Book Review
Title: Deep Dive by Ron Walters
Genre: Sci-Fi, Thriller
Rating: 4.5 Stars
I have a love/hate relationship with sci-fi thrillers and this is mainly due to the sci-fi element not suiting my tastes but Deep Dive blew me away with its VR and immersive technology elements that really enhanced the thriller elements of the novel. Deep Dive is an intensely emotional novel that had me hooked from the very beginning. We are introduced to Peter Banuk who has been failing to get his career in the gaming industry to really take off and he is failing to balance this with his family life. His last project, Scorchfell was a failure and he wants and needs a success more than anything right now. His friend ends up calling him to announce that he has cracked the secret to a full immersion game and Peter rushes over to check it out and this is where the novel really kicks off.
When we think about it, VR exists in our reality and something like full immersion is something that might be in our future and it would change the face of our world. I have read a few novels with the premise and many of you probably have as well but don’t write off Deep Dive give it a chance because it will surprise you. Peter ends up trying out the headset and it is amazing but pretty soon something goes horribly wrong, and when doesn’t it in novels like these. When Peter wakes up he is in his truck but something feels really off to him and he discovers that his life looks very different to how he remembered it and he is desperately trying to make sense of it all. He theorizes that there are two possibilities; one is that he is stuck inside the simulation or he’s gone crazy and either one is viable right now, except that there is a third possibility that I am not going to discuss. I honestly believe for this novel the less you know about it the better as I went in blind and adored it. Peter narrates the novel as he tries to navigate this new world and unexpected revelation and Peter’s emotional reactions to them are extremely important to pay attention to as you are reading. One thing Walters does well is making you care about the character’s and their families with some intense and brilliant storytelling that had me hanging onto the edge of my seat for the majority of the novel.
Walter’s direct writing style made the novel very accessible to people new to the sci-fi genre and also hardcore fans of the genre. Overall, I found the novel to be an emotional and memorable experience that I won’t be forgetting any time soon especially since we realise that Peter is a husband and father willing to do anything to protect the people he loves. However, the novel did feel a little rushed towards the end and was very tropey in places. The ending also didn’t blow me away like the rest of the novel had. I did have a great time reading the novel and was satisfied after I finished it but it wasn’t a five star, amazing read for me. I would highly recommend this book to fans of sci-fi and thrillers novels that centre around family and family ties and for people that like sci-fi with a hard technology element that explores themes and ideas that could be appearing in our reality in the near future.
Buy it here:
Paperback/Hardcover: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
Kindle Edition: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
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