What Stalks The Deep by T. Kingfisher
Blurb:
An instant New York Times, USA Today, and Indie bestseller!
The next installment in the New York Times bestselling Sworn Soldier series, featuring Alex Easton investigating the dark, mysterious depths of a coal mine in America
Alex Easton does not want to visit America.
They particularly do not want to visit an abandoned coal mine in West Virginia with a reputation for being haunted.
But when their old friend Dr. Denton summons them to help find his lost cousin—who went missing in that very mine—well, sometimes a sworn soldier has to do what a sworn soldier has to do...
Review:
To many, America is the land of opportunity, what the wars long ago ended and society rebuilding itself shortly after Alex Easton’s recent experiences with the paranormal in Gallacia. Freshly relieved of an undead woman who was determined to destroy them, Alex would rather be anywhere but the United States. Separated from ka horse, ka home, and everything ka knows, ka is forced to navigate unfamiliar lands. The reason: to return the favors Doctor James Denton did for kan when ka faced paranormal troubles in Gallacia.
Traveling across the world with kan oldest friend, Angus, ka meets Doctor Denton and pursues the mystery he describes: a missing cousin, an abandoned mining system, and a creature that is murdering the civilians in nearby villages. Faced with unnatural threats once more, Alex and the others in kan team must figure out where Doctor Denton’s cousin, Oscar, went, and if he’s still alive. Even if it means venturing into the very place Oscar was last seen: the mines. Mines which breathe, mines which might be infested with monsters, and mines which prove to Alex that kan doesn’t only fear the paranormal, but that ka might just fear the ground itself…and how it threatens to close in.
Ohhhhh boy. I can never finish reading a T. Kingfisher novel without wanting to rant and rave about it to everyone I meet and speak to. Her work is simply phenomenal, that’s all there is to it. Visceral descriptions, intriguing conflicts, and an authentic protagonist I can’t help but look forward to returning to mix to make a recipe that readers will devour.
T. Kingfisher writes the kinds of stories that readers could easily consume in one sitting—especially when it comes to her novelettes and novellas. As one of the only authors I read the shorter works of, I am constantly astounded by how Kingfisher manages to pack so much detail, so much growth, and so much action, into so few pages without it feeling like the story was rushed.
Her work is a masterclass in pacing, tension, and squeezing every penny out of the word count the stories are confined by. What Stalks The Deep is another phenomenal installment in an extraordinary horror series. Usually readers won’t see books—particularly horror books—in a series format. Much less often as novellas, novelettes, or shorter mediums of fiction. Yet Kingfisher pulls it off, making it look almost easy as she puts out book after engaging book.
I feel like I’m repeating things I’ve said in previous reviews of Kingfisher’s books, but one of the most impressive things about her work is how she manages to pack so much detail into such short, concise passages.
She doesn’t over-explain or dumb information on the reader, as she can’t afford to, yet she still manages to paint a vivid picture of every single thing, event, character, etc., that appears within her works. What Stalks The Deep is no different in its stunning prose that will have readers salivating and wishing they were in the settings Kingfisher writes, no matter how dangerous.
I’d also love to mention how acute, intelligent, and clever the titles of this novella series truly are. Each title follows the same format yet somehow perfectly incapsulates what occurs within the stories behind those titles, which is something that is increasingly less common with fiction in recent publications.
Kingfisher will always be a must-buy author for me. Whenever I buy a book, as of late, I find myself purchasing another novel on this author’s backlog. I could go on, and on, and on (and on!) about how truly masterful and excellent the books by T. Kingfisher are, and I would never get bored. Read. Her. Books!
