Pressure

Who doesn't love a good creature feature, especially if the creature is a sea monster? Throw in an evil corporation and a bunch of characters named after authors and what have you got? Brian Keene's Pressure.

This was a fun thriller, with bouts of gory action interspersed with treachery and corruption. The story moves right along and even though I'm sure there was a lot of research involved, Pressure doesn't get bogged down with a bunch of boring scientific facts.

Many of the characters have the same names as authors in the horror and sci-fi genres, so each time one of them showed up, it added to the fun. Even Clickers got a mention and I thought that was pretty cool-not only do clickers fit the story, it was a nice nod to author J.F. show more Gonzalez.

Pressure doesn't take itself too seriously, at least I didn't think it did. I have a vague feeling that Mr. Keene had one hell of a good time writing this book. I'm glad that I had the good sense to let it take me along for the ride.

Highly recommended for fans of thrillers, especially creature-features!

You can pre-order your copy here: https://www.amazon.com/Pressure-Brian-Keene/dp/1250071348/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&amp... Keene

*Thanks to Net Galley and St. Martin's press for the e-ARC of Pressure in exchange for my honest review. This is it.* show less

Off the coast of Mauritius, the ocean floor is collapsing at a rapid rate. Carrie Anderson is a world-champion free diver and a marine biologist and she's going down there to find out what's happening and how to stop it. But what she uncovers is terrifying. She doesn't know exactly what it is, but she knows it's big, it's hungry and it's cold. The pressure builds for Carrie and her team to figure out what to do with this new sea creature as they must contend with a corrupt corporation - one that doesn't mind killing to keep things quiet.

Wow. This was interesting. At no point was the story boring. I couldn't wait to find out what was going to happen next. I either loved the characters or loved to hate them. I loved the setting - a show more gorgeous island with an underwater waterfall - why not put a monster down there?! show less

Although I didn't find Carrie the sharpest lead in the box, until the end with a surprise or so, it stayed riveting. I cut this one into sections in my mind - maritime horror, corportate/military type horror, espionage action escape type stuff. A lot in a book that's shorter and well paced. The explanation of the creatures was...interesting. Clever story and there were chills and thrills with the creature feature vibe. Diving sounds so complicated and scary in general, though. Reading any book about the dangers of diving makes me want to avoid it.

I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I am a huge fan of Brian Keene and have read pretty much everything by him that I can get my hands on. Pressure was not one of my favorites, although I find anything he writes at least enjoyable because he always tells a good story.

Pressure is an environmental monster romp with a healthy dose of evil corporation malice thrown in for good measure. What it didn’t have, in my opinion, was that edge that I usually expect from Mr. Keene. This book had B-Movie level characters and action, and not really even enough of that for my taste. Keene does monster romps very, very well—case in point being the Clickers series, which I show more loved. He also does evil human protagonists and tortured characters quite well. Pressure, however, felt like a lighter version of his usual stories in both respects.

3 stars. show less

I truly wanted to like this book way more than I actually did. I got really excited when I read the premise for this book. I have read a few other books with deep sea creatures that have been terrifying. So I was ready for a chill.

When Carrie had her first encounter with the creature it was a little scary. The environment changing the way it did with the creature's emotions was like a mood ring. However, unlike a mood ring, this one fights back when it turns "black". It will kill and destroy everything in its wake. Yet, despite the creature being scary, the rest of the story as a whole including the characters were subpar. I barely remembered their names. This book is not the stuff of nightmares. One author that can really make show more creatures terrifying is a favorite of mine, Mr. Jeremy Robinson. show less

I hoped for more, but I was not entirely disappointed. The sea-monster, which is among my favorite archetypes in all of fiction, was a little underwhelming, but did its job to get the plot moving. I found the dialogue a little too flippant and nonchalant for what was supposed to be a series of near-death situations. Perhaps this is reflected in the depiction of the evil corporation, which was portrayed more as an occasionally malicious nuisance than a threat to the world. Otherwise, the book reads well. The characters are witty and lovable, and I think I'd buy a sequel.

Pressure is an unusual Brian Keene book. It is a mixture of a creature feature, conspiracy theory, and a dash of sci-fi; each adding to a quick paced novel that is hampered from time to time by uneven dialogue. I enjoyed the characters with the exception of the creature. My biggest qualm is that we do not get enough interaction with the creature as the plot shifts to an evil corporation's involvement. Keene puts his characters in tense and uneasy situations which added to the ominous feeling. There were several instances of dread. This is a quick and fun read.