Having just read The Last Passenger and finding it a really different read to anything else I had read for a while, I was looking forward to start The Chamber by Will Dean.

We meet main character Ellen, she is about to enter an underwater chamber with 5 other divers. To say the premise of this is book is interesting is slightly an understatement in my eyes.

I was hooked and as I am slightly claustrophobic, very glad it was just a book.

Things do not go smoothly on the journey into the deep blue sea and there is someone who is not a team player amongst one of them.

A very well written, fast paced book this will have you on the edge of your seat.

Thanks to Netgalley, the publishers and Will Dean for allowing me a copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

The Chamber
I have read several of Will Dean’s stand-alone books and The Chamber is definitely a thrilling read that will have you trying to work out the puzzle of what is going on in this extreme locked room mystery.
When six saturation divers are locked into a hyperbaric chamber for their latest job everything seems to be progressing as normal. They all know each other and manage to work quite well together. After the first dive takes place one of the team is found dead. What they don’t know is how or why. With the mission called off they now have to wait four days for decompression to complete before they can exit the chamber they are living in. With no outside access they have to process the body and hope that this was just an accident and nothing more sinister. When another diver dies things become more serious and it is not long before the remaining divers start to suffer from a little paranoia as no one is above suspicion.
The story is told through the eyes of Ellen Brooke who takes you through the events as they happen. Her observations add to the claustrophobic feeling in the chamber as thanks to Will Dean you can visualise the layout of the chamber and just how little space they are dealing with. In a male dominated profession, she is both fierce and determined but she is also hiding a secret that highlights a downside to the job that she loves.
I am not sure what kind of research was done on this, but it certainly felt authentic and for someone who absolutely hates anyone invading my personal space I have no idea just how I would cope in such a confined space for one hour never mind four days. The pacing of the book felt slow as you become part of the countdown to the diver’s freedom yet at the same time I found that I was racing through it with each twist and turn and change in direction and an ending that was not quite what I expected. Definitely a book to go on your TBR

2.5

Somewhat of a disappointment as far as I'm concerned. The premise of a group of sat (saturation) divers starting a job in the North Sea sounds great. Claustrophobic, dangerous, unexplained deaths? What's not to love?

After an almost disastrous start the sole female diver, Ellen Brooke, and another of the six-strong crew, Andre, return to the chamber to find a crew member fighting for life. Noone has any idea what has happened and when another death occurs the suspicions begin to surface in the chamber they cannot escape.

Sounds great right? Tense, disturbing, everyone on edge? Well no. For starters you are constantly trying to work out what the terms mean (there is a glossary but none of these are terms in regular usage). I had to Google several sites to get an idea of what the living conditions were like. The divers all had real names and nicknames, which were all bandied about so much I got quite lost about who was who. Even the telling of old disastrous diving stories felt dull.

It should have been a slow burn wind-up to a stunning crescendo as the chamber reaches the docks but even when we find out what happened I still felt like I was missing some vital information. I admit I was quite bored throughout this book which I wasn't expecting. I loved Last Thing to Burn and The Passenger was good apart from the more fantastical parts at the end. For me, this book just fell a little flat at every turn. There is a twist or two but you've to wait till three quarters through for the first one.

Thanks to Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton for the advance review copy.

I’m still mentally scarred by The Last Passenger, so naturally I was excited to read Will’s latest, and discover new trauma.

Will does not disappoint. He’s clearly researched a lot in exactly what happens in this type of diving, and I learnt quite a lot. It’s not something I had heard about beforehand. The book does start out quite slowly as it is important that we readers understand exactly the situation, and the space issues before we get into the story - it just wouldn’t work if we didn’t fully understand.

I liked all of the characters- the story is told by Brooke - so naturally she was my favourite. As ever, this has you on the edge of your seat, I counted down those last 20 minutes like I was there, not realising I was practically holding my breath. As usual…I’m still guessing!

Brilliant!

My thanks to Netgalley and Hodder & Stoughton for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Two of the classic murder-mystery scenarios are “The Locked Room” (no one can enter or leave) and “Then There Were None” (people die one by one). The decompression chamber of a Diving Support Vessel (DSV) clearly qualifies as a locked room. Six divers operating under Saturation (breathing Helium Oxygen under depth pressure) conditions are being slowly decompressed in such a chamber. They have been at 100 metres depth in the middle of the North Sea. That doesn’t sound very far, but it means that they are under about 10 atmospheres pressure and that means they have to decompress for four days. Five men, Mike, Spock, Jumbo, Teabag and André (all addressed by these nicknames) and one woman, Brooke (her actual surname). Female saturation divers are few in number, which may be why they don’t need nicknames. They have all worked with each other on many dives, except for Teabag a newbie on only his second saturation dive. Conditions are cramped in what is basically a steel reinforced, cylinder about the size of a campervan, six bunks, six chairs, a table, shower/WC, service hatch (pressurised airlock) and one door (locked from the outside). Everything they need is provided through the airlock, and all waste leaves by the same route – and there is a lot of waste because keeping the interior as spotless as possible is a never-ending routine; the body’s defence mechanisms are inhibited by the pressure and the slightest contamination can have life threatening consequences. Interpersonal relationships could have similar outcomes, so ‘sat’ divers have to be equable and teams are carefully chosen and constantly monitored. Such claustrophobic conditions are stressful, but the divers are used to it. However, shortly after the decompression begins, one of them dies from no obvious cause; and then another one! Is there a malfunction somewhere in the system, or an unidentified disease, or a killer?
So this story fits both the scenarios I mentioned above. It is told by Brooke and takes the reader slowly through the 96 hours of the decompression, revealing personal histories, diving tales from around the world, and technical details (there is a helpful glossary); in fact this material takes up most of the space. Since this is a murder-mystery, the reader expects building tension, but the details keep slowing it down. We also expect a puzzle, a whodunnit, where we try to solve the mystery ahead of the investigator, for which we need clues but I couldn’t find any. The final resolution doesn’t really resolve anything – someone is definitely arrested and the murder method explained but it doesn’t feel satisfactory. Perhaps we are supposed to be left wondering?
I would like to thank NetGalley, the publishers and the author for providing me with a draft proof copy for the purpose of this review.

I always look forward to a new Will Dean & this was worth waiting for. Such a claustrophobic & thrilling read that kept me guessing right to the end. The idea for the plot & setting were inspired and I learnt a lot about saturation diving. The author built the tension nicely with lots of red herrings dropped here & there to lead you off on a different path.
Brilliant read, can't wait for the next book.

I have mixed opinions about this book which made me yo-yo from 3 and 4 stars. I had a lot of niggles, most of which were relatively minor so I managed to settle on rounding up my 3.5 to 4.
So... the epitome of a locked room... a hyperbaric chamber... containing 6 saturation divers. Working on a deep sea bed so no easily escapable from due to the bends. So the worst thing that can happen is one of their number dying. Well, maybe worse is that it appears to be murder.
So the remaining five are locked in for the remaining four days needed for safe decompression, with a dead body, in an environment very susceptible to contamination (as the author pretty much spells out on EVERY page)...
And then there's another death...
I am a big fan of this author, both his standalones and his brilliant Tuva Moodyson series and one of his favourite things to include in his books is the feeling of claustrophobia. Well... we get this in spades in this book. Can't get more closed in than what he describes the chamber to be.
Another of my niggles coming up is with the characters. They pretty much all have nicknames which means there's a mix of first names, surnames and nicknames used to identify each of them which irked me somewhat even with the list I made. Kept taking me out of the story.
But all that said, the actual thriller aspect of the book was banging. I was impressed with the way the author built up the tension and explained, for the laymen, what was happening with their job, their living quarters, their hygiene and other practicalities when you are in a chamber deep in the ocean. And their backstories added a bit of colour and character definition.
My final niggle was the ending. As with a lot of books I read I would definitely have to categorise this one along with the other - journey was better than the destination - reads. I have questions...
But yeah, a good solid read at the end of the day that is not without its faults but comes up mostly on top. My thanks go to the Publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book.

Based in a hyperbaric chamber deep in the North Sea we follow the stories of six deep sea divers who are repairing pipes deep below sea level. They plan to be down in the chamber for weeks at a time with only each other for company, before their ascent back to the surface, decompressing slowly. However, when one of them dies unexpectedly in his bunk only a short time into their mission, they have to make their way back to the surface. Beginning their ascent early, the other divers begin to suspect each other and the rest of the crew, and when another one of them dies, they begin to wonder if all of them will make it back to the surface at all.

I have to admit, this book seriously freaked me out! There were so many things which set my nerves on edge - diving to such deep levels, decompression chambers, claustrophobia, no way out...to name but a few! The author has certainly done his research and captured the tension and fear of not just the job in hand but the idea that someone (or something) on board was killing them! The book does focus mainly on one character, Ellen Brooke, an experienced saturation diver, although of course we get to know the other divers stories as the book moves on.

The book is filled with suspicion as everyone and everything gets considered as to being the killer. I really couldn't think of anything worse being stuck somewhere with no way to escape, and the fear coming from the characters ran right through to my bones! I tried to work out what was going on as I read but the author did a great job of keeping everything under wraps until the reveal, with more than one surprise at the end. This was a really good read, full of tension and suspense, but you may want to give it a miss if confined spaces aren't your thing!

Wow! I absolutely loved this book. A real page turner, I couldn’t put it down. It just hooks you right in.
Six divers are in a hyperbaric chamber. Taking it in turns they are lowered each day inside a diving bell to the sea bed to repair oil pipes. Until one of the divers is found unresponsive. It will take four days of decompression before the hatch can be opened, before the other divers can leave the chamber…
It’s so intense and chilling. It’s well written with detailed descriptions and claustrophobic setting. Just brilliant. It’s a real rollercoaster of emotions.
The characters are all well developed and interesting and I enjoyed the divers backstories, and getting to learn about the experiences and the life of a sat diver.
It’s clever and exciting but also terrifying with some twists and turns that keep you guessing right to the end.
Definitely recommend. If you like locked room mystery thriller, you’ll love this book.
Can’t wait to see what @WillDean writes next.
With thanks to #NetGallery @hodderbooks for an arc of #TheChamber in exchange for a honest review.
Book publishes 6 June 2024.

As someone with claustrophobia this book was an absolute NIGHTMARE. Will Dean wrote this so well that I could honestly picture being stuck in this situation and had to keep taking breaks because it was making me anxious! 💀 The plot was a tiny bit slow in certain areas but overall this was absolutely excellent and I'll definitely be reading more of Will's books!

Oh this was fantastic. Filled with tension and claustrophobia and even all the diving detail (which wouldn’t normally be my thing!) only added to the drama. The writing is excellent.

The Chamber is a fascinating, addictive book. I knew nothing about saturation diving and the level of detail in this book is really interesting.
Six divers are saturation diving in the North Sea, living together in a small diving chamber. One of them suffers a quick death and from there we're taken on a tale of suspicion and survival.
The worst thing about Will Dean's books is that they have to end. Absolutely brilliant!

Imagine having to share a chamber the size of the average family bathroom with 5 other adults for a month, then have that chamber get slowly deeper under the North Sea. I felt claustrophobic within the first few pages as we are introduced to the divers while they are gradually descending, and that claustrophobia did not let up throughout!

With at least 4 days decompression needed to get back in to the surface, when tragedy strikes, this turns into the ultimate locked room mystery. With a small cast of characters, it can't be that difficult to work out who is responsible, can it?

With slow-building tension and the permanent oppressive feeling of being trapped, this was a good mystery with some great characters. I loved all the nicknames and sharing stories of previous experiences. I also had no idea that this work going on at sea beds across the world was so prevalent and it was interesting to learn more about it.

Based in an underwater chamber, six sat divers begin a month of deep sea work. The fear factor begins immediately with detailed descriptions of the extreme dangers of these types of missions. I felt uncomfortable, tense and claustrophobic but couldn’t stop reading this well written book. The dangers become all too real when tragedy strikes and as the work is aborted a four day decompression begins. As the crew adjust to the tragedy they need to keep as normal as possible to avoid panic, anger or suspicion. Without giving away too much, this book was a real rollercoaster of emotions that surprisingly delivered on every page. I couldn’t imagine how the story could develop and keep my interest but it did. I knew very little about diving and had no idea how involved and dangerous it really is. I now have nothing but respect and admiration for those who work in this hostile environment. My only slight criticism and this should not stop anyone reading this excellent book, is that the ending was a little ambiguous.

I enjoyed the atmosphere of this story and the isolated setting. But I got confused with the unreliable narrator and what the point was. I also thought it was a super slow burn.

Another brilliant thriller from Will Dean. Tense, claustrophobic, breathless.

Thanks for this advance copy.

4.5⭐️

The Deep Topaz is a vessel that houses divers working on the oil lines using a submersible bell.
They live in a pressure chamber for the period of their rotation which is a month. They then take it in turns to dive and work in pairs. I love the term aquanaut

It takes 4 days for the pressure to decompress so they are very contained with no quick way out.
I found the work of these sat divers fascinating along with the number of support crew that it takes to keep them safe.

There’s quite a lot of names bandied about early on plus nicknames so I made a list.

Well that was a wild ride! It kept me riveted throughout. I liked the way that the author incorporated diving disaster stories. The ultimate locked room mystery for sure, imaginatively handled. Well done 👏

I found the character’s interesting, their working environment totally fascinating, it felt like the author had done very thorough research.

I don’t know how I feel about the ending. I need to reflect on it.

4.25*

6 divers locked together in a pressurised hyperbaric chamber. Sealed away from the world for a month to conduct deep water pipe repair work, this close knit team has to work and live together and trust each other with their lives. Only it doesn't quite go to plan and after the discovery of a dead team member, suspicions rise, paranoia creeps in and the remaining team face 4 days of depressurisation wondering who did and who could be next.

The Chamber works really well as an incredibly tense and claustrophobic locked room thriller. It's a slow burn story until about 40% in when the action starts to rise but that slower pace does serve to build a vivid picture of life in what is a pretty unique story setting. There is a little repetition in the narrative during this point but it also serves to highlight the rinse and repeat nature of the team's lives in that confined space.

The nature of the story being a locked room, you know as a reader that you can't believe everything being laid out in front of you and I think Brooke makes for a great unreliable narrator (a trope that when done well, as it is here, I love). I found myself compulsively reading as I couldn't figure the how of the situation. That my feelings echoed the bewildered and frankly traumatised team, meant I was trying to work out the mystery along with them. I felt their frustration as things didn't seem to work despite their best efforts and I felt that sense of mistrust as the group shrank.

Despite this build up the ending when it came fell a little flat for me, it was a little too ambiguous and didn't quite have the wow factor because of it. However, it has stayed in my mind and I have mulled it over ever since so with a little distance from the initial reading experience I would say that it's pretty effective despite that initial sense of disappointment.

Thriller and locked room mystery fans won't be disappointed in this book - just remember to breathe as you read because that claustrophobic setting is the absolute star of the show.

Thank you to Netgalley and Hodder and Stoughton for a digital review copy of "The Chamber" in exchange for my honest and voluntary review.

Six divers are in a hyperbaric chamber in order to repair oil pipes on the sea bed, when one of the group is found unresponsive. They must wait four days before they can be safely brought back to the surface, but they soon find themselves pushed to their limits.

This was everything I have come to expect from a Will Dean novel – it was clever, exciting and utterly terrifying.

You get an immediate sense of the danger that divers face on a daily basis and just how risky it is as a job. The descriptions of the chamber made it feel so tense and claustrophobic. I really felt for those characters as they were stuck in such conditions.

I was put on edge by this book, so much so that I found myself gripping the Kindle really tightly when I was reading the most tense parts!

The Chamber is a brilliant thriller that left me speechless.

Thank you NetGalley and Hodder & Stoughton for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

What an intense, terrifying thriller this was! I LOVED The Last Passenger, the last third of which was utterly bonkers, so I had very high hopes for The Chamber. I read the majority of this on a plane on a night flight which definitely set the mood! It's a classic claustrophobic, closed room thriller. Initially, I found the repetition of some phrases and personal histories a bit odd, but as you're dragged into Ellen's rapidly deteriorating mind it starts to make more sense. Her backstory reveal was timed to perfection and the ambiguity of the final few pages was fantastic - I've just re-read them again and I'm still not altogether clear what happened! Another amazing read from Will Dean. Biggest thanks to NetGalley, Will Dean and Hodder & Stoughton for the ARC.