View from Valhalla

originally published September 5, 2011

Title: The Devil’s Deep
Author:Michael Wallace
Genre: Adventure/Crime
Released: 6 August 2011 – 21 August 2011
Located:Podibooks, iTunes
Formats Available: Podcast, ebook
Rating:; PG13: Violence

To be honest, I’d never heard of the author Michael Wallace. In my personal reading habits, I occasionally read adventure/crime/mystery stories, but for the most part, I’ve tended to review mostly science fiction and fantasy. I believe the the podcast was mentioned to me by Nathan Lowell. I can’t remember if he recommended it or just mentioned it in passing. It doesn’t matter. When Nathan casually mentions a story to me, I usually take it to heart. I haven’t been disappointed yet. I didn’t know until today while researching Mr. Wallace that he had been picked up for a 5 book deal by Amazon’s new imprint, I believe The Devil’s Deep will be one of the stories included in that sale.

So, on to the review.

Synopsis: Chad Lett is a mute witness to an attempted murder. He suffers from total paralysis, locked within a prison of his own mind. After years of silence, he establishes contact with a young nurse’s aid through a single blinking eye, but then she is abducted and a staff member begins to administer dropperfuls of cleaning solution into his communicating eye.

A heart-pounding thriller that will stay with the reader long after the last word is read, the Devil’s Deep travels from the hell of a long-term care facility to the rain forest of Costa Rica. And a crime committed under tropical waters, the dive known as El Bajo del Diablo—the Devil’s Deep. (stolen from podiobooks.com)

Production: The production of The Devil’s Deep is a bit rustic. It isn’t bad, but you can hear the static in the background a bit more than on many of the current crop of podiobooks. You can also hear from place to place a rushed edit from a re-recording of a line or two. The music selected for the podcast doesn’t really seem to fit the tone of the story either. However, none of these things made it overly difficult to listen to The Devil’s Deep or takes you out of the story.

Grade: C+

Cast: Mr. Wallace provides his own reading of his story. I always like this. Mr. Wallace’s reading is sufficient without being “polished”. His voice isn’t the sonorous voice of many of the podcasters out there, but then, neither is mine. I liked his reading and enjoyed the way he told his story.

Grade: B+

Story: The Devil’s Deep is really a straight forward story, much more in the realm of adventure/thriller than what I would call a mystery. Not that anyone has called it a mystery to my knowledge, but I was just making the point. There are several stories lines being told throughout the story that come together nicely at the end. The characters are well develop and continue to evolve throughout. This is nice and it didn’t go unnoticed.

Grade: A-

Verdict: If you’re looking for something out of the spec/fict rut you’ve been in, give The Devil’s Deep a listen. I quite enjoyed it and will quite probably be reading the rest of his novels at some point in the future. If I do, you will see them reviewed in our new Book Review section.

Disclaimer: As mentioned above, I’d never heard of Mr. Wallace before subscribing to this story. I have no idea if he’s on Twitter. I was not offered, nor did I receive, anything in compensation for this review.

~ by odin1eye on 14 January, 2020.

Posted in Podcast Reviews