Off the Deep End

A Thriller

By: Lucinda Berry

Narrated by: Amy Landon, Andi Arndt

Length: 8 hrs and 31 mins

Publisher's summary

From the bestselling author of The Best of Friends comes a heart-stopping psychological thriller about the shades of truth and the power of lies in the wake of one mother’s unspeakable loss.

Therapist turned stay-at-home mom Jules Hart’s idyllic suburban life shatters when she crashes her car into an icy lake. Her son and another teenage boy plunge into the water with her, but Jules can only manage to save one—the wrong one.

Reeling from the death of her son, Jules spirals into a violent and unstable mental state. Ten months after the accident, she’s still trying to reckon with the fact that she rescued Isaac Greer, another woman’s child, when Isaac suddenly vanishes.

Jules finds herself at the center of a massive police investigation. While she harbors her own dangerous secrets, Jules is adamant that she didn’t take Isaac. But then who did? Is Isaac the victim of a dangerous killer who’s been targeting boys in the Midwest? Or is someone else pulling the strings in this deadly game?

©2023 Heather Berry. (P)2022 Brilliance Publishing, Inc., all rights reserved

Critic reviews

“As usual, Berry tightens the screws smartly in the opening pages and never lets up, and as usual, her ending is more intent on deepening the nightmare than providing a plausible explanation for it. Warning: the title applies as much to the audience as to the characters.”—Kirkus Reviews

“As the suspense mounts, the action drives to a harrowing conclusion. Berry delivers the goods.”—Publishers Weekly

“A well-done mystery with a plausible yet surprising ending.”—Library Journal

Good

Interesting but weird and I did not want to not finish it! So good for that. Ending weird/different and not expected at all!

Another great story!

I just wish her books would come out faster! When is the next one coming?

Meh

I didn’t love this one. It was okay—other ones are a lot better—it’s similar to another one called keep your friends close.

5 stars

Off the Deep End by Lucinda Berry is the perfect title for this book. I am a huge fan of Dr. Berry and love how she weaves factual data of the human psyche with fiction to create a story that evokes all of the emotions. On the surface, two mothers have similar experiences with their sons, but, for myself, I only had sympathy for one and deep hatred for the other. However, by the end, my sympathy waned due to what's revealed about that mother's actions, but never entirely because, again, the human psyche is real. I don't know if this was Dr. Berry's intention but appreciate it all the same.

Throughout, I kept wanting to reduce my rating because I was SO ANGRY at one of the mothers for her beliefs and white privilege, but then I realized this is why it needs to be 5 stars. The fact that I had such visceral feelings toward a FICTIONAL character shows the writing is outstanding. Again, I'm not certain if this was intentional, but it only served to deepen my anger and dislike.

Amy Landon as Jules and Andi Arndt as Amber both embodied their characters perfectly. I preferred one over the other, but (deep down) I do believe it's because of the characters they portrayed.

Thrilling

Action from the first sentence. It’s not what you think it is. This story reminds me of the book, The Best of Friends, which I thought was well written and good. You don’t enjoy stories like this, but it was good.

RECOMMENDATION: READ IT

Clever approach to a very dark subject

Dark and confusing frequently. The results was surprising and unpredictable. She always keeps her readers guessing.

Not great

Started off solid but then the characters got annoying, repetitive and just unlikeable. Too much thesis-type dissection at the end.

Lucinda Berry signature twistiness!

This book was a WILD ride. I could definitely recognize Lucinda Berry’s writing and storytelling because parts of the story reminded me of the other book I’ve read by her, Saving Noah. Some parts were difficult to read as a mother and later into the book more things happen that I think could be triggering for some readers so proceed with caution! Overall I don’t feel like it was a super substantial story and it relied on the twists and outlandish situation a little too much. Content warnings for death of a child, suicidal ideation, school shooting, and an inappropriate relationship with a minor.

Audiobook

I listened to this on audiobook, and the last hour is what tipped this book over from a 4 star to a 5 star. This is the 2nd book by LB that I’ve read or listened to, and both had climaxes and twists I never saw coming in the first 75%. It just went off the rails and was so far from what I expected. Definitely twisty.

Another page turner by Berry

Love this author, love her stories. It wasn’t a nail/biting turner but the story kept itself at a good pace. The narrators were not so great tho. Luckily I had both so switched between reading and listening. But overall a 4 star for sure.