The Darkdeep

By Brendan Reichs and Ally Condie

A suspenseful and spooky series, perfect for fans of Goosebumps, from bestselling duo Ally Condie and Brendan Reichs.

When a bullying incident sends twelve year-old Nico Holland over the edge of a cliff into the icy waters of Still Cove, where no one ever goes, friends Tyler and Ella – and even 'cool kid' Opal – rush to his rescue . . . only to discover an island hidden in the swirling mists below. Shrouded by dense trees and murky tides, the island appears uninhabited, although the kids can't quite shake the feeling that something about it is off.

As the group delves deeper into the unknown, their discoveries – and their lives – begin to intertwine in weird and spooky ways. Something ancient has awakened . . . and it knows their wishes and dreams – and their deepest secrets. Do they have what it takes to face the shadowy things that lurk within their own hearts?

Continue the chilling adventure with The Beast.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Pan Macmillan
• Release date: Oct 4, 2018
• ISBN: 9781529003963

Brendan Reichs

Brendan Reichs was born and raised in Charlotte, North Carolina. He graduated from Wake Forest University in 2000 and the George Washington University Law School in 2006. After three long years working as a litigation attorney, he abandoned the trade to write full-time. He lives in Charlotte with his wife, son, daughter, and a herd of animals that tear up everything. He is the co-author of the bestselling Virals series with his mother, crime author Kathy Reichs, but Nemesis was his first solo novel, followed by Genesis.

Reviews for The Darkdeep

[heatherlinc · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

"The Darkdeep" was a quick, fun read for middle-school students. It had a strong emphasis on friendship and facing your fears. Emma, Nico, Opal and Tyler were all likeable characters and the Darkdeep was creepy and mysterious which will appeal to younger readers.

[ewyatt_16 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

The chapters switched perspectives but the third person narration made it difficult to discern the difference. A group of friends is near Still Cove, a creepy constantly misty spot rumored to house a beast. When Nico's drone is flown down into the water by bully-Logan, he falls in after it. Three friends go in after and discover an island, an old houseboat, and a spinning pool of water that has some powers to conjure creatures pulled from the kids psyches. The kids have to work together to save themselves and their town.

[krau0098 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

My son picked this up to read, didn’t like it, and gave it to me. He said it was too creepy. I stopped reading this book around page 180 mainly because it was just really boring and I was sitting there as I picked it up thinking...I just don't care.This story is about some kids who discover a strange house boat in the middle of a lake that is supposedly inhabited by a horrible beast. They explore the house only to find a strange dark pool in it. That’s all I can really say without spoilers.This seemed promising at the beginning. I loved all the folklore around the evil beast and the creepy atmosphere. Unfortunately that didn’t help with how disjointed and just plain boring the story was. The story jumps between different characters and I struggled to engage with any of them. There is no tension or anything driving the story. When I finally realized how ambivalent I was about it all, I decided to stop reading it.Overall this was not a well done book. It moves really slow, is pretty disjointed and hard to engage in. It’s also pretty predictable and not nearly are scary/creepy as advertised. I would skip it.

[acargile-1 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

What a creepy novel!Nico and his friends Emma and Tyler have a great time until the bully Logan shows up. Nico has made a drone and they are trying it out. Logan insists on trying it out and flies it out over the cove; it’s gone. This is a problem. You see the cove is as dangerous as it gets. No one goes down there; if they do, they’re never seen again! The cove is buried under thick fog--for a reason. Nico is determined to check on his drone, so he decides to try and climb down. Yep--you know what happens! He falls. Meanwhile Logan has left and Nico’s old childhood friend Opal turns on Logan and goes back to help. When Nico falls, only Opal is brave enough to find a path down.What’s at the bottom? They do find Nico, but it’s what else they find that’s more interesting and scary. They find a boat, row out to an island where there is a houseboat. On the houseboat is a basement (yes, very weird). There is a hole where weird water swirls. They think this is great! They plan on using this place as their new hangout place. Emma is especially enamored. She feels compelled to be near the water. She finally dips her toe in to just see what it feels like. The water comes up, grabs her, and pulls her in. It then spits her out on land. Suddenly, creatures begin to appear that are from the teens’ imagination. They quickly dissipate. This is great! Can it really be that easy? Create something and then it disappears? There’s a reason there is fog covering all of this supernatural stuff.As the teens explore more, they discover books, symbols, and even a dead body. They have to piece together the history of this place before their own world is destroyed. I liked the book. I’m not a horror reader, but this was just creepy enough without being scary that it was fun. It might even be a little campy! This was book one, so don’t think the end is actually the ending.

[deslivres5 · Rating: 3 out of 5 stars]

Middle grade paranormal adventure among a group of small town friends, Nico, Opal, Tyler and Emma, who, by accident, discover a mysterious houseboat in a cove outside of town.The chapters alternate with the the narrative focusing on Nico and Opal's perspectives as the friends try to make sense of the oddities surrounding the houseboat.Lots of loose ends and questions by the end of the novel, but this one is #1 a series.