Book Review: Something in the Water by Catherine Steadman

There’s something intriguing in Something in the Water.

It’s a thriller that opens innocently enough with a couple blissfully in love, closing in on their wedding date. Erin makes documentaries and Mark is an investment banker, recently laid off. Mark’s unemployment creates the first tear in the relationship. He’s suddenly more secretive, making moves without consulting with Erin first.

But they’re in luuuuuv. It’s just money, right? Finances can’t have any real bearing on their relationship. And these were just well-meaning secrets. (Cue hysterical laughter from all of the old marrieds)

Once married, Erin and Mark go on their honeymoon. While scuba diving one lazy afternoon, they happen across something in the water. It’s a mystery bag full of rich stuff. And suddenly that tear in their mutual trust becomes a huge, irreparable rip.

Something in the Water offers a twist on the characters you see in thrillers.

Erin, an arguably innocent person, seems to go on a downward morality spiral, but still thinks she is relatively innocent. She doesn’t become pure evil with a mountain of rich stuff before her.

The interesting question: who is the real villain of this book? Aside from the Russians, that is. (Oh yeah – there are evil Russian gangsters in the book.) Is there a definitive villain? Are they all villains? Mark and Erin are both full of their share of secrets.

And they make so many bad decisions. It’s as if they found the bag full of rich stuff and subconsciously decided, “How can I make this the most deadly and life-shattering bag of all time?”

Reading it is so frustrating and stressful, but wonderfully fun.

Something in the Water
Catherine Steadman
Published June 2018
Ballantine