The Deluge Leisure Fiction Horror Book Review

Okay, apocalyptic has been done by many authors from Herbert to Wyndham. However that doesn’t mean I don’t want to read some new takes on the subject and lets face it, if we want to read new books with apocalyptic themes then we have to stop moaning about comparisons which are basic to all survival stories and just enjoy the tale. Most of the reviews on here would have put me off but having read other books by Morris I wanted to read this one and wasn’t disappointed.


I’ve often thought that Mark Morris could have quite easily been a kid at my school…he just seems to remember all the things I do from childhood. (Was it just co-incidence that he used the names Greg and Abby in this novel? Or did he, like me, watch the 1970’s series Survivors?) It would make sense for him to use his experiences as a child because they often stay with us and influence our fears as adults.


Other than there being a band of survivors with similar problems, this story is different because it links in an alien aspect to it… as if they didn’t have enough to cope with.


The story begins with London (possibly the world!) being flooded and focuses on Steve and his daughter Abby who are in a flat high up in a tower block. They sit out the night until morning shows them the horrors of the night. When they can, they decide to make their way north to Scotland encountering friends and foe along the way…including an unrecognised life form to threaten the survivors.


The Deluge is fast moving and very readable. I liked the style of writing, mostly third person but some first person in the form of a diary. My main gripe would be that although there were plenty of deaths, it was a bit predictable as to who would survive, and I quite like to be surprised by at least ONE unexpected death.


I also found it mildly irritating that a story set in Britain, by an English author had Americanised words in his novel (i.e. realise and grey). This wouldn’t actually bother me if I was reading a book by an American writer, I’ve just never understood why words need to be changed. If I’m reading Stephen King I expect American spellings and words.