Whalefall: A Novel

Written by Daniel Kraus

Narrated by Kirby Heyborne

A USA TODAY BESTSELLER
Named a Best Book of 2023 by Book Riot, Shelf Awareness, and NPR

The Martian meets 127 Hours in this “astoundingly great” (Gillian Flynn, #1 New York Times bestselling author) and scientifically accurate thriller about a scuba diver who’s been swallowed by an eighty-foot, sixty-ton sperm whale and has only one hour to escape before his oxygen runs out.

Jay Gardiner has given himself a fool’s errand—to find the remains of his deceased father in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Monastery Beach. He knows it’s a long shot, but Jay feels it’s the only way for him to lift the weight of guilt he has carried since his dad’s death by suicide the previous year.

The dive begins well enough, but the sudden appearance of a giant squid puts Jay in very real jeopardy, made infinitely worse by the arrival of a sperm whale looking to feed. Suddenly, Jay is caught in the squid’s tentacles and drawn into the whale’s mouth where he is pulled into the first of its four stomachs. He quickly realizes he has only one hour before his oxygen tanks run out—one hour to defeat his demons and escape the belly of a whale.

Suspenseful and cinematic, Whalefall is an “powerfully humane” (Owen King, New York Times bestselling author) thriller about a young man who has given up on life…only to find a reason to live in the most dangerous and unlikely of places.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Simon & Schuster Audio
• Release date: Aug 8, 2023
• ISBN: 9781797158525

Daniel Kraus

Daniel Kraus is the New York Times bestselling author of more than a dozen novels and graphic novels. He coauthored The Living Dead with legendary filmmaker George A. Romero. With Guillermo del Toro, he coauthored The Shape of Water, based on the same idea the two created for the Oscar-winning film. Also with del Toro, Kraus coauthored Trollhunters, which was adapted into the Emmy-winning Netflix series. He has won two Odyssey Awards (for Rotters and Scowler), and The Death and Life of Zebulon Finch was named one of Entertainment Weekly’s Top 10 Books of the Year. His books have been Library Guild selections, YALSA Best Fiction for Young Adults picks, Bram Stoker finalists, and more. His work has been translated into over twenty languages. Daniel lives with his wife in Chicago. Visit him at DanielKraus.com.

Reviews for Whalefall

[Reici Newsom · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Should be required reading (or listening). What an incredible journey!

[Summer Fouché · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Unique and interesting concept for a book. Survival horror and the horror of grief combined. I enjoyed its differentness.

[Nina Quartuccio · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Brilliantly done by both the author and narrator. Couldn't stop listening to it. An incredible amount of research had to be done to put this book together. Great descriptions and visual scenes. You cringe and gasp without realizing it. Eeeek. At one point, I felt clostrophobic and began choking. Horror yes, boring no. Loved it.

[MIKE · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Beautiful, heartfelt, exciting, and educational. More appreciate for the world, family.

[lisa.nurse · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

A bit heavy handed on the metaphors. Overdramatic reading doesn't help.

[Summer Allen · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

This was a beautiful and uniquely weird story. Relatable and memorable.

[Mrs Henson · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A jaw-dropper. Insane, almost impossible, stunning, and full of knowledge and feeling. Just read it.

[Amy Cobb · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

Bizarre but I liked it! The scientist in me loved it. This will not be for everyone, but witnessing a father and son reconcile their differences in a whale’s GI tract was a wild ride. Excellent narration by Kirby Heyborne.

[REBECCA MURRAY · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

It was just okay… Great idea for a book, but too much back and forth between past and present.

[David Barnes · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A remarkably unique story of whales, families, loss and gain.

[Aires Ong · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

A claustrophobic horror thriller that at its heart deals with complex grief and a father/son relationship. Loved this one so much!

[Jay Cottrell · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Whalefall is a book about a pussy who's Dad tries to teach him to be a man. He runs away and hides until he gets eaten by a whale and realizes how much of whiney bish he was.