Book Review- Surfacing by A.L. Bates

Surfacing by A.L. Bates

My rating: 4 of 5 stars


Surfacing is the sequel to Deep and it would definitely be better if that is read before this. Surfacing is relatively stand alone but still, it assumes you know the characters. It picks up not long after Deep and the crew is ready to surface from the waters where they mine and salvage and take some shore leave while they monetize their cargo.

Joel, the captain and Sean, the doctor, are still in the early days of their relationship which is a bit of a bumpy one. Joel has always considered himself straight until Sean and Sean's past contains a ton of sexual abuse (including being sold by his father and older brother) and framed for certain crimes.

Just as they are ready to take the next step in their relationship when everything falls apart. As if one crew member close to Joel turning up with a problem pregnancy that she might lose wasn't enough, Sean's past catches up to him. His elder brother has found him and worse blames Sean for everything bad that has happened to him as a result of Sean's fleeing the family. He can make it all go away if he returns Sean back to his abusers.

Joel isn't about to let this happen but Sean's instincts are to protect Joel and the ship from his brother. The question is will he survive the consequences of those instincts?

I enjoyed this novella though I occasionally wonder if Sean has the patience of a saint as Joel is a prickly captain and they both have a habit of jumping to conclusions. The world building in this is very interesting, and different, especially with the deep sea nature of the ship. It is, however, on the dark side (which I am a fan of). Sean and Joel are interesting characters and I'm glad of the time I spent with them.

I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for a review which in no way influenced this review.




View all my reviews