep sea diver, a world dominated by men. She finds herself in a pod with 5 other divers, for 28 days, breathing pressurised gas, with no way out. Then people start to die….

I enjoyed this, though not as much as The Last Passenger. There was a lot of reminiscing from the divers (I guess to illustrate how tedious it can be). But on the whole a solid 4 stars, kept me entertained for a couple of days!

The Chamber is an immaculately researched thriller centred around a saturation diving chamber. 6 specialist divers are in the chamber for a month long dive to repair oil pipes in the North Sea. Once they are in there is no way out before undergoing a 4 day period of decompression. They are looked after by a large team on the boat above who provide for them and observe them. The narrator is Ellen Brookes, the only female sat diver, the others are 4 experienced divers who she knows well and a new diver nicknamed Tea-bag.
After Ellen and Andre complete the first dive they come back to chaos as Tea-bag has been found unresponsive in his bunk.
Quickly his death is seen as suspicious and the decision is made to return them to the surface. As the 4 day countdown starts, questions are asked - how and why did he die and will others follow? Now the crew can’t trust each other or their support staff. The tension is unbearable.
Cleverly written, very detail heavy and an absolute page turner, The Chamber is a locked room thriller that will keep you guessing. However, I found it hard to care about some of the characters - Ellen’s narration provides distance and means that some of the divers are thinly drawn. There is never a great reveal, only a somewhat inconclusive ending which I found rather frustrating. It’s another fabulous thriller from
Will Dean but I wouldn’t say it’s my favourite.

would like to thank netgalley and the publisher for letting me read this book

must say the synopsis for this book really excited me.... the thought of 6 people working so closely together under extreme pressure on the sea bed very intense

but i found it very detached... it was very atmospheric but i didnt feel anything for any of the characters but i did want to know the whys or wherefores....

another strange book from an author that leaves you asking more questions than answering any....

This would always be an interesting, but horrific story for me, as I can’t swim and am scared of water, let alone anything to do with diving.
The story centres around six saturation divers, five men Mike, Jumbo, Andre, Spock and Tea-bag and one woman, Brooke is the main narrator of the story. The divers have all worked together before except for Tea-bag, a newly qualified saturation diver. The setting is a decompression chamber on a diving support vessel. The divers are locked in a chamber and are slowly being decompressed breathing in a mixture of oxygen and helium. This is in preparation for their work on the sea bed. un
However, not long into the process, tragedy occurs which results in one of the divers being found dead. Tragic accident…..maybe, but another diver dies and the remaining divers realise something sinister is afoot.
This is a terrific fast-paced read and one of the best similarities to Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None that I’ve read. The claustrophobic atmosphere as the six are cheek-by-jowl in a cylinder similar in length to a campervan, is so intense. To add to the tension, even when the support team realise something is seriously wrong, they can’t bring the remaining divers out quickly, because the change in pressure would kill them. The tension literally leaps off every page and the writing is superb.
The only fault I could find was I was disappointed with the ending. Maybe the accumulated tension throughout the story was so much severe, any ending was going to be seen as somewhat of a letdown.
Nevertheless, I would recommend this. Four stars from me….five for the story minus one for the ending.
Thanks to NetGalley, Hodder & Stoughton and Will Dean for the ARC in exchange for an open and honest review.

Wow could not put this book down… read it in two sittings. A more claustrophobic thriller you will not find. Six saturation divers locked in a chamber is the ultimate locked room thriller where those whose job it is to keep them alive, watch on but cannot save them. Is the threat from inside the six or is it from outside? The level of technical detail only adds to the terror of this character driven thriller. Who will survive?

This is a difficult review to write, as I am a great fan of the author, but, I really struggled with this book.

It’s an incredibly claustrophobic read, based as it is in ‘The Chamber’ where a team of divers live whilst working. It’s descriptive and horrifying.

What worked for me; the protagonist was interesting and the concept unique. I did struggle to finish it, but, I’m glad I did as the first and last parts of the book I thoroughly enjoyed.
What didn’t was the over egging and repetition of the descriptions of everything! In my opinion it requires more editing.

Overall, I’m saying an OK read as the beginning and end did work for me, but, I found it a tough, uncomfortable read.

I’m grateful to NetGalley and Hodder Books for the opportunity to preview.

After reading the tour de force that was 'The Last Passenger' last year, Will Dean became one of my new favorite thriller writers, so I was excited to read this follow-up. Unfortunately, 'The Chamber' ended up being a disappointment for me personally, something I really didn't expect (although thankfully, I seem to be in the minority.)

While his last book was fast-paced, full of twists, and featured memorable characters, 'The Chamber' felt like the complete opposite: a slow-paced and almost character-focused, rather than plot-heavy, thriller—except, the characters were unremarkable, and I hardly cared what happened to them!

That being said, it was the pacing that really deflated my reading experience. A particularly tedious passage detailing the "pre-autopsy" and transportation of a body lasted for fifty pages, which seemed completely unnecessary. I guess this could've been harrowing to read if I cared about the characters or empathized with how difficult a position they were in, but instead, I just wanted the plot to move along!

To summarise, Will Dean is technically a very capable writer, and his depiction of saturation diving is clearly thoroughly researched. Unfortunately, 'The Chamber,' with its uninteresting characters stuck in a situation where they lack the agency to change their predicament, results in a mostly frustrating and ultimately disappointing read.

Final rating: ★★¼

The Passenger was one of my favourite reads of 2023 so I was so excited to read the latest book by Will Dean who is an autobuy author for me.
This was another locked room thriller but with such an original setting! This is one of the most claustrophobic thrillers I have ever read. I quickly found myself totally immersed in the life of a saturation diver, spending four weeks in a tiny 'chamber' with five other divers, at extreme depths in the North Sea (which I would personally hate!!) Each diver has very little personal space.
I knew very little about this topic but Will Dean has clearly researched it on great detail as there is even a glossary at the start of the book.
After the first diver mysteriously dies the fear and suspicion starts to mount. Was it accidental? Following the death it will take four additional days of decompression to reach the surface so the remaining divers are trapped in the chamber.
They are also totally reliant on those on the outside for food and maintenance of their chamber. Could someone be deliberately causing them harm or is it someone within the chamber itself? The story is narrated by the sole female diver, Ellen although as the paranoia builds the narration becomes slightly unreliable.
I raced through this book as I wanted to find out who behind the deaths. I found it a great page turner although I did find it slightly hard to keep track of the six divers and their individual diving stories. I also had a few unanswered questions at the end! Overall though this was a great page turner with a highly original premise.If you enjoy a locked room thriller I would recommend this book!

I found this novel to be very atmospheric, scary, oppressive, and so full of tension, that increased the pressure with each chapter read.
We are in the world of Saturation diving, and with the world of oil and gas exploration constantly in the news, so very topical. Luckily all this strange, yet vital world is explained in great detail throughout.
Set East of Aberdeen, the action focuses upon the claustrophobic setting inside a diving bell, 100 metres beneath the North Sea, and the crew of the Dive control. There are six divers onboard, and their fears of accidental decompression is real and accurate.
When a diver is found dead within the diving bell, how this affects the remaining divers is very well realised, especially as the murderer cannot just vanish, but is there, alongside those who up to now have been regarded as friends and dependable team mates. The divers are such likeable people and have very fascinating back histories.
The topic of bereavement and tragic loss, and how the resulting grief causes inner turmoil is well described. The medical details of CPR and medical procedures are excellent. The stress and strain of not knowing who to trust plays on the reader as well.
The method of murder is very inventive and the hiding place of the weapon of choice is very creative. I didn’t guess the killer, but even as the person was revealed, I still had what I believe are valid doubts.
If I see the name Will Dean on a boat or ferry passenger list, then I’m travelling the next day!! Strange events happen in his books and they do make my heart race a tad faster when I read his books. Very compulsive and engrossing. Five stars for sure.
My thanks to Netgalley and Hodder and Stoughton for my advanced copy, freely given in exchange for my honest review. I will leave a copy to Goodreads and Amazon UK upon publication.

Placing my bet now: this is going to be THE buzzy hot thriller of 2024. THE CHAMBER is fascinating. It is a unique twist on the classic locked room mystery but the room is a literal pressure chamber.

Six deep sea divers are closed in, and the atmospheric pressure is increased until it matches that under the North Sea. This allows the divers to work on the seabed for weeks at a time without risking decompression sickness. But when one of them dies mysteriously, it will take days before they are acclimated to surface pressure and safely able to leave the ship. Are they trapped in with a killer? Or are they at the mercy of someone who controls the very air they breathe, and who means them harm?

You have to love a book that starts with a comprehensive glossary! Will Dean definitely did his research on this one. It paid off because he managed to fully immerse me in a completely unfamiliar setting. If you're really keen on diving and maritime history, you might find the references to past real life disasters a bit surface level. But as someone who is quite ignorant on the topic, it was engrossing. The only thing keeping this from a full five stars is that I found the ending a little underwhelming. Otherwise this was a pageturning take on And Then There Were None.

Will Dean has done it again with this terrifying thriller set in a tiny cramped high pressure deep sea diving chamber. The amount of research and detailed knowledge that has gone into the writing of this book is absolutely staggering. It really gives the reader such a vivid experience of being in the chamber, it really is as though you are there. Throughout the book, the pressure, the stagnant gas and primal urge to escape are with you in person.
It's written in the 1st person which I love , and yet again he writes so well as a woman I'm left wondering how he does it.
You'll feel totally immersed in the life of a deep sea diver and will be left wondering if you need to decompress too.
A one day read for me. Utterly fantastic.

✨My Thoughts✨

I received a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Like every single Will Dean book that I’ve read The Chamber is like a runaway train, you hold on for the ride with everything you’ve got until it eventually comes to a stop and it lets you go.

I really enjoyed the technical side of this story learning about what being a saturation diver involves and how much goes into it and how much could possibly go wrong too.

I stayed up until 2am to try and finish this book after starting it around 5pm but I had to go to sleep but I picked it up the following morning and didn’t stop until i had read every last page.

The claustrophobic, tense atmosphere had me right in the chamber with Ellen and the lads. I was so shocked at all the twists and I really don’t know what to think about actually happened at the end but I have my suspicions.

I could say so much about this book and go in to great detail about all the characters and what I thought etc but I try and keep my reviews spoiler free, if anyone reading this has read The Chamber please get in touch so we can go over all the twists!.

First of all I would just like to thank Netgalley, Will Dean and Hodder & Stoughton for an ARC of “The Chamber” in exchange for an honest review.

I thoroughly enjoyed this! The tension builds up effectively throughout the book and you have no idea where the plot is ultimately going. It has a very confining/claustrophobic atmosphere (for obvious reasons) and so the writing accurately evokes feelings of discomfort in the reader.

The author never fails to amaze me with the level of research he is willing to put into his books. It is abundantly clear from the get go that the author thoroughly knows what he’s talking about- this makes it a very realistic and immersive experience.

The pacing was slightly off and dipped in the middle with a lot of lacklustre“filler” stories shared among the six divers, however this quickly picked up again as the body count increased.

I’m unsure about the ending- I was happy with the culprit and there were several plot twists that I didn’t see coming, but it was also quite confusing. I would have liked some more clarification for it to have been truly effective and for it to reach its true potential.

There was also a plot twist half way through that I wasn’t expecting at all- I’m always thrilled when this happens as it piques my interest.

Overall, a really good thriller, despite not being as a good as ‘The Last Passenger’.

Definitely recommend!

4.75 stars rounded up

"Trust is built over many years. And it can be destroyed in minutes"

Six experienced saturation divers embark on a what was supposed to be a four-week job at unspeakable depths in the ocean. What initially begins as a standard and routine operation, takes a turn for the worse when one diver suddenly dies. One dead body is certainly tragic: however, what does it mean when one body becomes, two, then three, the four? Is someone on the outside taking them out one by one? Or is the killer much closer to home?

When I first saw the blurb for this on netgalley I was so intrigued and could not hit the request button fast enough. After devouring this book in twenty-four hours, I can say I was not disappointed at all.

I am a huge fan of the locked door/room trope, and this book delivers on that remarkably. First the setting- um yes please! The mere thought of these divers being trapped at those depths, not being able to escape an almost certain death. Having to rely on the word of outside sources and colleagues, having to place a certain level of trust in each other. All the while not knowing who is next or who or what is killing them, made for the most ominous and terror inducing read.

The narrator becoming increasingly unhinged as the story progressed only adds to the trepidation and unease of the book. The author skillfully conveys the horrors that sat divers face and just how dangerous their job truly is. I mean something as simple as a carbonated beverage can cause significant damage at those depths. He didn't just make it about the mystery but, he also uses the setting of the book to create an atmosphere of raw fear and paranoia.

I liked how he incorporates real life sat diving tragedies such as the Byford Dolphin accident- a true horrific tragedy that depicts just how deadly and precarious a sat divers job is. I also loved the subtle foreshadowing of doom when he used the line "and then they were four." If you've read this book, then you know what I mean.

The final 80% of the book was filled with revelations about our narrator, ones that I did see coming but was still done well, nonetheless. Though predictable I still really enjoyed the ending, especially the final chapter. It was a lot darker than I could've anticipated and I loved that.
Overall, a wonderfully crafted locked door thriller that you will not be able to put down.

Thank you to Netgalley, Hodder & Stoughton and Will Dean for my eARC of this book. All opinions are 100% my own.

I was so excited to read this book, the first I have read from this author, but sadly it was a huge disappointment for me.

There was very little plot and a LOT of filler, by way of technical information and old dive stories, that lent nothing to the story. The characters were bland and unlikeable and each one had a nickname, so with six main diving characters, there were 12 names to get my head around, as well as the supporting characters and unfortunately, it was a mess.

It took me several days to read it (I usually read a book in an evening) as I was bored. I nearly DNF'd several times, but I was hanging on to the hope that there might be some serious action or a massive twist... there wasn't.

This might appeal to a reader who is a saturation diver themselves as they may find it more relatable, but I'm sorry to say it didn't work for me.

2 ⭐️ Thanks to Netgalley, Will Dean and Hodder and Stoughton for an ARC in return for an honest review.