Deeper: A Novel

I have owned The Descent for several years. It is one of my favorite books, so I read it once every year or two. I contemplated purchasing Deeper for quite some time, but some of the negative reviews dissuaded me from buying it. The other day I finally decided to give it a shot. It was an easy read, finishing it up in less than one day. It isn’t as good as the first book, but I thought the author did a good job of following some of the previous main characters’ stories. There was one part of the story line in particular that continuously came up that didn’t add any relevant information, and could have easily been omitted. Overall, I’m still glad I read it! As long as you don’t expect it to be as good or better than the first book, I think you’ll enjoy reading Deeper.

After years of waiting, Jeff Long has finally written a sequel to one of my all time favorite books, 'The Descent'. Back again are Ike, a man disfigured once in the depths of the Subterrain, and Ali, a nun and scientist who has turned her back on God. When we left 'The Descent', Ike and Ali had made their way out of Hell, the deep Subterrain, after the government released a deadly plague via planted canisters on the Hadels, the humanoid creatures of the deep.It's been 10 years since the discovery of the "Sub Planet", a vast network of tunnels and caves far beneath even the Pacific Ocean. The savage yet humanoid Hadels who inhabited the Sub Planet are thought to be extinct from the man-released plague during the Helios expedition Ike and Ali participated in. Within a short period of time after the first expedition, Ike abandons a pregnant Ali to return to the Sub Planet. Moving quickly to the ten year mark, we discover Ali gave birth to a girl named Maggie and lost her after only three years. Ali works in The Studio studying the glyphs, alephs, and signs of language left behind by the Hadels. Then, all heck breaks loose.A raid is made on American children on Halloween night, the Hadels rising again to kidnap children and take them below. One mother, Rebecca Coltrane, organizes a group to go to the Subterrain to retrieve her child. Ali refuses to go with her, but eventually decides on her own mission to go below. In the meantime, America and China spar on the verge of a war over above and below planet infractions. Going below with Rebecca is an AWOL Navy Seal sniper and a filmmaker named Clemens who is horribly scarred from being held captive by the Hadels.While it seems like I've gone on about the book, I've barely skimmed the surface. This is the setup, the real action begins when we once again enter Long's dark world below the planet. There are lots of different things happening at once, keeping the book at an extremely fast pace. Does Satan still reside in the depths? What happened to Ike? Can the children be found? Will they still be alive? What will happen to the parties descending into hell? What kind of horrors lay ahead? Will they be betrayed? To find the answers, you MUST read this book. Be sure to read 'The Descent' first if you haven't already.Long is a terrific and talented writer. He brings his impossible world into believable life. His characters are fully fleshed and interesting, you'll find yourself caring about their outcome. His prose is tight and precise. The plot is fast paced, tightly woven, and doesn't slow down for an instant.Without giving away the ending, get ready for a surprise, and get ready for a third book. I can't wait. I highly recommend 'The Descent' and 'Deeper'. Enjoy!

I struggled a long time with the review for this book. At first I tried to judge it on it's own merits but, being a sequel, it has to build off of the success of its predecessor. The Descent was fantastic, a story driven by mans fear of the dark and the unique look at a world beneath us far more obscene and violent than we could ever imagine. Then you read Deeper. A book that is cast in the larger shadow of The Descent. The story is smaller, the characters are not as interesting and the climax unsatisfying.*minor spoilers below*I don't understand why Jeff Long decided to put his brilliant and deadly villains on the back burner. The first book hinted at possible supernatural abilities. Hints of immortality and super intelligence, this allowed for a certain believably with a touch of the unknown. Deeper straight up has a demigod as the villain. The most interesting character only has a few paragraphs throughout the book and is kept trapped beneath the rocks, only to be mentioned off hand and given only a short section in the end of the book directly about it.If you were a huge fan of the first book, read this, but don't expect the masterpiece to be replicated in this volume.

This story starts some months after a storyline in the first book ends. It opens with an emotional, unexpected, mysterious and sad leave taking. The storyline then moves on many years after some of those major events in the first book occur. Everyone is under the assumption that the deep subterranean underground has been purged of all life forms. It is thought that the Hadals, Mutants, and strange Creatures have all been wiped out by the man made plague that had been released. But that is far from the truth. Everyone learns very fast that the evil that was found and growing in this underground world has become more desperate and more evil then anyone could have ever imagined. Two women must meet and become friends to stop what has started. They have however decide to go separate and very different ways to solve a massive tragedy that has befallen the United States. There is war on the horizon between two powerful countries and danger, destruction, sadness and death in the underground world. The storyline moves as fast as the first book. The returning characters are more fleshed out and the new characters are a great addition to this duology. There are some twists and turns that you don't see coming. There are some deep philosophical subjects that are explored that are very thought provoking. If you enjoyed the first book I think you will enjoy this second book.

Having read The Descent, which was a long book, I wondered just how much more Jeff Long could find to write on the same theme, but I needn't have worried. I really enjoyed The Descent, but I enjoyed Deeper even more and I am really hoping that he will make it into a trilogy, which given the ending of Deeper I think is more than likely. This is another extraordinary book and again I couldn't put it down. He really is an exceptionally good writer, with a wealth of imagination and a flair for creative imagery. So if you're wondering whether to buy it or not I would suggest ignoring the film completely and reading The Descent and to then follow it up with Deeper. I agree with the reviewer who said that as a trilogy these books could become classics because these first two books are in a league of their own. I've never read anything quite like them, in much the same way as I've never read anything quite like Lord of the Rings (which I also love.) I've read most of Jeff Long's books now and I've enjoyed all of them. I shall be reading The Ascent next (despite being more of a pussycat than a wall rat)but I enjoyed The Wall, which is also about mountain climbing, so I am hoping I will also enjoy The Ascent. But I shall skip Angels of Light seeing as it has a totally outrageous price attached to it. But Deeper is more than worthy of 5 *****'s

The Descent and this book both had a profound effect on me.I haven't read anything so totally immersive in a while.I have read a couple of reviews saying they thought the 2nd book wasn't as good as the first, and to be honest I wasn't expecting it to be either...the first one being so darnn good...but I was blown away by Deeper.The characterisations are palpable and you get as sucked into the deep as Ali and Ike are.can't recommend enough

Great follow up novel by Jeff Long and I hope he completes this nightmare tale of the World beneath us, with a final instalment in a trilogy? If there is one out I have not seen it, but will keep looking!

Good follow up to the original, but the ending begs for another book. Goes deeper than the first one, but not for the faint hearted

Having read "The Descent" several years ago, I have followed Jeff Long's work since, with greater disappointment each time. However, I was delighted to see a follow-up to "The Descent" and can only say that "Deeper" is even better. A gripping read with fantastic narrative that really fires the imagination. A classic tale of good vs evil with a realistic backdrop of 21st Century realpolitik.The twist potentially calls for another book in the series, so Mr Long, please get writing!