Name of Book: Dead in the Water
Author: John Marrs
Book Style: Audible
Dates Read: 4th June – 30th June
Stars: ⭐⭐ (2/5)
My Review No Spoilers Promise
This review genuinely makes me sad to write.
If you’ve read any of my previous reviews, you’ll know that I absolutely love John Marrs. He’s one of those authors whose books I normally recommend without hesitation, so I went into this expecting another five star obsession.
Unfortunately… it just wasn’t.
And honestly, I don’t know whether it was me, the timing, the audiobook, or simply that this story wasn’t for me.
The premise is brilliant. After surviving a near-drowning, Damon begins remembering flashes of a life event that he has absolutely no recollection of living. As he becomes obsessed with uncovering the truth, he starts taking increasingly dangerous risks in the hope of unlocking the missing pieces of his memory.
On paper, this sounds exactly like the kind of psychological thriller I’d love.
But for some reason, I just couldn’t connect with it.
This audiobook took me nearly a month to finish, which is unheard of for me. Normally, if I’m enjoying an audiobook, I’m making excuses to listen to it in the car, whilst cooking, walking… basically any excuse I can find.
With this one, I found myself putting it on more as background noise than because I was desperate to know what happened next. I hate admitting that because I wanted so badly to love it.
I also felt that it was much longer than it needed to be. There were sections where my attention drifted and I found myself realising I’d listened for ten minutes without actually taking anything in.
That said, I still think John Marrs is an incredibly talented writer. This simply wasn’t the right story for me, and that’s absolutely okay. Every author has books that readers connect with differently, and unfortunately this was the first John Marrs book that just didn’t click.
Final verdict
A fantastic premise that, sadly, never quite came together for me. I struggled to stay engaged, found the audiobook difficult to get through and ultimately finished feeling disappointed rather than satisfied.
Two stars feels harsh, especially for an author I genuinely love, but I always want my reviews to reflect my honest experience.
Don’t let this review put you off John Marrs though. I’ll absolutely be picking up another one of his books because one disappointment isn’t enough to knock him off my favourite authors list.
Let’s be friends on Goodreads
John Marrs… we’re still friends. We just need to pretend this one never happened. 🤝📚😂👀✨
The Anxious Book Worm 
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