He applied the Page 69 Test to his new novel, The Deep, and reported the following:I wouldn't say page 69 of The Deep is particularly representative of the book, no. Ultimately, if the book had an underlying theme, it would go along the lines of "Nick grapples with the birth of his son, being a father, and trying to cope with the enormity of responsibility that involves." Of course you might be thinking, "Nick, this book takes place at the bottom of the ocean—how can that be the subtext?" To which I might say, Well, horror takes many different manifestations and perhaps the truest horror comes from trying to grapple with those quotidian day-to-day things that actually terrify you most deeply, like wondering if you're the right person to be raising this tiny life. That, infused with the constant worry that I seem to feel every waking minute (or I did while I was writing the novel, when my son was younger and liable to tumble down the basement stairs or stick his tongue in a light socket or spike a fever that had us rushing to the ER) is what this book is really about, subtextually. The idea of losing that which is most precious to you, and being somehow responsible for it in some way. These were completely new fears to me, and they were the ones I ended up investigating in this book, along with the more obvious fears humankind might feel 8 miles below the ocean's surface: darkness and pressure and claustrophobia.Visit Nick Cutter's website.
--Marshal Zeringue
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