A review by literarybitch
Pressure by Brian Keene

adventurous tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

My library due date was coming up, so I had to read this one fast. No pressure. Ha ha, get it?
I was mildly surprised to find this to be a monster story rather than the natural disaster I was promised. Like the whole thing hinges on a rift opening under the sea but that just becomes a background threat to the more pressing issue of there being A Creature™️. That's fine, just know you're not getting the ecological catastrophe you signed up for.
I was also mildly surprised about how few of the scares come from actually diving (it's there, certainly, just not as much as I thought!), considering that is a horrifying activity. I like to listen to caving & diving accidents on YouTube and that shit is spine-chilling even when they have all the equipment and nothing is chasing them. This is free-diving, so it's all on a breath hold. I would have loved more of that at the expense of less time with Shady Organization Inc.
Because of that, I don't even consider this horror, it's more of an action-adventure. This would be great for active fans of James Rollins; there's a bunch of chase scenes, scientific discoveries, betrayals, bad guys with guns. Oh and also a fucking pirates-style Kraken attack. It's not terribly deep (ha ha, get it?) or complex, just some decent turn-off-your-brain entertainment.

5/10
#WhatsKenyaReading