Book Review - Whalefall by Daniel Kraus

Title: Whalefall
Author: Daniel Kraus
Genre: Horror/ Science Fiction
Published: 2023
 
Description: Jay Gardiner has given himself a fool’s errand – to find the remains of his deceased father in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California. He knows it’s a long shot, but Hay feels it’s the only way for him to lift the weight of guilt he has carried since his dad’s death the previous year.
 
The dive begins well enough, but the sudden appearance of a giant squid puts Jay in very real jeopardy, made infinitely worse by the arrival of a sperm whale looking to feed. Suddenly, jay is caught in the squid’s tentacles and drawn into the whale’s mouth where he is pulled into the first of its four stomachs. He quickly realizes he has only one hour before his oxygen tank runs out – one hour to defeat his demons and escape the belly of a whale.
 
Review: “Whalefall” is a sci-fi horror about a diver who is swallowed by an 80-foot, 60 ton sperm whale and has only an hour to escape before his oxygen runs out. This was all I needed to know.
 
Jay Gardiner wants to find the remains of his deceased father in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of Monastery Beach. He knows it’s a long shot, but Jay thinks it’s the only way to get some closure.
 
It takes some time to get into the book, but when we finally get to the exciting point, it’s hard to put down. It’s a fairly short book, with just over 300 pages. In reality it’s probably a lot shorter even. Some chapters consists of just one word or sentence.
 
The book alternates between the present and the past, and in chronological order. The small fragments we get from Jay’s past range from when he was a kid to very recently. For the people who disliked this book, that is probably the main reason. I think it was clever, and it also allowed events to unfold in a different way.
 
It’s marked as horror and I do believe that’s correct. The fact you’re attacked by a giant squid is already very scary, but then being swallowed by a sperm whale. And then there is the claustrophobic feel, which is actually the scariest part of the story. Especially with the realization you only have an hour of oxygen left. If this story is scientifically accurate? I leave that to the scientists. But for some reason that wasn’t on my mind while reading the book.
 
“Whalefall”, for the most part, is about a man dealing with his grief, it has a lot of emotion. The books has a slow start, it took me some time to get into the story. But once Jay goes diving, you’re in for a treat. Especially those final chapters, I was on the edge of my seat. And that’s why I don’t understand why people find it boring. “Whalefall” is a really good book with many layers.
 
Rating: 4/ 5