Deep Water

December 1, 2021

A yacht adrift in the Indian Ocean? Capt. Danial Tengku orders his U.S. Navy vessel to draw near and discovers badly injured Jake and stammering Virginie, a British couple who had thought it would be fun to sail the seven seas. They ended up on a gorgeous little gem of an island they'd heard of that, alas, was inhabited by a bunch of unruly expat sailors. Their account of what happens next is horrific, but can Capt. Tengku believe them? From freelance journalist Bamford, a debut author; with a 125,000-copy first printing.

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March 1, 2022
In in her thrilling debut novel, Bamford draws on her own experience of abandoning city life and a career in journalism for sailing around exotic islands (about which she's written two memoirs). Malaysian naval captain Danial Tengku and his crew respond to a mayday message in a remote corner of the Indian Ocean. Confusion deepens when they find a frantic woman and her injured husband on a vessel that they have no apparent connection to. When pressed, the woman blurts, "I killed them." Bamford immediately jumps backward in time to introduce English newlyweds Virginie and Jake, who have embarked on the adventure of a lifetime: selling everything to buy a yacht in Malaysia so they can sail and live independently. They are drawn to the lure of pristine beaches on faraway paradise island Amarante, and they set off. They delight in Amarante's unspoiled beauty and the camaraderie of other sailors. But when they are joined by an enigmatic couple, unneasy alliances form and suspicions descend as events shift quickly in once captivating, now threatening waters.

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Starred review from March 28, 2022
At the start of Bamford’s outstanding debut, a Royal Malaysian Navy captain is alerted to a yacht in distress in the Indian Ocean, “one thousand nautical miles from land in any direction.” On board are a London couple—badly injured Jake Selkirk and his wife, Virginie Durand, who keeps repeating “I killed them” as she relates their nightmare journey. Newlyweds Jake and Virginie invested their life savings in a sailboat to visit exotic lands on an idyllic years-long honeymoon. They had planned to first visit Thailand until they heard about Amarante, a tiny, remote island with unspoiled beaches—“pure nothing, and yet everything.” Jake and Virginie aren’t alone when they reach Amarante—Pete and Stella, a nice Canadian couple, and Roly, an old salt from Australia, are already there in their respective boats. They’re soon joined by the mysterious Vitor and his standoffish girlfriend, Teresa. The near paradise’s isolation brings out people’s worst behavior, including betrayal, jealousy, and violence. This suspenseful high seas adventure moves briskly, delivering evocative, tense scenes on and under the water. Thriller fans will eagerly await Bamford’s next. Agent: Camilla Bolton, Darley Anderson Agency.

April 15, 2022
Newlywed sailors find peril on a remote island. This thriller opens in the middle of the Indian Ocean with the rescue of Virginie and Jake, a young British couple, from a yacht that isn't theirs by a Malaysian navy ship that picked up their distress signal. Jake is severely injured, and as the crew heads for the nearest shore to take him to a hospital, Virginie pieces together the narrative for the ship's captain, Danial Tengku. The novel then flashes back to the couple flying into Malaysia after having spent their life savings on an older yacht with the goal of restoring the vessel and spending a year traveling. After an older sailor tells them about a remote, little-known island, the couple change their plans on a whim; when they arrive at Amarante, they make friends with the occupants of the two other boats spending time there until monsoon season--a Canadian couple and a single Australian man. Vitor, an unnerving older man, and his much younger companion, Teresa, arrive soon afterward, and everyone agrees to island rules of sharing fishing and cooking duties. Over the next few weeks, tensions begin to rise among the couples on the island when Jake and Virginie's engine breaks and Vitor's offers of assistance clearly come with strings attached. Bamford's debut novel reflects her knowledge of sailing and life in remote areas, and the cast of characters and dark-paradise theme suit the genre well. The central narrative builds too slowly to maintain suspense, though, especially regarding Virginie's na�vet� toward Vitor's advances, and the framing device of the otherwise-unrelated Capt. Tengku's internal monologue doesn't quite hold the novel together. Still, fans of sailing and deserted-island stories might find an intriguing tale here. An overflowing but unpolished story.

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