A strange island of stone has risen out of the Atlantic Ocean off the coast of Maine. Everyone is baffled by it, and the area is quarantined until the United States Army can go in and figure out what’s going on. But Edward Beck, Caro’s professor and secret lover, says he knows what it is. He’s assembled a team to go in and investigate before the army can get there, and he wants Caro to go with them. Trying to outmaneuver the US government to investigate a mysterious object seems like a really bad idea, but love makes us really stupid, and Caro can’t wait to go. Looks like she’s going to find out that love hurts the hard way in Megan Bontrager’s debut novel: The Sea Hides Its Dead.
[Note: While I am reviewing this novel independently and honestly, it should be noted that it has been provided to me by Run for It for the purpose of this review. Warning: My review of The Sea Hides Its Dead contains some spoilers!]
There’s a saying for this: “Look before you leap”
A mysterious island of stone suddenly appears in the Atlantic Ocean, one that the US government is hesitant to approach, but an unknown academic from Ohio says he knows what’s going on and gets a whole crew to follow him out to the island behind the government’s back. No one took the time to actually think about what they were doing; they just blindly followed Edward Beck to Maine. Each had their own reasons, but for some reason, none of them stopped to think about the danger of what they were doing. And that’s what allowed everything else that followed to happen.
The small group arrives in Seal Harbor and manages to bribe a couple of fishermen to take them out to the anomaly. The fishermen are smart enough to only be dropping them off; they’ll return in six hours to pick them back up, but they aren’t sticking around. None of the explorers seems too worried about the obvious fear everyone else has about the strange island. When they get to the island, there’s a small cave in the side of it. The party heads in and begins exploring. Suddenly, there’s a cave-in! The two caving experts are killed, and the rest of the group is pushed deeper into the cave. Beck insists that the only way out is in, so they begin exploring, but things get weird fast. It quickly becomes obvious that they aren’t the only ones in the cave; something else is in here with them. Something that is testing them. Something that wants to know their greatest sin. Something that only wants the most worthy to survive the trail. A prize is promised to all those who survive. But surviving means atoning for your greatest sin. Caro’s greatest sin is a lot bigger than cheating on a final. Can she atone for it, or is she doomed?
Never trust a cheater
Caro has a very tragic backstory that has left her with no sense of self-worth. It’s also left her with trust and attachment issues so she’s very alone and ripe for a mentally abusive jerk to come along and take advantage of. Unfortunately for her, she meets just such a jerk, Edward Beck. Beck saw a vulnerable young woman, and instead of wanting to help her, he thought of all the ways he could exploit her. Like all cheaters, he strings her along with empty promises and sweet words, and Caro is too broken to see through him.
Until they enter the cave of the Leviathan, that is. While they are in the cave, Caro has two major revelations. Okay, she has more than two, but two are more important than the rest. Beck is an asshole who’s just using her, and she deserves better. Thanks to the Leviathan, Caro is able to forgive herself for the past, move on, and become the strong woman we all want her to be from the first time we see what a jerk Beck is. I know that not everyone will like the ending. But you do have to remember that you’re reading a horror story here, not a romance or even a drama. Everything isn’t going to end with sunshine and rainbows. But that doesn’t mean that it doesn’t end well. Everyone gets, if not exactly what they deserve, a just ending. And Caro is satisfied with how it all turns out, even if we were hoping for a different ending. And that’s important. It isn’t always about the reader; it’s about the character. As much as I wanted sunshine and rainbows for Caro, I’m pretty sure she couldn’t have handled that. She may have found forgiveness in the darkness of that cave, but that doesn’t mean she would have felt comfortable in a perfect, happy ending. She needed a little darkness to make it feel right, and that’s what she got.
The Sea Hides Its Dead very intense story
Bontrager comes at readers hard in The Sea Hides Its Dead. From the first few pages, where Caro hits a deer and is on the way to the airport, to the blood-filled ending, the violence always surprises you. That doesn’t mean there aren’t breaks in the savagery. But you never know when the next shock is going to jump up and cover you in more guts and gore. And as the book goes on, the shocks come at you faster and faster until you feel like you’re drowning in the very same water that is holding Caro and company hostage. Just keep your head above water until you reach the end, then promise yourself you’re never going into a mysterious ocean cave, no matter who begs you to go.
Check out this new author, just maybe not on the beach
The Sea Hides Its Dead comes out on July 14th and will make a great summer read. It’s perfect for late-night spookiness or campfire creeps; you just might not want to take this one to the beach, especially if there happen to be any caves nearby. Not if you want to still sleep at night…
Rating: 8/10
The Sea Hides Its Dead by Megan Bontrager is available now!
Learn more about the book at the official website for the title.
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