Nautical

Review: The Salvage by Anbara Salam

~ megs14malloy

The Salvage: A NovelThe Salvage: A Novel by Anbara Salam
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

**3.5-stars rounded up**

The Salvage is an atmospheric Historical Horror novel set on Cairnroch, a small island off the coast of Scotland, in the Winter months of 1962-63. We follow Marta Khoury, a trailblazing marine archeologist, who arrives to the island to explore a Victorian shipwreck recently freed from Arctic ice.

The wreck holds the remains of a celebrated explorer, as well as the spoils of his final expedition. On her first dive down to the ship, Marta does find what she was expecting as far as the explorer and his treasures go, but she also sees something unexpected. A dark figure, a shadow, lurking amongst the wreckage. How is that possible?

When a record-breaking winter freeze strands Marta on Cairnroch, she ends up developing a friendship with a local woman, Elsie, who works at the island’s only hotel. We get Marta’s day-to-day as she tries to navigate life on the island, among the locals, and far from her regular life.

After artifacts from the ship begin disappearing, Marta and Elsie are forced to hunt for them before anyone, most notably, Marta’s employers, find out they’re missing. With the pressures of work, and this feeling that something darker is haunting her, Marta’s looking forward to the thaw that seems will never come.

This was really good. I think Salam did an excellent job setting the scene and developing Marta’s character. While the content ended up being much more Literary than I tend to gravitate towards, it was saved by the great atmosphere and subtle creepiness. I also did become attached to Marta and was truly interested in her circumstances.

I was definitely invested in the plot, and while the ending went a bit against my tastes, I still think Salam did a great job with the story overall. There’s something so eerie about being stranded on a remote island during an icy winter. I should know, I live on one, and it’s one of my favorite, though unsettling, yearly events.

I would recommend this to Literary, or Historical, Horror Readers. Particularly if you’re an atmosphere girlie like myself. I also found Marta’s profession as a marine archeologist to be unique and it brought a lot to the story.

Anyone interested in stories involving creepy, underwater habitats should also check this one out.

Thank you to the publisher, Tin House, for providing me a copy to read and review. I’d definitely be interested in reading more from Anbara Salam in the future.

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Review: The Night That Finds Us All by John Hornor Jacobs

~ megs14malloy

The Night That Finds Us AllThe Night That Finds Us All by John Hornor Jacobs
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

**3.5-stars**

The Night That Finds Us All is a Nautical Horror novel from John Hornor Jacobs. This story follows the journey of a century-old sailboat, The Blackwatch, as she makes her way from the shores of Washington state, all the way to England. This historic ship can’t sail herself though.

Thus, a hodgepodge crew is assembled to deliver her to her new owner. Our MC is Sam, and she gets invited on the project by a past crewmate, Loick, who believes Sam could be the only person capable of dealing with The Blackwatch’s complicated and moody engine.

Sam’s not thrilled by the idea. The head of the crew is someone she’s had issues with before, but she does care for Loick. It could be good working with him again.

The biggest motivator for her though is the money. Sam’s almost at rock bottom. Her drinking is out of control and she’s struggling to stay afloat on many fronts. Ultimately, she agrees to the job and the journey begins.

Sam’s committed to sobriety for the journey, and the withdrawels begin playing with her mind. At least, she believes it’s the withdrawels. The things she’s hearing, seeing, feeling on this ship, they can’t be real. Can they?

When one crewmate disappears and another is struck by a terrible, horrific accident, Sam’s confusion and fear grows. The Blackwatch is starting to feel a lot less like some rich man’s pet project, and a lot more like something sinister lying in wait to take them all out.

Interesting, interesting. This was a bit of a mixed bag for me, and I’ve been thinking on it for a while, trying to come up with the best way to explain my experience with it. The longer time goes by though, the more at a loss I find myself. Sadly, it didn’t leave much of a lasting impression. It was here one moment, gone the next, in my brain.

There were aspects I enjoyed, but there were also a few things that I thought were a little odd and out of place. Sam, as an MC, is not super likable, but that’s fine. That never really bothers me. I don’t need to like book characters.

I found the atmosphere aboard the ship to be my favorite part of the story. There was an overriding sense of dread that kept me moving forward quickly. Unfortunately, in many areas, it got a bit more fever dream than I tend to enjoy, and I had a difficult time sort of imagining exactly what was going down when the action scenes were taking place.

I did, however, enjoy how JHJ leaned into the historical nature of the ship, and even introduced some occult elements that I wasn’t expecting. Overall, I liked the tone and the ideas behind all that was happening, I just feel like for me, it lack a bit in execution.

This is the first that I have read from this author, though, and I would definitely be interested in picking up more. I would recommend this to Readers who enjoy Nautical Horror. It’s worth checking out. Just because it wasn’t a perfect fit for me, doesn’t mean you won’t love it.

Thank you to the publisher, G.P. Putnam’s Sons, for providing me with a copy to read and review. This was a fun time. I wish I could have imagined the action a bit more, but still a solid read.

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