Hunted (The Abarath Trilogy Book 1) by Damian Dawes

A deep-sea thriller with a paranormal twist, Hunted by Damian Dawes is the first throat-clenching book of The Abarath Trilogy.

Kat Robbins may not be afraid of anything, not even a great white looking for a scuba diver dinner, but that doesn’t make her isolated life on an Arctic icebreaker any less monotonous. The bleak endless ocean means plenty of time to ruminate on the shadows of her past, until a mysterious wreck draws the crew into dark and uncertain waters. Stranded in an icy expanse and stalked by an ancient, life-sucking evil, the crew of Soviet misfits, suspicious tourists, and mildly nihilistic adventurers must unite or be torn apart by the dark horrors below and among them.

Set against Cold War tensions and the looming threat of global destruction, this is a macabre and thrilling tale of stowaways, hollowed-out bodies, and tombs of frozen secrets. The plot moves quickly, but the character development is also impeccable, with Captain Belov, Tor, Kat, and Robinson each driving and defining the story in their own authentic ways. The narration is straightforward, with few descriptive flourishes, while still being fully immersive, and the dialogue is gritty, profanity-laced, and entirely consistent with these characters’ personalities.

A chilling but escapist read, Hunted sinks its teeth in slow, but it’s not easy to pull free, for a stellar first entry in the series.

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