Sunday, December 15, 2024

Deep Down There by Oli Jacobs -- A Truly Clever Premise that Teases More to Come

Cover Image via Goodreads
An independently published work


Deep Down There  by Oli Jacobs is an entertaining read with a simple but clever premise: What happens when a sinkhole appears in an established community. Overnight. And it’s a perfect circle with smooth walls that go straight down for what seems like infinity? The gated community of Anton Court gets to find out, and their justified curiosities lead to a few horrific outcomes.

I enjoyed this read. Oli Jacobs leans into character development to keep us interested, and he has created a nice little eclectic bunch led by Hannah, a widowed mother of two young boys who is stuck in a comfortable rut after the accidental death of her husband. Then the hole appears, and things gradually get weirder. No spoilers, but if you are a fan of TV shows like The Big Door Prize, which was a book before it was a TV series, you might like the feel of the characters here.

I do have a few criticisms on this one though. Plot development was a little bit slow for me, and the ending is left a bit too open ended, imo. There is a late revealed character that left me with more questions than answers (I can’t say more because of spoilers), and one key character seemed to have a name change through the third quarter of the book that had me scratching my head.

That all having been said, there are two post chapters that are separate from the main story but also tied to it. Ironically, they leave the reader with more questions, but they are also full of the right amount of intrigue to make this reader curious for more.

If you're down for a quick read that involves unexplainable mysteries and anomalies that might trigger the conspiracy theorist deep inside, than maybe check out Deep Down There. Click the image for a sales link.