Off the Deep End

A Thriller

By: Lucinda Berry

Narrated by: Amy Landon, Andi Arndt

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

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

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

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

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

Critic reviews

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

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

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

Good

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

Another great story!

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

Meh

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

5 stars

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

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

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

That’s like most berry books , was a wild ride

I loved how this story was told from the different points of view . It flowed great and kept my attention - always guessing !

Good thriller

I wouldn’t say this had any wow factor but it kept my interest. I enjoyed the twist at the end although I guessed some bits. This was my first novel by Lucinda B so I think I would try more form her

I'm on the fence with this one

yea, I don't know. I mean, this story could have gone so many directions.
I mean, it wasn't bad, but it wasn't what I hoped.
jules....OMG...
and then does she really need a kid???
I couldn't sympathize with either character, jules is obviously affected by the accident, mentally, and I can't believe that's been ignored the way it was.
I wish we would have gotten a better back story to her character before the accident, even to Issac, really to all of them. because I couldn't connect to any of them.
and then whats the deal with the therapist? what were we suppsed to take from the end? did he like her, is he bat crazy like her, does he want to keep being her doctor because he knows she has no place being a mother to anything, not even a CAT let alone a child???
good story, but not my favorite .

So much going on

Alot going on. There is about 3 stories going on that all come together at the end. Ending I didn't see coming. Good time

Another smashing hit by Lucinda Berry!

Jules and her son Gabe are taking their neighbor, Isaac home from practice. But on the way home she ends up swerving to miss a deer and crashing into a lake. Jules feels herself saving someone as she rises to the surface of the lake. However, it isn't her son. It is Isaac. And her son dies. Now, Jules and Isaac have an odd bond. And Isaacs parents are not happy about it. In fact, they get a restraining order against her. Isaac disappears one day. Their have been other kids to have gone missing too. Isaac makes a game for kids to go into their school and get revenge on other kids. His father makes an account and plays online with him, unbeknownst to Isaac. One day while watching the news, a reporter pops on the TV. And at Isaac"s local school is a shooting. The kids who have seen the shooter say it is Isaac. Jules ends up pregnant with Isaac's baby. And Isaac will end up in jail. This is a really good book.

Voice changing almost made me stop reading

I enjoyed that there were two voices for the two main characters, but I did not like that they altered their voices when the male characters were speaking. Almost made me quit this audiobook, but I need ended up pushing through. I was disappointed in the way it ended for sure.