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Depth
In a post-apocalyptic flooded New York City, a private investigator’s routine surveillance case leads to a treasure everyone wants to find—and someone is willing to kill for.
Depth combines hardboiled mystery and dystopian science fiction in a future where the rising ocean levels have left New York twenty-one stories under water and cut off from the rest of the United States. But the city survives, and Simone Pierce is one of its best private investigators. Her latest case, running surveillance on a potentially unfaithful husband, was supposed to be easy. Then her target is murdered, and the search for his killer points Simone towards a secret from the past that can’t possibly be real—but that won’t stop the city’s most powerful men and women from trying to acquire it for themselves, with Simone caught in the middle.
"Heinlein meets Hammett in this whip-smart whodunnit set amid the billowing fog and rising waters of a future New York in which the truth, like the monuments and skyscrapers of the city's past, seems always to lie just below the surface."
—Chuck Greaves, award-winning author of Hush Money, Green-Eyed Lady, and The Last Heir.
“I have long admired Lev Rosen’s strange, genre-bending work, and Depth is an exciting display of his many gifts. His vision of post–global warming Manhattan is richly imagined and noir-ishly melancholy, and his riff on the traditional detective story is elegant, surprising, and, yes, deep.”
—Dan Chaon, author of Await Your Reply and Stay Awake.
Depth combines hardboiled mystery and dystopian science fiction in a future where the rising ocean levels have left New York twenty-one stories under water and cut off from the rest of the United States. But the city survives, and Simone Pierce is one of its best private investigators. Her latest case, running surveillance on a potentially unfaithful husband, was supposed to be easy. Then her target is murdered, and the search for his killer points Simone towards a secret from the past that can’t possibly be real—but that won’t stop the city’s most powerful men and women from trying to acquire it for themselves, with Simone caught in the middle.
"Heinlein meets Hammett in this whip-smart whodunnit set amid the billowing fog and rising waters of a future New York in which the truth, like the monuments and skyscrapers of the city's past, seems always to lie just below the surface."
—Chuck Greaves, award-winning author of Hush Money, Green-Eyed Lady, and The Last Heir.
“I have long admired Lev Rosen’s strange, genre-bending work, and Depth is an exciting display of his many gifts. His vision of post–global warming Manhattan is richly imagined and noir-ishly melancholy, and his riff on the traditional detective story is elegant, surprising, and, yes, deep.”
—Dan Chaon, author of Await Your Reply and Stay Awake.
272 pages, Hardcover
First published April 28, 2015
About the author
Lev A.C. Rosen
14 books918 followersLEV AC ROSEN sometimes is sometimes known as L.C. ROSEN. He is the author of books for all ages.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 114 reviews
January 10, 2016
If you’ll forgive the pun, I’m a bit out of my depth here. How do I describe a book that only took me two sittings to finish but has a fair bit that needs shoring up?
Simone is a private detective tailing Henry St. Michel, a balding, dumpy, fifty-something importer/exporter whose rich wife Linnea suspects of having an affair. She might be right; Simone has tailed him to an expensive restaurant where he meets an attractive blonde. Heavy fog and a personal phone call prevent her from getting many details, but the phone call isn’t all bad–her best friend is calling to give her notice that she sent an attractive client her way, a researcher looking for a city guide. deCostas is looking to find the mythical ‘dry tunnels’ the city was building before funds and time ran out on re-connecting NYC to the mainland. Simone agrees to chaperone deCostas as she continues to work on the St. Michel’s case. Unfortunately, in short order both Henry and Linnea disappear and Simone is left floundering.
Character-building was interesting. Like many book detectives, Simone has a disabling inability to trust others. Her closest friends are Caroline Khan, the deputy mayor from a prominent Korean-American family; and Danny, human computer posing as a psychic; and occasional support from Peter, NYPD and ex-lover. Its the kind of mix that updates the noir tropes in an interesting way, except that Rosen plays their negative characteristics a bit too strongly without equal attention to developing care and concern. The details of their caring are all historical and their ‘friendliness’ are often displayed as taunts; I wish moments of kindness had shown through to help show why they care.
“Simone arched an eyebrow. ‘Don’t get enthusiastic about the idiot stuff, Danny.’
‘So I should be like you and save my enthusiasm for cigarettes and silly hats?’ he asked with a smirk.”
I largely enjoyed the writing. There’s a bit of soggy prose in the beginning, attempts to write in a noir fashion that don’t take: “She glanced at [the phone], and as she did the fog swirled open for less than a heartbeat, then closed like a lover’s kiss.” Honestly, I don’t even know what that means–Tongue? Softly? Passionately? Color me confused. Once the narrative dives into the plot, those instances are minimized and more appropriately focused. But dear heavens, why on earth did the editor allow 150 mentions of Simone’s smoking/cigarettes? (I’m guessing it was a little less once per page). Lev must have been jonsing, but it doesn’t explain the editorial pass. It takes more than a cigarette habit to build a character, and the reader (me) shouldn’t be so sick of her habit that they’re ready to drown themselves, noir or not. I will note that Simone often info-dumps background on a character as they meet up.
“The green light of algae generators pulse through the fog here and there, giving the view an eerie glow and, through it, the silhouette of the skyline bursting from the sea. It wasn’t the iconic skyline of the past–just the top, with wide plains of oceans between crumbling towers, and large boats floating low on the horizon, like a steel archipelago.”
One of the most intriguing aspects is the world-building. I admit, it’s the hook that caught me (besides Emily’s review). Honestly, I never thought about New York’s seawater risk until Hurricane Sandy, and stories of flooded subways and streets started making headlines. I know that’s probably a no-brainer, but NYC has always seemed to live in bubble of environmental isolation, and NY is about the human culture, not the beaches. At any rate, I enjoyed the vision of a NYC flooded below 21st floor (although that’s about 35 times more than current projections). Some ideas feel eminently realistic: oceanliners as buildings, rickety bridges, a cavalier attitude. Some parts less so. Explanations are quickly technoed (see, I can make up words as well) with FluoriSeal (for your hair, not your teeth), DrySkin (waterproof coating), MouthFoam (drug) and GlassSteel (building coating), so mileage may vary. It feels a little like those J.D. Robb books with the police detective zooming around in an aircar but really are just set in 1990. World-building also includes a super-conservative mainland, with NYC acting as an island of indecency. Do you think Rosen is implying something about current views?
Last, but never least in a mystery, is plotting. A couple reviewers complained about predictability; I don’t agree, but I only guess endings is when I’m re-reading Agatha Christie, so take that for what it is worth. I rather thought it was Byzantine, perhaps attempting to weave in a few too many red herrings (how’s that for an utter mess of a metaphor?). There’s a reveal at the end that made no sense to me, and another death that seems both pointless and unnecessarily risky.
Overall, I’m kind of drifting here. I think I’ve been as harsh as I have because there is clearly so much potential for something expansive and moving. I enjoyed it, but would like my ‘liking’ to take less conscious ignoring. Honestly, my advice would be to drop the editor. It looks like her contributions are mostly in the non-fiction and lifestyle fields, and a story like this needs someone with strong sci-fi or mystery asking the hard questions.
I’d read a sequel, but it’ll take a bit for it to drift to the top of the to-be-read pile.
Simone is a private detective tailing Henry St. Michel, a balding, dumpy, fifty-something importer/exporter whose rich wife Linnea suspects of having an affair. She might be right; Simone has tailed him to an expensive restaurant where he meets an attractive blonde. Heavy fog and a personal phone call prevent her from getting many details, but the phone call isn’t all bad–her best friend is calling to give her notice that she sent an attractive client her way, a researcher looking for a city guide. deCostas is looking to find the mythical ‘dry tunnels’ the city was building before funds and time ran out on re-connecting NYC to the mainland. Simone agrees to chaperone deCostas as she continues to work on the St. Michel’s case. Unfortunately, in short order both Henry and Linnea disappear and Simone is left floundering.
Character-building was interesting. Like many book detectives, Simone has a disabling inability to trust others. Her closest friends are Caroline Khan, the deputy mayor from a prominent Korean-American family; and Danny, human computer posing as a psychic; and occasional support from Peter, NYPD and ex-lover. Its the kind of mix that updates the noir tropes in an interesting way, except that Rosen plays their negative characteristics a bit too strongly without equal attention to developing care and concern. The details of their caring are all historical and their ‘friendliness’ are often displayed as taunts; I wish moments of kindness had shown through to help show why they care.
“Simone arched an eyebrow. ‘Don’t get enthusiastic about the idiot stuff, Danny.’
‘So I should be like you and save my enthusiasm for cigarettes and silly hats?’ he asked with a smirk.”
I largely enjoyed the writing. There’s a bit of soggy prose in the beginning, attempts to write in a noir fashion that don’t take: “She glanced at [the phone], and as she did the fog swirled open for less than a heartbeat, then closed like a lover’s kiss.” Honestly, I don’t even know what that means–Tongue? Softly? Passionately? Color me confused. Once the narrative dives into the plot, those instances are minimized and more appropriately focused. But dear heavens, why on earth did the editor allow 150 mentions of Simone’s smoking/cigarettes? (I’m guessing it was a little less once per page). Lev must have been jonsing, but it doesn’t explain the editorial pass. It takes more than a cigarette habit to build a character, and the reader (me) shouldn’t be so sick of her habit that they’re ready to drown themselves, noir or not. I will note that Simone often info-dumps background on a character as they meet up.
“The green light of algae generators pulse through the fog here and there, giving the view an eerie glow and, through it, the silhouette of the skyline bursting from the sea. It wasn’t the iconic skyline of the past–just the top, with wide plains of oceans between crumbling towers, and large boats floating low on the horizon, like a steel archipelago.”
One of the most intriguing aspects is the world-building. I admit, it’s the hook that caught me (besides Emily’s review). Honestly, I never thought about New York’s seawater risk until Hurricane Sandy, and stories of flooded subways and streets started making headlines. I know that’s probably a no-brainer, but NYC has always seemed to live in bubble of environmental isolation, and NY is about the human culture, not the beaches. At any rate, I enjoyed the vision of a NYC flooded below 21st floor (although that’s about 35 times more than current projections). Some ideas feel eminently realistic: oceanliners as buildings, rickety bridges, a cavalier attitude. Some parts less so. Explanations are quickly technoed (see, I can make up words as well) with FluoriSeal (for your hair, not your teeth), DrySkin (waterproof coating), MouthFoam (drug) and GlassSteel (building coating), so mileage may vary. It feels a little like those J.D. Robb books with the police detective zooming around in an aircar but really are just set in 1990. World-building also includes a super-conservative mainland, with NYC acting as an island of indecency. Do you think Rosen is implying something about current views?
Last, but never least in a mystery, is plotting. A couple reviewers complained about predictability; I don’t agree, but I only guess endings is when I’m re-reading Agatha Christie, so take that for what it is worth. I rather thought it was Byzantine, perhaps attempting to weave in a few too many red herrings (how’s that for an utter mess of a metaphor?). There’s a reveal at the end that made no sense to me, and another death that seems both pointless and unnecessarily risky.
Overall, I’m kind of drifting here. I think I’ve been as harsh as I have because there is clearly so much potential for something expansive and moving. I enjoyed it, but would like my ‘liking’ to take less conscious ignoring. Honestly, my advice would be to drop the editor. It looks like her contributions are mostly in the non-fiction and lifestyle fields, and a story like this needs someone with strong sci-fi or mystery asking the hard questions.
I’d read a sequel, but it’ll take a bit for it to drift to the top of the to-be-read pile.
August 18, 2015
As a result of the massive hurricanes that have hit New York City recently, Amtrak's trains tunnels were damaged by flooding, subways were impacted and the lower reaches of Manhattan were imperiled. Where New York City political establishment had thought that just closing the subways would be enough to prevent problems, it is now weighing more drastic actions to stop the next tidal surge.
In Lev A.C. Rosen's new novel Depth, he imagines a Noahian flood caused by global warming, that sweeps away the entire Eastern seaboard of America. However a million New Yorkers still live in flooded Manhattan, all above the 20th floor of the giant skyscrapers there. Bridges connect buildings, boats travel between towers, and the people try not to slide off slick walkways into the dark waters below. Rosen's setting is evocative and eerie, the words making a sharp image in your brain. Manhattan remains a liberal bastion in a country controlled by the more conservative center. Rosen's flooded Manhattan is a great idea, dark, foggy and evocative.
It's too bad that the rest of the novel does not follow suit. The murder mystery and treasure hunt at the center of the novel is very intricate, overly so. Maybe because Rosen spends so much time building up the atmosphere. Or maybe because Rosen flabs up the story in an attempt to provide a background to his main character while also adding in extra wrinkles to the central mystery to make it more involved. While fleshing out the central character is a good idea and adding red herrings, tricks, dead ends, and other contrivances is mother's milk to a mystery, Rosen's novel is a glass house carnival ride. What looks like the clear path is just one more blocked door. On the plus side, Simone Pearce pierces the fog of the story and figures out the solution in a creative manner. She may be a very good character.
Simone Pearce is a private detective making her living snooping. Hired by the wife, Linnea St. Michel, Simone snaps pics of Henry St. Michel, the suspected conniving husband who is meeting with a blonde, but not for the horizontal mambo as he appears to be giving her cash. The blonde is not only meeting up with Linnea’s husband, but many of Manhattan’s well to do. It seems that there is a coral sculpture by a famous artist that is being peddled by the blonde.
Simone is friends with Caroline, the scion of a powerful New York family and the Mayor’s assistant. Caroline steers Simone to DeCostas, who thinks that there may be a secret tunnel connecting Manhattan to the mainland in one of bigger skyscrapers in New York. He wants to test them. But he has a hot bod and Simone is not afraid to sample his goods.
But then Simone sees Henry St Michel get killed and becomes a prime suspect of the police. Her ex lover is a cop who wants to help her, but Kluren, Simone’s father’s ex partner suspects Simone of wrongdoing. Meanwhile, Simone does not know who to trust as she catches both DeCostas and her friend Caroline meeting with the blonde. Then Linnea disappears and Simone suspects foul play. The coral sculpture holds the key.
Rosen’s 260 page novel is full of possible suspects who may want the sculpture -- Mr. Ryan, a rich businessman, Pastor Sorenson, the head of a mainland congregation, Caroline’s family, Lou Freth, Henry’s partner, Trixie, Henry’s mother, and Dash, another detective, who is not afraid to get his hands dirty. Add in Simone’s enlightenment about her mother’s disappearance and the slim volume bulges at the seams.
The denouement returns to the dark waters surrounding Manhattan, but you will have to be a strong swimmer to get to their depths. Depth is a good book, but too full of itself to escape its own deep undercurrents. Swim on.
In Lev A.C. Rosen's new novel Depth, he imagines a Noahian flood caused by global warming, that sweeps away the entire Eastern seaboard of America. However a million New Yorkers still live in flooded Manhattan, all above the 20th floor of the giant skyscrapers there. Bridges connect buildings, boats travel between towers, and the people try not to slide off slick walkways into the dark waters below. Rosen's setting is evocative and eerie, the words making a sharp image in your brain. Manhattan remains a liberal bastion in a country controlled by the more conservative center. Rosen's flooded Manhattan is a great idea, dark, foggy and evocative.
It's too bad that the rest of the novel does not follow suit. The murder mystery and treasure hunt at the center of the novel is very intricate, overly so. Maybe because Rosen spends so much time building up the atmosphere. Or maybe because Rosen flabs up the story in an attempt to provide a background to his main character while also adding in extra wrinkles to the central mystery to make it more involved. While fleshing out the central character is a good idea and adding red herrings, tricks, dead ends, and other contrivances is mother's milk to a mystery, Rosen's novel is a glass house carnival ride. What looks like the clear path is just one more blocked door. On the plus side, Simone Pearce pierces the fog of the story and figures out the solution in a creative manner. She may be a very good character.
Simone Pearce is a private detective making her living snooping. Hired by the wife, Linnea St. Michel, Simone snaps pics of Henry St. Michel, the suspected conniving husband who is meeting with a blonde, but not for the horizontal mambo as he appears to be giving her cash. The blonde is not only meeting up with Linnea’s husband, but many of Manhattan’s well to do. It seems that there is a coral sculpture by a famous artist that is being peddled by the blonde.
Simone is friends with Caroline, the scion of a powerful New York family and the Mayor’s assistant. Caroline steers Simone to DeCostas, who thinks that there may be a secret tunnel connecting Manhattan to the mainland in one of bigger skyscrapers in New York. He wants to test them. But he has a hot bod and Simone is not afraid to sample his goods.
But then Simone sees Henry St Michel get killed and becomes a prime suspect of the police. Her ex lover is a cop who wants to help her, but Kluren, Simone’s father’s ex partner suspects Simone of wrongdoing. Meanwhile, Simone does not know who to trust as she catches both DeCostas and her friend Caroline meeting with the blonde. Then Linnea disappears and Simone suspects foul play. The coral sculpture holds the key.
Rosen’s 260 page novel is full of possible suspects who may want the sculpture -- Mr. Ryan, a rich businessman, Pastor Sorenson, the head of a mainland congregation, Caroline’s family, Lou Freth, Henry’s partner, Trixie, Henry’s mother, and Dash, another detective, who is not afraid to get his hands dirty. Add in Simone’s enlightenment about her mother’s disappearance and the slim volume bulges at the seams.
The denouement returns to the dark waters surrounding Manhattan, but you will have to be a strong swimmer to get to their depths. Depth is a good book, but too full of itself to escape its own deep undercurrents. Swim on.
April 4, 2015
“Why is it always a blonde?”
About once a year there comes along a book that irks me for a strong reason. A very strong reason. It might be the author’s vast credentials that appear to have been squandered, the inability to push the genre when it wishes to do so badly, or just the piss poor writing quality. Lev Rosen’s Depth manages to hit all three and keep trucking.
The ice caps have melted, bringing rising sea levels to humanity’s door front. New York City as we know it is gone, sunken all the way up the twenty-first floor. Or is it?
Simone Pearce is the city’s best private investigator, or so we’re told, buddied up with the Chief of Police, Caroline Khan. Simone’s latest case is an easy surveillance sting; keep an eye on a supposed cheating husband and all should go smoothly. But when he winds up dead in the recycling bin, well, things go exactly the way they shouldn’t.
It’s a nice set up, suitably post-apocalyptic and oozing with enough twists to muddle your sight like the sea fog. Problem is, it is none of this.
Yes, the world is interesting to a degree, just so long as you don’t think too hard on how we got there. Of course, the “how” really isn’t as important per se in a piece of detective fiction. The whodunit should take center stage. Rosen tries his hand at an elaborate plot, teeming with political corruption and back door scheming, but like most traps of modern day mystery fiction, he creates a strong second sub-plot that invariably ties directly into the major one.
It’s the oldest trick in the book and there’s no use sugar coating the mechanic. If used well, it can be incorporated quick enough that you don’t see it coming, but that requires details upon details to confuse the reader, set them off-kilter, unsure which line is the hook and sinker.
This should’ve been my first warning.
The only excess of information Rosen presents us is in the many, many info-dumps.
Whenever a new character shows up, the author decides it’s best to tell us their entire backstory up until now. Not only is this lazy writing at its finest, it’s also jarring and completely unwarranted. If you wanted to relay this information in a better way, show the ticks and ghosts haunting them through their actions. Making a character scratch their metal head plate and joking about protecting terrorists does more to establish characterization than needlessly inserting paragraph upon paragraph of what that metal head plate entails, how he got it, or what its functions are.
But when it comes to our two main characters, Simone and Caroline, very little is said about them. This could be a direct interpretation of writers such as Chandler or Hammett and their creations, but to wave off anything different from characters seventy years ago other than their gender is ludicrous. There is little motivation for either character, other than a flippant backstory near the end in some vain attempt to wrap up a problem. The tropes are all there: The addiction to narcotics, cigarettes in particular; the brash, standoffish loner talk; the trust issues; the religious distaste.
As I said, the only difference between a Noir caricature that’s been written over seventy years and Simone Pearce is that she’s a woman. There is no analysis. There is nothing new or exciting, and I can’t applaud the simple switch in how they use the restroom, especially when I’m more curious as to how those traits were formed to get us here.
Hell, even the female objectification is subverted to a male femme fatale. I will, however, applaud Rosen on his writings with deCostas. The character is suitable and naïve enough for the part he needs to play, and the gender roles itself is a nice critique that I’m afraid should’ve been expanded upon more than just by focus on his physique or pronoun.
“Simone, like most New Yorkers, thought all religions were crap, and Boro-Baptism was just the latest name for a generations-old addiction to fear and an overwhelming hope that someone could save you.”
Unfortunately, the one critique I cannot applaud is Rosen’s casual attack on religion. Don’t get me wrong; I love a strong analysis or skepticism on organized religion and the adverse effects of it. Even spirituality and the inclusion of faithlessness is enough to rattle my curiosity. It’s a favorite theme of mine, funnily enough being religious.
So it will come to no surprise that I was disgusted at Rosen’s background remarks on, what one might call, a box toward neo-conservatism. See, I can only assume that the rising tide created a mass hysteria that made people flock toward answers. Sweet-talking pastors and the hope that springs from faith must’ve given them those answers. Problem is, Rosen doesn’t tell us any of this. We must assume.
We must infer that a century or more into the future will still have rampant homophobia, with little remarks on a much more probable xenophobia or nativism. Modesty is revered, and the antagonist has a Southern accent because “that fits the Bible Belt stereotype.”
Don’t even get me started on how an entire nation could accept a Westboro Baptist-themed identity. That’s revolting, being a Baptist myself.
It’s quite frankly appalling that Rosen thinks gay rights will completely disappear because of a fervent, humanistic need for light in a swirling chaos of natural disaster. The cynical man might call it an attack on the other side’s politics. I like to call it a lazy liberal’s wet dream (pun intended).
I almost put the book down because of this, but the short length and hope that he might expound upon such ideas kept me going.
No such luck.
The writing does not improve as the story continues. It is clunky, stilted, and bad hardboiled writing at its finest. The pacing is as slow as a police procedural, supposedly to allow the reader to think alongside Simone.
Hah. I had the majority of the case solved by the second chapter.
Transitions are also sharp and unexpected, as if Rosen sat down after finishing a week ago on one scene and wishing to segue straight into the newest plot point.
For all the author’s faults, I must also bring into question the publisher’s credentials.
Yes, I review a book free of charge. Yes, I should be grateful. But some mistakes are intolerable. Whoever formatted this particular ARC needs to go back to whatever workshop they took and reassess their work.
“’Pleased to meet you, Pastor Sorenson,’ Simone said,
extending
her hand in what she hoped was a confident way. He
shook it.
His hands were rough and dry.
‘Thank you for letting us do this,’ deCostas said, also
shaking
his hand.”
I’m not sure what formatting error this is, but if somebody could tell me how to fix it, I’d love them for all eternity. I have an assumption it’s a PDF processing error, but I can’t be sure. A simple fix would be to read over the document before you send it out for review and make it a MOBI doc if you want it to be sent to Kindles. Just a suggestion.
It’s not that hard people, and what irks me the most is this isn’t the first case; it’s just the first I’ve had to deal with where half the book is like this. I guess you could make the same allusion to the author’s work as well.
If you haven’t come to your senses by now, I wouldn’t recommend this book to anybody with any knowledge of Noir fiction or want of post-apocalyptic dystopia. Perhaps simple detective fiction, but nothing more. If you’re going to do something, you go the distance. You go as far as it takes. I expected more than fingernail depth from a writer lauded like Lev Rosen.
So if you want to call Depth a homage to Noir, be my guest. I’ll laugh and call it an insult.
“She had the shot. It was lined up. She just needed to wait for the fog to clear. And it was going to clear in a moment. She could read the swirls of it, how it breathed and parted. New York City was lazy, like cigarette smoke.”
*I was given this ARC for my honest review.*
March 4, 2015
https://koeur.wordpress.com/2015/03/0...
Publisher: Regan Arts
Publishing Date: April 2015
ISBN: 9781941393079
Genre: SciFi
Rating: 4.6/5
Publisher Description: Depth combines hardboiled mystery and dystopian science fiction in a future where the rising ocean levels have left New York twenty-one stories under water and cut off from the rest of the United States. But the city survives, and Simone Pierce is one of its best private investigators. Her latest case, running surveillance on a potentially unfaithful husband, was supposed to be easy. Then her target is murdered, and the search for his killer points Simone towards a secret from the past that can’t possibly be real—but that won’t stop the city’s most powerful men and women from trying to acquire it for themselves, with Simone caught in the middle.
Review: This is being promoted as a sort of dystopian mystery where the future holds a different set of societal values with varying degrees of advanced tech. The tech is not over the top and the rising ocean levels that isolate New York is plausible. It serves to enhance the story line or rather allow the story line to continue without big tech stealing the show. The characters are rendered brilliantly through the movement and the flooded city is uncovered as part of that movement.
Simone is a riveting character that trusts no one which eventually becomes a detriment. The other players were developed wonderfully within the story line, even the characters that had insignificant roles. I enjoy mysteries where there is enough information to help you logically figure out “Whodunnit”. While the players within the story line were richly developed, there were only hints at the process being played out and not enough information to deduce the causal agent. Very minor when compared to the fantastic world building. I hope the author writes another that resides within this dystopian future.
Publisher: Regan Arts
Publishing Date: April 2015
ISBN: 9781941393079
Genre: SciFi
Rating: 4.6/5
Publisher Description: Depth combines hardboiled mystery and dystopian science fiction in a future where the rising ocean levels have left New York twenty-one stories under water and cut off from the rest of the United States. But the city survives, and Simone Pierce is one of its best private investigators. Her latest case, running surveillance on a potentially unfaithful husband, was supposed to be easy. Then her target is murdered, and the search for his killer points Simone towards a secret from the past that can’t possibly be real—but that won’t stop the city’s most powerful men and women from trying to acquire it for themselves, with Simone caught in the middle.
Review: This is being promoted as a sort of dystopian mystery where the future holds a different set of societal values with varying degrees of advanced tech. The tech is not over the top and the rising ocean levels that isolate New York is plausible. It serves to enhance the story line or rather allow the story line to continue without big tech stealing the show. The characters are rendered brilliantly through the movement and the flooded city is uncovered as part of that movement.
Simone is a riveting character that trusts no one which eventually becomes a detriment. The other players were developed wonderfully within the story line, even the characters that had insignificant roles. I enjoy mysteries where there is enough information to help you logically figure out “Whodunnit”. While the players within the story line were richly developed, there were only hints at the process being played out and not enough information to deduce the causal agent. Very minor when compared to the fantastic world building. I hope the author writes another that resides within this dystopian future.
October 19, 2022
I loved the setting for this mystery—a New York City far in the future, a city that is now an archipelago of its skyscrapers' highest floors, since a massive flood wiped out the east coast all the way to Chicago. Anything below 21 stories is covered in water, and the residents have adapted to become a city of boats and bridges, surrounded by looming sea and storms.
It's equal parts scifi and mystery, and the author seamlessly weaves in and out of both genres. I don't know if the science measured up to any existing technology, but it was fun to imagine how this setting might work. The atmosphere he created was dangerous and alluring, and I hope I get to visit this version of New York again. The ending completed the story, but there's room for more if the author decided to write more. A great book to finish off another year of reading.
It's equal parts scifi and mystery, and the author seamlessly weaves in and out of both genres. I don't know if the science measured up to any existing technology, but it was fun to imagine how this setting might work. The atmosphere he created was dangerous and alluring, and I hope I get to visit this version of New York again. The ending completed the story, but there's room for more if the author decided to write more. A great book to finish off another year of reading.
January 3, 2018
An intriguing dystopia set in a flooded NYC. Refreshingly, this isn't a society that's collapsed, just changed - albeit not for the best. Life - and murder - continues. Interesting heroine, friends and worldbuilding, slightly let down by the predictable whodunnit plot. 3.5 stars.
November 10, 2017
This book was recommended to me after I reviewed
New York 2140
(my review) by Kim Stanley Robinson. Robinson is the doyen of Cly-Fi, but his book was published two (2) years after Depth. Both stories have a setting of a Venice-like New York City as the result of sea level rise. Both have a private-eye/detective element.
Depth is a mashup of hard-boiled fiction with a: future history, Cly-fi and gender-swap spin.
Writing is workmanlike. Descriptive prose is better than dialog. I can see where the author was desperately trying to channel Raymond Chandler or Dashiell Hammett. Copy editing was also needed.
For example, you can't smell vodka on anyone's breath. Also, ships are "docked" or "moored". They are not "parked" (like cars).
Characters are well-within the trope. I frankly think the author was being a bit too clever with his gender bending. Making the cynical guy with a gun a gal and the main characters all female was a bit too obvious. However, I'm OK with the PI Simone despite her Millennial spin. The woman's networking alternative to "the old boy network", had merit within the story.
Plot was good, but suffered from a flawed MacGuffin and some not obvious conclusions. The story vaguely reminded me of The Maltese Falcon. As the page count increases, Simone has several "Ah ha!" moments. These result in info-dumps that quickly end the story. Frankly, other than the fact there was a limited set of characters to choose from, her conclusions were not obvious to me. Also, the MacGuffin was also not plausible (to me).
World building had a great premise, but a crap implantation. I liked the idea of the Venice-like New York City. We're a city in the middle of the ocean, is a line from the book. A key premise is the ocean had risen about 60-meters. Presumably from Global Warming. The nearest land was supposed to be far away islands that used to be the Appalachians.
Fort Lee, NJ is (currently) across the Hudson River from Manhattan, NY. It has an elevation of 86-meters. The story had too much water and a poor grasp of geography.
Tech was hit 'n miss-- some was good, but there was a lot of hooey too.
For example, I thought the moisture resistant fabrics used for apparel to be well thought-out. However, "Plankton Generators" are used by New York to generate electricity. I wonder how that works? What about, wind, solar or tidal energy sources? The undersea tunnel McGuffin was another technological marvel I didn't understand.
Finally, the city had no hustle and bustle and was a death trap for its population.
For example, there was an absence of children. I suspect they had all fallen off of the ill-kept, pedestrian suspension bridges without guardrails that spanned the buildings poking out of the water?
This story had a lot of good ideas. However, it failed in its implementation. There were too much of the Feels for the straight-forward hard-boiled genre, despite the gender-bending. I also think the story would have been better, if the slap-dash science fiction element had been sunk. A too pulpy suspension of belief was needed for the traditionally serious Cly-fy genre appeal. The tech was also incongruous. I think the author would have been better-off with a present-day story, writing what he knows.
Readers interested in a better drowned NYC story should try New York 2140. This book is a doorstop in thickness. It is also less a murder mystery and more environmental polemics. However, the world building is excellent.
Depth is a mashup of hard-boiled fiction with a: future history, Cly-fi and gender-swap spin.
Writing is workmanlike. Descriptive prose is better than dialog. I can see where the author was desperately trying to channel Raymond Chandler or Dashiell Hammett. Copy editing was also needed.
For example, you can't smell vodka on anyone's breath. Also, ships are "docked" or "moored". They are not "parked" (like cars).
Characters are well-within the trope. I frankly think the author was being a bit too clever with his gender bending. Making the cynical guy with a gun a gal and the main characters all female was a bit too obvious. However, I'm OK with the PI Simone despite her Millennial spin. The woman's networking alternative to "the old boy network", had merit within the story.
Plot was good, but suffered from a flawed MacGuffin and some not obvious conclusions. The story vaguely reminded me of The Maltese Falcon. As the page count increases, Simone has several "Ah ha!" moments. These result in info-dumps that quickly end the story. Frankly, other than the fact there was a limited set of characters to choose from, her conclusions were not obvious to me. Also, the MacGuffin was also not plausible (to me).
World building had a great premise, but a crap implantation. I liked the idea of the Venice-like New York City. We're a city in the middle of the ocean, is a line from the book. A key premise is the ocean had risen about 60-meters. Presumably from Global Warming. The nearest land was supposed to be far away islands that used to be the Appalachians.
Fort Lee, NJ is (currently) across the Hudson River from Manhattan, NY. It has an elevation of 86-meters. The story had too much water and a poor grasp of geography.
Tech was hit 'n miss-- some was good, but there was a lot of hooey too.
For example, I thought the moisture resistant fabrics used for apparel to be well thought-out. However, "Plankton Generators" are used by New York to generate electricity. I wonder how that works? What about, wind, solar or tidal energy sources? The undersea tunnel McGuffin was another technological marvel I didn't understand.
Finally, the city had no hustle and bustle and was a death trap for its population.
For example, there was an absence of children. I suspect they had all fallen off of the ill-kept, pedestrian suspension bridges without guardrails that spanned the buildings poking out of the water?
This story had a lot of good ideas. However, it failed in its implementation. There were too much of the Feels for the straight-forward hard-boiled genre, despite the gender-bending. I also think the story would have been better, if the slap-dash science fiction element had been sunk. A too pulpy suspension of belief was needed for the traditionally serious Cly-fy genre appeal. The tech was also incongruous. I think the author would have been better-off with a present-day story, writing what he knows.
Readers interested in a better drowned NYC story should try New York 2140. This book is a doorstop in thickness. It is also less a murder mystery and more environmental polemics. However, the world building is excellent.
November 10, 2015
Some two hundred years from now, the polar ice caps have long since melted. Chicago is on the coastline of mainland United States, which is ruled by a fundamentalist Christian government. Moving east, you'll find the Appalachian Islands, and then huge expanses of ocean covering the drowned cities, where tips of building occasionally poke up from the waves.
And then there's New York which, Depth makes clear, can survive anything.
Water levels have risen about 20 stories -- so the million or so people who still inhabit New York live on the 21st floor and above, employing newer technologies such as Glassteel to keep the above-water buildings more or less dry and waterproof. The building are connected by an intricate maze of bridges -- some well-maintained, some rickety -- and permanently moored boats, such as converted cruise ships and military vessels, which form everything from police stations to nursing homes to floating restaurants.
Watch your step! The waves keep churning beneath your feet, and you WILL get wet. Salt water and sea spray are everywhere, and those bridges can get pretty slippery. One big storm or moment of inattention, and you'll end up in the water... and in general, those who go in only come out as corpses destined for the recycling plant.
Oh, it's quite a world that author Lev AC Rosen has built here in Depth. The concept alone is worth picking up this futurist, sci-fi, noir detective story (described in the cover blurb as "Heinlein meets Hammett") -- but hey! There's an actual plot to go with it, and it's quite a good one.
Private investigator Simone Pierce is a tough, prickly red-head who goes her own way and sticks to her own company for the most part. Her only two trusted friends are Caroline, a highly-placed politician from a powerful family, and Danny, a young man with some unusual talents who masquerades as a psychic. Simone is out on a routine case, trying to get the goods on a client's possibly cheating husband, when she's pulled into something far more deadly and complicated. When the husband turns up dead, Simone finds herself embroiled in a web that includes suspicious cops, a potentially crooked pastor, an art-loving power broker, a sexy grad student, and a mysterious woman, whom Simone thinks of as The Blonde, who seems to be at the center of it all.
The author has pulled off quite a balancing act here, creating a fully fleshed-out detective story that keeps powering forward with high-level energy, and at the same time pulling us into a crazily off-balance world that delights with each water-soaked new chapter. The new environment is just fascinating, and I am full of admiration for the way the author slips in little details about the waves or the salt water or the constant dampness while there's a chase scene underway.
The dialogue has all the wryness, and sarcasm of a traditional noir detective tale, fine-tuned for this new place and time.
Even the descriptive passages are full of some wonderful imagery:
Really, I just can't say enough about Depth. I've been a fan of this talented author since his debut novel, All Men of Genius, was released in 2011. The detective part of the story is fun and engaging, but it's this concept of New York as a drowned city that somehow has managed to survive, to thrive, and to keep its own sense of independence and defiance that's truly a treat. I can't get enough of the world Lev AC Rosen has created in Depth, and I just hope there will be a sequel so I can visit once again!
(This review can also be found at Bookshelf Fantasies.)
And then there's New York which, Depth makes clear, can survive anything.
Water levels have risen about 20 stories -- so the million or so people who still inhabit New York live on the 21st floor and above, employing newer technologies such as Glassteel to keep the above-water buildings more or less dry and waterproof. The building are connected by an intricate maze of bridges -- some well-maintained, some rickety -- and permanently moored boats, such as converted cruise ships and military vessels, which form everything from police stations to nursing homes to floating restaurants.
Watch your step! The waves keep churning beneath your feet, and you WILL get wet. Salt water and sea spray are everywhere, and those bridges can get pretty slippery. One big storm or moment of inattention, and you'll end up in the water... and in general, those who go in only come out as corpses destined for the recycling plant.
Oh, it's quite a world that author Lev AC Rosen has built here in Depth. The concept alone is worth picking up this futurist, sci-fi, noir detective story (described in the cover blurb as "Heinlein meets Hammett") -- but hey! There's an actual plot to go with it, and it's quite a good one.
Private investigator Simone Pierce is a tough, prickly red-head who goes her own way and sticks to her own company for the most part. Her only two trusted friends are Caroline, a highly-placed politician from a powerful family, and Danny, a young man with some unusual talents who masquerades as a psychic. Simone is out on a routine case, trying to get the goods on a client's possibly cheating husband, when she's pulled into something far more deadly and complicated. When the husband turns up dead, Simone finds herself embroiled in a web that includes suspicious cops, a potentially crooked pastor, an art-loving power broker, a sexy grad student, and a mysterious woman, whom Simone thinks of as The Blonde, who seems to be at the center of it all.
The author has pulled off quite a balancing act here, creating a fully fleshed-out detective story that keeps powering forward with high-level energy, and at the same time pulling us into a crazily off-balance world that delights with each water-soaked new chapter. The new environment is just fascinating, and I am full of admiration for the way the author slips in little details about the waves or the salt water or the constant dampness while there's a chase scene underway.
The dialogue has all the wryness, and sarcasm of a traditional noir detective tale, fine-tuned for this new place and time.
"Are you asking me along to watch you interrogate someone I'm angry at in an attempt to repair our friendship?"
"That is exactly what I'm doing."
"Will you let me hit her?"
"If the opportunity presents itself."
Even the descriptive passages are full of some wonderful imagery:
Simone tossed what was left of her cigarette into the ocean. It cartwheeled into the water, one end leaving a trail of sparks like blood spatter.
Really, I just can't say enough about Depth. I've been a fan of this talented author since his debut novel, All Men of Genius, was released in 2011. The detective part of the story is fun and engaging, but it's this concept of New York as a drowned city that somehow has managed to survive, to thrive, and to keep its own sense of independence and defiance that's truly a treat. I can't get enough of the world Lev AC Rosen has created in Depth, and I just hope there will be a sequel so I can visit once again!
(This review can also be found at Bookshelf Fantasies.)
April 25, 2015
Depth by Lev AC Rosen is a recommended detective novel set in a future NYC. Simone Pierce is a private investigator who, when the story opens, is "on the roof of a twenty-four-story building, so the ocean lay four stories down, churning just below the twenty-first floor. The fog was thick, but she could hear the waves lapping at the other buildings around her, and the worn wooden bridges that connected them to one another and to the permanently moored boats that made up New York City. New York, city of bridges and boats."
Simone is on a routine surveillance case of a husband suspected of cheating when she takes on a second job, escorting Alejandro DeCostas around the city. DeCostas is a visiting European archaeologist who wants to explore NYC looking for a rumored building that is water tight and dry below the sea level. While working both jobs, the surveillance case morphs into something else and takes on a life of its own. Simone is assisted in her inquiries by her friends, Caroline Khan, deputy major, Danny, a fugitive human computer, and Paul Weiss, a cop.
What is interesting and has great potential at the beginning is the setting - NYC under water and cut off from the rest of a vastly changed USA. Rosen writes:
"New York, though technically still part of the United States, had long begun to consider itself its own country, hundreds of miles from the Chicago coastline and the conservative, religious mainland. The Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial had been airlifted to Salt Lake City, but no one tried moving New York. All the other drowned cities, like DC and Boston, were graveyards now—spires and flat tops of buildings tilting out unevenly from under the water like old headstones. Not New York. Though some older buildings had been worn away by the waves, others, retrofitted and laminated in that technological wonder Glassteel, stayed where they were as the ocean rose, closing off the bottom floors as they filled with water. There were newer buildings, too, designed to withstand the water, and decommissioned boats clever entrepreneurs had bought and moored around the city. There were a million New Yorkers left, and they were stubborn. They built the bridges themselves, and everyone bought personal algae generators and desalination filters for their apartments, stringing them out the windows into the sea. They reassembled their city. They stayed."
The potential for an intriguing story is all in place. The problem is Rosen has this great setting but neglects to make full use of it. The detective/mystery story is solid, but could easily be transferred to another setting, with some minor changes, and work just as well. This left me with a dilemma. I chose to review Depth based on the setting. The detective story is well written and satisfying but I kept longing for more information on the world. The search for a dry building underwater could just as easily be a search for a secret cache of some other treasure. This reduces the mystery to a formulaic plot that just happens to be set in a changed world and nothing in the plot elevated it above that for me.
Disclosure: My Kindle edition was courtesy of Regan Arts for review purposes.
Simone is on a routine surveillance case of a husband suspected of cheating when she takes on a second job, escorting Alejandro DeCostas around the city. DeCostas is a visiting European archaeologist who wants to explore NYC looking for a rumored building that is water tight and dry below the sea level. While working both jobs, the surveillance case morphs into something else and takes on a life of its own. Simone is assisted in her inquiries by her friends, Caroline Khan, deputy major, Danny, a fugitive human computer, and Paul Weiss, a cop.
What is interesting and has great potential at the beginning is the setting - NYC under water and cut off from the rest of a vastly changed USA. Rosen writes:
"New York, though technically still part of the United States, had long begun to consider itself its own country, hundreds of miles from the Chicago coastline and the conservative, religious mainland. The Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial had been airlifted to Salt Lake City, but no one tried moving New York. All the other drowned cities, like DC and Boston, were graveyards now—spires and flat tops of buildings tilting out unevenly from under the water like old headstones. Not New York. Though some older buildings had been worn away by the waves, others, retrofitted and laminated in that technological wonder Glassteel, stayed where they were as the ocean rose, closing off the bottom floors as they filled with water. There were newer buildings, too, designed to withstand the water, and decommissioned boats clever entrepreneurs had bought and moored around the city. There were a million New Yorkers left, and they were stubborn. They built the bridges themselves, and everyone bought personal algae generators and desalination filters for their apartments, stringing them out the windows into the sea. They reassembled their city. They stayed."
The potential for an intriguing story is all in place. The problem is Rosen has this great setting but neglects to make full use of it. The detective/mystery story is solid, but could easily be transferred to another setting, with some minor changes, and work just as well. This left me with a dilemma. I chose to review Depth based on the setting. The detective story is well written and satisfying but I kept longing for more information on the world. The search for a dry building underwater could just as easily be a search for a secret cache of some other treasure. This reduces the mystery to a formulaic plot that just happens to be set in a changed world and nothing in the plot elevated it above that for me.
Disclosure: My Kindle edition was courtesy of Regan Arts for review purposes.
March 1, 2018
I've had this on my TBR list for quite some time so I am glad to have finally got around to reading it. That said, it's a short book that took me far longer than it should have because I just didn't find the mystery all that compelling (something that surprised me because the summary really sounded promising). My favorite thing about this was the setting which I still want to know more about. I don't know if I'd recommend this one for mystery fans as it's pretty bland on that level. I would read another by Rosen as I think he's got interesting ideas and a good take on climate fiction settings & world-building.
September 23, 2020
Not quite sure how to rate this I what I thought about it. It was a decent read
February 9, 2017
I received a copy of this book from netgalley and Regan arts forever ago, during a time when I over-requested and found myself swamped with too many books and not enough time! But better late than never, right? And I'm glad I finally got around to it because this was probably one of my better asks-- I loved this book.
I guess I'll start with why I wanted to read Depth in the first place. For whatever reason the idea of underwater drama, sunken cities, oceans taking over, etc has always appealed to me. There's something so inherently terrifying and nerve-wracking about a force as powerful as water. I've also got a big love for sci-fi, especially when it's "near future", not that Depth is really near-future. It's more that it's clearly set in the future but it's still familiar; it feels close, like something that's just around the corner. I think that helps it feel more realistic but still exciting and different.
In the world of Depth the ice caps melted decades ago flooding most of the world, leaving only the inner land of continents dry. This slowed some technology progress, sped up other fields, and caused some major upheavals in politics and culture. The future U.S. portrayed in Rosen's book would've seemed incredibly outlandish and impossible to me had I read this when I first got it back in 2015 but now... a super conservative, repressed nation rule by a strict Biblical moral code doesn't seem so impossible now. But the story takes place in future New York City, half-flooded and separated enough from the conservative mainland that the rules are more lax and the criminal underworld more bold. It's a fun setting for what's essentially a hardboiled detective novel featuring mysterious fog-cloaked dames, stolen art, underhanded threats, and a few murders. The half-sunken city is a character in itself, a constant threat to Simone and her PI business as well at the source of the case we follow her along on throughout the novel.
Rosen's world-building is probably my favorite part of the novel, but the characters are fascinating as well. The lead, Simone, is a detective straight out of an old black and white movie, trenchcoat, hat, cigarette and all. I thought the trope would be tiresome but it actually came off as charming and strangely fitting to the setting. Her friends and enemies are just as interesting and Rosen gives us just enough about them to make them memorable and grow our interest without losing the pace of the plot. Everyone serves a purpose in solving the case, which actually reminded me of the sort of characters you'd read in an Agatha Christie novel.
The writing was also great. Each character had their own voice, and Rosen gave us enough details without bogging us down. I didn't feel like the mystery's solve came out of nowhere, which is a problem too many mystery novels have in my opinion and is something I always want to acknowledge when done well! Overall Depth hit all the right notes for me. Fascinating world, likable characters, engaging story, good writing... loved it!
eta: So I went and checked out other reviews after posting my own and was surprised to see a lot of comment about info dumps... I honestly didn't even notice this happening at the time but looking back and I can see how that may be true. I'm not going to edit what I wrote above but I will add that the narration may drag for some folks but personally I devoured it quickly and happily. There bumps weren't big enough to slog me down but if you're not as into the story as I was then they may be enough to stop you from continuing. So I suppose that's something to take into consideration.
I guess I'll start with why I wanted to read Depth in the first place. For whatever reason the idea of underwater drama, sunken cities, oceans taking over, etc has always appealed to me. There's something so inherently terrifying and nerve-wracking about a force as powerful as water. I've also got a big love for sci-fi, especially when it's "near future", not that Depth is really near-future. It's more that it's clearly set in the future but it's still familiar; it feels close, like something that's just around the corner. I think that helps it feel more realistic but still exciting and different.
In the world of Depth the ice caps melted decades ago flooding most of the world, leaving only the inner land of continents dry. This slowed some technology progress, sped up other fields, and caused some major upheavals in politics and culture. The future U.S. portrayed in Rosen's book would've seemed incredibly outlandish and impossible to me had I read this when I first got it back in 2015 but now... a super conservative, repressed nation rule by a strict Biblical moral code doesn't seem so impossible now. But the story takes place in future New York City, half-flooded and separated enough from the conservative mainland that the rules are more lax and the criminal underworld more bold. It's a fun setting for what's essentially a hardboiled detective novel featuring mysterious fog-cloaked dames, stolen art, underhanded threats, and a few murders. The half-sunken city is a character in itself, a constant threat to Simone and her PI business as well at the source of the case we follow her along on throughout the novel.
Rosen's world-building is probably my favorite part of the novel, but the characters are fascinating as well. The lead, Simone, is a detective straight out of an old black and white movie, trenchcoat, hat, cigarette and all. I thought the trope would be tiresome but it actually came off as charming and strangely fitting to the setting. Her friends and enemies are just as interesting and Rosen gives us just enough about them to make them memorable and grow our interest without losing the pace of the plot. Everyone serves a purpose in solving the case, which actually reminded me of the sort of characters you'd read in an Agatha Christie novel.
The writing was also great. Each character had their own voice, and Rosen gave us enough details without bogging us down. I didn't feel like the mystery's solve came out of nowhere, which is a problem too many mystery novels have in my opinion and is something I always want to acknowledge when done well! Overall Depth hit all the right notes for me. Fascinating world, likable characters, engaging story, good writing... loved it!
eta: So I went and checked out other reviews after posting my own and was surprised to see a lot of comment about info dumps... I honestly didn't even notice this happening at the time but looking back and I can see how that may be true. I'm not going to edit what I wrote above but I will add that the narration may drag for some folks but personally I devoured it quickly and happily. There bumps weren't big enough to slog me down but if you're not as into the story as I was then they may be enough to stop you from continuing. So I suppose that's something to take into consideration.
July 14, 2015
Awkward imitations of immortal noir writers lead to far too many things doing things like things that would never do those things. Hair blows in the breeze like ink. Lips part like switchblades. Lights previously described as dull shine much brighter than they were ever said to be much later just so they can be stars.
Speaking of lights, they are the blinking green lights on algae generators. You will read much about them. If I had to guess, I'd say they are described in every chapter. Also described in every chapter; storms that form and dissipate simply to set the mood. Massive storms sweep through just so night scenes are more dramatic but clear up and the sun and gulls come out within the span of a conversation.
Speaking of deadly storms, why are there bridges? Bridges in certain parts of New York are shown to be fragile enough to break through their railings with run-speed momentum, but massive waves and storms do not shatter them? At one point a bridge is described as small enough to lean back from a seated position on one side to rest your back on the other.
I'd explain a little about the better points of the novel but the synopsis contains every positive facet of the story and the writing constantly annoys.
Between forced sounding conversations, soap opera thin villain-speak, an obsession with Carman Sandiego cosplay, describing scenes in a storyboard POV style ("From above, Caroline Khan was a dark ink blot on the bridge." Nobody is looking at her from above, why describe her from above?), describing sights and sounds unrelated to the scene that none of the characters can perceive, and explaining the actions of one character in the same paragraph as the speech of another without even an attempt to segue from one character's actions to the other, you get page after page of text that serve as less of an homage to noir and more a parody of it at its worst.
I really wanted to like this book. It has many great Sci-Fi ideas, but the borderline parody Noir narrative drown them out. I made it halfway through before the many annoyances overcame me, from that point I finished the book just to say I gave it every chance to redeem it's flaws. I believe it is very possible to ignore them and enjoy the story, but I couldn't do it.
Speaking of lights, they are the blinking green lights on algae generators. You will read much about them. If I had to guess, I'd say they are described in every chapter. Also described in every chapter; storms that form and dissipate simply to set the mood. Massive storms sweep through just so night scenes are more dramatic but clear up and the sun and gulls come out within the span of a conversation.
Speaking of deadly storms, why are there bridges? Bridges in certain parts of New York are shown to be fragile enough to break through their railings with run-speed momentum, but massive waves and storms do not shatter them? At one point a bridge is described as small enough to lean back from a seated position on one side to rest your back on the other.
I'd explain a little about the better points of the novel but the synopsis contains every positive facet of the story and the writing constantly annoys.
Between forced sounding conversations, soap opera thin villain-speak, an obsession with Carman Sandiego cosplay, describing scenes in a storyboard POV style ("From above, Caroline Khan was a dark ink blot on the bridge." Nobody is looking at her from above, why describe her from above?), describing sights and sounds unrelated to the scene that none of the characters can perceive, and explaining the actions of one character in the same paragraph as the speech of another without even an attempt to segue from one character's actions to the other, you get page after page of text that serve as less of an homage to noir and more a parody of it at its worst.
I really wanted to like this book. It has many great Sci-Fi ideas, but the borderline parody Noir narrative drown them out. I made it halfway through before the many annoyances overcame me, from that point I finished the book just to say I gave it every chance to redeem it's flaws. I believe it is very possible to ignore them and enjoy the story, but I couldn't do it.
September 28, 2016
Depth had an idea that really interested me, but sadly enough, fell prey to two problems that happen to annoy me personally. One is setting-related, the other technical (there's also a third one that could be said to be a thematic misunderstanding, but it's really minor). Mostly the problems stem from reading the novel as a semi-hard sci-fi story, so they won't be annoyances for everyone.
First: the setting feels terribly unbelievable. I kept trying to think about how the state of the world got to how it was, and constantly felt that it would require a catastrophe greater than the story implied. The sea level rise seemed to require that all the ice in the icecaps was gone, in which case I'd think the refugee crisis would be unimaginable and it would be unlikely that any present society would be left standing, and still the book talks casually of USA and EU, even if the former is a Jesusland rump of its former self. This felt lazy, somehow; the book was supposed to be science fiction, but the science felt really soft.
The second problem was that everything related to the actual experience of water seemed off. Water is presented as more of a personal monster, something you cannot hope to swim in or survive touching because of 'currents'. Again, this felt lazy, like the author just wanted to play 'the floor is lava' in an entire city. In the couple of underwater scenes there actually are, the experience of being underwater felt somehow wrong as well. I kept wondering about light and visibility and other stuff that comes into play; in a drowned city, your visibility would probably be something like 10 metres, maximum, especially if the currents keep moving stuff. I haven't done a lot of scuba diving, but still it felt like there was no consistent logic on how the water behaved.
(The third nit-pick is thematic: this book breaks the noir rule of 'nobody gets what they want, but everybody gets what they deserve', in a rather unsatisfying way. To say more would be a spoiler.)
It wasn't all bad - I didn't want to hurl it against the wall or anything, and I liked the idea of a noir story where essentially all the character genders were flipped. Nevertheless, I cannot particularily recommend it.
First: the setting feels terribly unbelievable. I kept trying to think about how the state of the world got to how it was, and constantly felt that it would require a catastrophe greater than the story implied. The sea level rise seemed to require that all the ice in the icecaps was gone, in which case I'd think the refugee crisis would be unimaginable and it would be unlikely that any present society would be left standing, and still the book talks casually of USA and EU, even if the former is a Jesusland rump of its former self. This felt lazy, somehow; the book was supposed to be science fiction, but the science felt really soft.
The second problem was that everything related to the actual experience of water seemed off. Water is presented as more of a personal monster, something you cannot hope to swim in or survive touching because of 'currents'. Again, this felt lazy, like the author just wanted to play 'the floor is lava' in an entire city. In the couple of underwater scenes there actually are, the experience of being underwater felt somehow wrong as well. I kept wondering about light and visibility and other stuff that comes into play; in a drowned city, your visibility would probably be something like 10 metres, maximum, especially if the currents keep moving stuff. I haven't done a lot of scuba diving, but still it felt like there was no consistent logic on how the water behaved.
(The third nit-pick is thematic: this book breaks the noir rule of 'nobody gets what they want, but everybody gets what they deserve', in a rather unsatisfying way. To say more would be a spoiler.)
It wasn't all bad - I didn't want to hurl it against the wall or anything, and I liked the idea of a noir story where essentially all the character genders were flipped. Nevertheless, I cannot particularily recommend it.
June 1, 2015
I could have quite happily have read this book without the mystery in it!
The setting of this novel is just phenomenal and I did not tire reading about it, Depth is set in a New York of the future, a New York where the water level has risen and not just a couple of feet.
The ocean has turned New York in to an island, cut off from the mainland, the water has risen up and covers everything below 21 stories. New Yorkers are nothing but resilient and they continue to thrive above the water line living in the heights of the remaining towers or residing in boats.
There was something just incredibly mesmerising about the whole setting it was like Blade Runner without the replicants set in Venice (if that makes sense!), there is something incredibly eerie about sunken buildings, empty rooms full of memories hidden from sight, never again seeing the light of day.
Anyway I digress I'm totally forgetting that there is a story here! PI Simone Pierce is one of NYC's best investigators and her current case is a potential unfaithful husband but her investigation turns in to a murder with Simone near the top of the list of suspects.
However she carries on, determined to prove her innocence she finds her case growing arms and legs. As well as the unfaithful husband she has been a "tour guide" for a young man visiting from the EU, he believes that despite the flooding that there is tunnels and dry areas below the water line, and if this is the case there could be something interesting there.
Her cases prove to be linked and the deeper she delves, more bodies mount up and more danger comes her way, all leading to a incredible finish.
So I hope I have given you a gist of the story, the city seems so dark, damp and foggy, the perfect setting for mystery novel and Simone is the perfect character, kick ass and relentless.
I would love to read more about this world, I don't know if more books are planned but I think there is a lot more to be discovered in this very wet yet intriguing New York City.
Thank you to Regan Arts for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review
The setting of this novel is just phenomenal and I did not tire reading about it, Depth is set in a New York of the future, a New York where the water level has risen and not just a couple of feet.
The ocean has turned New York in to an island, cut off from the mainland, the water has risen up and covers everything below 21 stories. New Yorkers are nothing but resilient and they continue to thrive above the water line living in the heights of the remaining towers or residing in boats.
There was something just incredibly mesmerising about the whole setting it was like Blade Runner without the replicants set in Venice (if that makes sense!), there is something incredibly eerie about sunken buildings, empty rooms full of memories hidden from sight, never again seeing the light of day.
Anyway I digress I'm totally forgetting that there is a story here! PI Simone Pierce is one of NYC's best investigators and her current case is a potential unfaithful husband but her investigation turns in to a murder with Simone near the top of the list of suspects.
However she carries on, determined to prove her innocence she finds her case growing arms and legs. As well as the unfaithful husband she has been a "tour guide" for a young man visiting from the EU, he believes that despite the flooding that there is tunnels and dry areas below the water line, and if this is the case there could be something interesting there.
Her cases prove to be linked and the deeper she delves, more bodies mount up and more danger comes her way, all leading to a incredible finish.
So I hope I have given you a gist of the story, the city seems so dark, damp and foggy, the perfect setting for mystery novel and Simone is the perfect character, kick ass and relentless.
I would love to read more about this world, I don't know if more books are planned but I think there is a lot more to be discovered in this very wet yet intriguing New York City.
Thank you to Regan Arts for providing me with a copy in exchange for an honest review
May 15, 2016
Ehh, I can't really point to why I didn't like this book. I started off liking it but grew bored towards the end. It is a pretty straight forward detective story, but crossed with science fiction as it is set in a New York City ~200 years in the future, where all the ice is melted so only the skyscrapers above 20 stories are visible above the ocean. Pretty interesting setting that kind of bugged me since the science details seemed off, but when I did some google searches, the 200 foot water rise and ice on Mercury were backed up.
I think the biggest problem for me was that the main character (and only focus character) is filled with utter disdain for all the potential suspects in the book for being willing to kill or spend fortunes to look for some mythical tunnel between NYC and the mainland. The character believed that there were utterly no stakes to the story, which made me believe that all the criminal activity happening was basically pointless. On top of that, I stopped reading three quarters of the way through the book and the story hadn't shown any sign of making sense yet. Everything seems to revolve around the main character even though there doesn't seem to be any reason for that to happen. Literally every person she knows (except one by the 3/4 mark) was involved in the case, including her best friend and some random side case she picked up, she gets framed for a murder that she is only tangentially connected to, other dead bodies are left for her to find as some sort of message, which neither the reader nor the character understands.
Maybe the story would all wrap up in a way that would make everything that happened make sense, but I was constantly bombarded by the sense of deus ex machina while reading, rather than a mystery that I could start to see reasons for.
I think the biggest problem for me was that the main character (and only focus character) is filled with utter disdain for all the potential suspects in the book for being willing to kill or spend fortunes to look for some mythical tunnel between NYC and the mainland. The character believed that there were utterly no stakes to the story, which made me believe that all the criminal activity happening was basically pointless. On top of that, I stopped reading three quarters of the way through the book and the story hadn't shown any sign of making sense yet. Everything seems to revolve around the main character even though there doesn't seem to be any reason for that to happen. Literally every person she knows (except one by the 3/4 mark) was involved in the case, including her best friend and some random side case she picked up, she gets framed for a murder that she is only tangentially connected to, other dead bodies are left for her to find as some sort of message, which neither the reader nor the character understands.
Maybe the story would all wrap up in a way that would make everything that happened make sense, but I was constantly bombarded by the sense of deus ex machina while reading, rather than a mystery that I could start to see reasons for.
August 4, 2015
I feel sorry for this book. It had the unfortunate honor of following the Expanse novels I just finished. So it ended up taking me two weeks or so to slog through what was really a pretty short novel. It hit all the right marks, I love me a mystery, I love me a detective novel, and I love me a science fiction tale.
It was pretty well done by most counts. The writing was fine, the plot was good enough that I didn't know who the murderer was until it was revealed (Although, if I'm being honest, I didn't really think too much about it, either. I was just along for the ride), In the end, it just didn't do anything to really rope me in.
If I had to ask myself why I wasn't blown away, well, first I'd say that while the pieces on the board were arranged very differently, it was still the same game I've played a hundred times already. It felt like it added almost nothing new to genre. And while it had a science fiction setting (an NYC that was sitting under 200 feet of water and the city that it turned into as a result) there was nothing at all in the plot that made it a science fictional story.
So, I don't know. It's been several days since I finished it and it's already faded from my thoughts. I recall that I liked the characters, I liked the setting. It may have been the actual plot itself that was too cookie cutter for me to really enjoy in a significant way.
Maybe if this caught me at a different time, or in a different mood, it would have meant more to me, but whatever. I did actually like this book, I don't know why I'm half-assedly apologizing for it. It was fine, and I may check out any future works the author puts out as well. There was certainly nothing there to put me off of reading Lev Rosen in the future.
It was pretty well done by most counts. The writing was fine, the plot was good enough that I didn't know who the murderer was until it was revealed (Although, if I'm being honest, I didn't really think too much about it, either. I was just along for the ride), In the end, it just didn't do anything to really rope me in.
If I had to ask myself why I wasn't blown away, well, first I'd say that while the pieces on the board were arranged very differently, it was still the same game I've played a hundred times already. It felt like it added almost nothing new to genre. And while it had a science fiction setting (an NYC that was sitting under 200 feet of water and the city that it turned into as a result) there was nothing at all in the plot that made it a science fictional story.
So, I don't know. It's been several days since I finished it and it's already faded from my thoughts. I recall that I liked the characters, I liked the setting. It may have been the actual plot itself that was too cookie cutter for me to really enjoy in a significant way.
Maybe if this caught me at a different time, or in a different mood, it would have meant more to me, but whatever. I did actually like this book, I don't know why I'm half-assedly apologizing for it. It was fine, and I may check out any future works the author puts out as well. There was certainly nothing there to put me off of reading Lev Rosen in the future.
January 12, 2016
This is without a doubt my favorite new book of the year. Part scifi, part noir, it has everything you love about a classic detective story, only the hero is actually a heroine, Simone Pierce, PI. And the gritty backdrop is not your typical urban setting, but a futuristic New York where the ice caps have melted, flooding the planet, and NYC has been patched together from the remaining above water skyscrapers and an elaborate system of bridges and boats.
Simone is tough and sexy. She's a hot chick who also can kick ass, but at no point does this book stray into that danger zone of "chick lit." It's got a genuine interesting mystery with complex characters. Everybody's got a tragic past, and that's exactly how I like it.
And to top it all that, I loved the descriptions of this dystopian world. The fiction market has really been glutted with post apocalyptical stories, but Depth is nothing like any of those. It's fresh and fascinating. I really, REALLY, hope there are more books to come with these characters.
Simone is tough and sexy. She's a hot chick who also can kick ass, but at no point does this book stray into that danger zone of "chick lit." It's got a genuine interesting mystery with complex characters. Everybody's got a tragic past, and that's exactly how I like it.
And to top it all that, I loved the descriptions of this dystopian world. The fiction market has really been glutted with post apocalyptical stories, but Depth is nothing like any of those. It's fresh and fascinating. I really, REALLY, hope there are more books to come with these characters.
August 18, 2015
So I read this in the midst of a row of excellent books and it was still good, but not my favorite. Which makes sense since I do not normally read noir books and this a post-disaster noir book. I might have rated it higher if I hadn't been "reading" this while I was working and it had my full attention. I suspect half of the genre's charm is the mood it creates.
The idea is that a PI solves a mystery (a murder, naturally) in the middle of a Manhatten that has been half-buried under the waves. Some buildings are crumbling into the ocean. Some are fortified. But it's still better than living on the main land with their strict codes of propriety. And it delivered on all points. The mystery. The slow reveal of how each piece fits together. The magic of an ocean that both kills and can be heart-breakingly beautiful. And some decent action sequences. This would translate really well into an absolutely stunning movie. I would both go see this movie and read another book set in this world.
The idea is that a PI solves a mystery (a murder, naturally) in the middle of a Manhatten that has been half-buried under the waves. Some buildings are crumbling into the ocean. Some are fortified. But it's still better than living on the main land with their strict codes of propriety. And it delivered on all points. The mystery. The slow reveal of how each piece fits together. The magic of an ocean that both kills and can be heart-breakingly beautiful. And some decent action sequences. This would translate really well into an absolutely stunning movie. I would both go see this movie and read another book set in this world.
November 19, 2015
This is a interesting mystery set in a
New York that has flooded as the water around the world got higher. Now people live on the top floor of building that are flooded in the lower floors. Simone Pierce is a complex and interesting character. A Private Eye in New York she starts on a case that seems simple and just gets more and more complex. There is betrayal, theft, murder and a hunt for the unusual. Great characters and a nice mystery. There are issues of friendship and trust added to the plot. The world building is interesting with a new take on what happens if all the ice melts.
New York that has flooded as the water around the world got higher. Now people live on the top floor of building that are flooded in the lower floors. Simone Pierce is a complex and interesting character. A Private Eye in New York she starts on a case that seems simple and just gets more and more complex. There is betrayal, theft, murder and a hunt for the unusual. Great characters and a nice mystery. There are issues of friendship and trust added to the plot. The world building is interesting with a new take on what happens if all the ice melts.
May 1, 2015
As a New Yorker who lives by the East River (I'm always checking the water levels in the river to see how much longer our building will exist), I really enjoyed DEPTH. Rosen's description of the salty air, waves tumbling against buildings, the bridges that connect the city, the various neighborhoods, and the perpetual fog had me so immersed in the story that I expected to look out of our apartment and see the ocean lapping against the windows. I thought this was a great read and stayed up way too late finishing it last night.
April 24, 2016
I gave this four stars because it was beautifully written. The details required scientific, artistic, and metaphorical description. I had to finish it to find out whodunnit. Unfortunately, there were too many loosely scrupulous and kind of faceless detectives who could not really be trusted. The majority of the detail in this novel craftily captured the surroundings of 23rd Century ocean-submerged Manhattan and the physical struggles that our protagonist encountered. I had a great sense of the setting, but less sense of the characters' appeal: kind of faceless.
Shelved as 'unfinished-reads'
June 21, 2015I get what Rosen is doing here, and as a sort of sci-fi noir, I think it works. It just felt off-putting in too many regards, and it's not really the type of thing I enjoy reading. After getting through 70 pages and finding myself rolling my eyes a bit due solely to my own preferences, I'm putting this aside.
It's not you, it's me.
It's not you, it's me.
August 16, 2017
A run-of-the-mill mystery with a unique setting. If the post ice-caps melted world (everyone live in-land) or up on the 21st floor or higher in New York, was not in this book, it would have been completely forgettable. The mystery, is forgettable and predictable with a resolution that you can see coming a mile away (maybe not whodunit, but the final resolution).
July 19, 2015
This was a pretty awesome book, a well written futuristic noir dystopia. I keep saying I'm tired of the dystopian genre but then books like Depth remind me why there's so much potential fun to be had with it.
May 30, 2015
A decent detective novel even if the futuristic world setting and devices leaves you scratching your head at times. The ending is a little unsatisfying but I would read the author's next novel.
August 21, 2016
3.5 stars. Great world-building, and I loved the mystery. But full of some really flat characters that I wasn't at all interested in.
June 17, 2018
The unique setting kept me reading, but I was repeatedly jarred by the juxtaposition of dark or tragic plot elements and the somewhat breezy style in which the story unfolded, especially towards the end. Despite her "noir" past, the protagonist kept tossing off humorous quips that I enjoyed but didn't mesh with the more gritty aspects of the story.
Another incongruity was the detective's mantra of "Don't make assumptions" but then the plot would unfold with these huge leaps that far exceeded deduction from the available clues.
In the end the "solution" failed to resolve several loose ends in the plot for me and I left feeling mildly frustrated. E.g., very early in the story one character sitting at a restaurant passes an unmarked envelope to another character, and I became fixated on trying to explain this action. The story never provided an explanation that I could see.
Because of the somewhat light tone and humorous dialog I was expecting a "neat and clean" good guys win in the end conclusion. In a way I'm glad that didn't happen, as complex endings seem more realistic, but again it somehow didn't match the overall tone of the story for me.
Another incongruity was the detective's mantra of "Don't make assumptions" but then the plot would unfold with these huge leaps that far exceeded deduction from the available clues.
In the end the "solution" failed to resolve several loose ends in the plot for me and I left feeling mildly frustrated. E.g., very early in the story one character sitting at a restaurant passes an unmarked envelope to another character, and I became fixated on trying to explain this action. The story never provided an explanation that I could see.
Because of the somewhat light tone and humorous dialog I was expecting a "neat and clean" good guys win in the end conclusion. In a way I'm glad that didn't happen, as complex endings seem more realistic, but again it somehow didn't match the overall tone of the story for me.
November 29, 2020
I bought this book based on the strength of the blurb and the promise of the worldbuilding. It sounded like an interesting take on a post-apocalyptic setting, and I'm always a fan of noir-ish private investigator stories. From the first few chapters, I found it to be really promising and have a lot of potential. The details of the world were vibrant, and the characters were set up in a way that kept me wanting to read more.
However, as I read on, I realized that the writing style that I enjoyed at the outset during the expository scenes was prevalent throughout. What worked really well to set the stage and establish characters in the early chapters became tedious and unnecessary detail when applied to minor locations or characters introduced later in the book as the pacing was supposed to be picking up.
Overall, I thought this was an okay read. There were things to like about it and things that needed work. If you don't mind flawed execution in the pursuit of interesting worldbuilding, it might be worth checking this title out.
However, as I read on, I realized that the writing style that I enjoyed at the outset during the expository scenes was prevalent throughout. What worked really well to set the stage and establish characters in the early chapters became tedious and unnecessary detail when applied to minor locations or characters introduced later in the book as the pacing was supposed to be picking up.
Overall, I thought this was an okay read. There were things to like about it and things that needed work. If you don't mind flawed execution in the pursuit of interesting worldbuilding, it might be worth checking this title out.
March 14, 2020
I've not read a whodunit in a long time, but I really enjoyed this. It had solid, clear world-building, playing on all your senses with the feel of ocean spray and vertigo from a rickety bridge, the sights, sounds and smells of the street vendors, cigarette smoke and neon lights.
It fell a little flat in places, but most of the characters had distinctive enough personalities and flaws to be individuals.
There were a few jarring spelling and grammar errors that a good edit should have caught. Annoying more than anything.
What made me laugh was the hilarious throwaway backstory comments such as 'he caught one of the bugs from the melted ice from mars' (paraphrased) and the references to the past/our present felt cheesy.
I got through this book very quickly, it wasn't a challenge. That said, it made a welcome change of pace from my usual technical Sci fi and fantasy selections.
It fell a little flat in places, but most of the characters had distinctive enough personalities and flaws to be individuals.
There were a few jarring spelling and grammar errors that a good edit should have caught. Annoying more than anything.
What made me laugh was the hilarious throwaway backstory comments such as 'he caught one of the bugs from the melted ice from mars' (paraphrased) and the references to the past/our present felt cheesy.
I got through this book very quickly, it wasn't a challenge. That said, it made a welcome change of pace from my usual technical Sci fi and fantasy selections.
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