The ability to see visions into the future sounds like fun, while also absolutely terrifying at the same time, especially when it involves death. Not to mention seeing these views of events to come in your own blood. Depth Charge by Tyler Jones is a fast-paced and thought-provoking tale that might be see as just another conspiracy theory thriller, but it’s so much more.
In fifth grade, Julian is bullied and alienated until Marcy befriends him and learns the strange boy’s dark secret: he sees visions of death in his own blood. Visions that turn out to be eerily accurate.
When Julian becomes a famous artist, he inadvertently pulls Marcy and her son into a world of secret government programs, murder, blood soaked canvas, and a terrifying version of the future that’s barreling toward them with all the force of a nuclear weapon. A complex and deeply emotionally supernatural thriller about fate and how every choice shapes what will become our world.
I wasn’t fully sure of what I was going to expect with Depth Charge, even after reading the first few chapters. An artist who can see visions of death in his own blood is a concept that starts with a familiar trope and takes it to an entirely different level. Depth Charge has glimpses of other stories I have read, but with a Jones voice attached to it. Predicting the future, even death is something I have seen or read, but with your own blood, not so much, and that is just the beginning.
So Tyler had me hooked with the premises, but this gets freak deep, quickly. What could’ve just been a story where Jules and Marcy help stop horrible things from happening after interpreting Julian’s visions, turns into a story that makes you think inward about life, death, and the time we spend in between. What do we want to accomplish before our final days and how important it is to spend time with those you love and with purpose. Depth Charge had me hugging my own children and reflecting on how I want to be close to them as much as possible for the rest of our lives.
Julian and Marcy have not had it easy throughout their lives individually and separately, and things don’t get any easier within the pages of this story. Jones writes a fast-paced story that quickly devolves into a place of conspiracy, death, and the lengths people will go to take advantage of someone with a special gift. I can usually make my way patiently through a story, but Tyler had me gripped to this book without the ability to set it down.
Depth Charge is an incredible blood-soaked psychological thriller with the fingerprints of horror all over it. Tyler Jones delivers a brutally intense and emotionally gripping tale that me racing through the pages all while reflecting on my own life. Depth Charge is a thought-provoking and bloody wild ride that hit me right in the heart and will stay there for a long time.
Depth Charge hits bookstores everywhere on November 10, 2026 from Shortwave Publishing.
