The Dive by Sara Ochs

The Blurb

Escape to paradise.
Scuba diving instructor Cass leads her students out for their first dive off the beautiful coast of Koh Sang, Thailand’s world-famous party island. It’s supposed to be a life-changing experience, but things quickly spiral out of control…

Leave your secrets behind.
By the time she gets back to the shore, one of her students is dead, another badly injured, and she knows that her idyllic life is about to be smashed to pieces on the rocks.

But don’t get lost for ever…
Someone has discovered Cass’s secret, and on an island as remote as this, accidents happen. Plenty of backpackers choose to stay here for ever – but some are never heard from again…

My Review

Thanks to Anne Cater and Random Things Blog Tours for inviting me to be a part of this blog tour and sending me a copy of the book for reviewing purposes. All views in this review are my own.

This is a compelling thriller, perfect for a beach read this summer. It tells the story of a group of ‘permanents’ living on Koh Sang, an island off the coast of mainland Thailand, and what happens when their self-made walls are breached by outsiders.

The story is told as a dual narrative between ‘permanent’ Cass – with her own hidden secrets – and Brooke, social media influencer running away from the events of her past. Suspicions start to appear very quickly when the first body shows up, particularly as the story begins shortly after the suspicious death of a tourist up on the mountain behind the resort. Neither Brooke nor Cass seem to trust each other completely and, as the story unfolds, we find that their pasts are somewhat linked, tragically. Throw in a group of characters who are bound tighter than one of Donald Trump’s pre-nups, and you have a massive game of ‘he said she said’ that will keep you guessing until the end and, believe me, I did not see that ending coming!

The characters are incredibly well-written and I found myself moving from loving to loathing and back again (a number of times) with both Brooke and Cass. Could I trust them? Should I? And were the others just a little too good to be true at times? Well, you’ll have to read it to find out….

For me, a good crime thriller is one that keeps you guessing until the end, and this certainly did. I really loved the two female protagonists, although I found some of the male characters a touch insipid at times. Maybe, though, I was supposed to!

Allie Reynolds describes the book as ‘a must read for fans of The Beach‘. I enjoyed The Beach all those years ago, but this book, just like Alex Garland’s modern classic has done nothing to increase my desire to visit these tropical islands! Way way too cult-like for my liking; and I like shampoo and clean hotels too much to ever find myself caught up in any sort of communal-style living! Nope, not for me – but I am more than happy to keep reading about such people and islands from the comfort of my sofa (because it is a more than traditionally rainy summer this year!)

As a debut novel, this is a great one, and I will certainly be looking out for more by the author.

The Author – Sara Ochs

A self-admitted travel addict, SARA OCHS has built a life around visiting beautiful and sometimes dangerous destinations. While learning to scuba dive on a remote island off the coast of Thailand, Sara heard that two backpackers had recently been murdered not far from her hotel. Horrified that something so terrible could happen in such an idyllic location, she knew she had found the inspiration for her debut novel, The Dive.

As well as being an author, Sara is an attorney and law professor, who splits her time between the United States and Sweden. You can find Sara on Instagram @saraochsauthor and on Twitter @OchsWrites.

The Dive is available now in hardback in all good book retailers.