UNTIL THE DEEP WATER STILLS

“Author, Michael Dyet, has written a tantalizing tale which is further enhanced by internet interaction of the reader. I read this ground-breaking novel in two ways to get the full impact. First I read the book just as a traditional novel. Then I went back and read the book, using the author’s website and his suggested readings, which added dimension to the story and genuine human qualities to the characters.

The first chapter draws in the reader as it introduces two of the five main characters featured in this gripping book. Jayce and Katherine (Kat) have a heated discussion because she no longer wants to be a stay at home Mom and wants to go back to work. Jayce settled himself on the dock needing time to decode what had just happened. “I’m feeling fenced in.” The words rattled around inside his head with the hollow knock of things left unsaid. It was impossible not see that she was unhappy. How unhappy was the critical question. If she went back to work she would be out of radar range. She might begin to believe that she could live without him. The couple is also dealing with the possibility that something could be wrong with their 15-month old baby.

Next we are introduced to Bryan and Grace. Grace is Jayce’s sister and husband to Bryan. Recently they lost their daughter, Sarah, from an accidental drug overdose at a rave party. This seems to be the inmost event which has caused several lives to spin out of control. The question lingers, is love ever enough?

Enter a social activist named Faith that touches each of these characters in different ways. She seems to have the knack to bring out the strongest personality traits in people.

The most engaging thing about this book is how real it seems, especially as you read each of the characters journal entries (on the internet). It is as if you are sneaking a glimpse into the most private parts of a person’s life, showing how fragile and tenuous life really is.

I was reminded time and again, through Mr. Dyet’s writing, how everything we do affects someone else’s life. Those things we do may seem small, but the thread that connects all of us and the synchronicity of our lives is unmistakable.

The well developed characters and the effectively told story, not to mention the striking book cover, create a book that I would highly recommend to others. Michael Robert Dyet has set a new bar for authors. His unique approach to the written word infused with internet enhancement may well be the literary wave of the future.”

Donetta Garman, Allbooks Review www.allbookreviews.com

“What a great idea, to combine the best of two worlds – literature and the Internet – and create a novel that is “Internet enhanced” – that is interactive. That’s just what author Michael Robert Dyet did with his debut novel, Until the Deep Water Stills, in which readers can go to a web address at the end of each chapter to read further information on that chapter and its characters, and to view cool photographs…

Until the Deep Water Stills is a novel that will invoke deep emotions from its readers, and make them think about the nature of love and how its peaks and valleys often transform interpersonal relationships over the years. Its use of the Internet really adds a lot of interest to the novel, and makes reading the book an interactive experience.”

 Reviewed by Douglas Cobb, bestsellersworld.com

“This is a great book! Michael is an amazingly sensitive and intuitive writer, and obviously understands more about the vagaries and intricacies of love than most people learn in a lifetime. I really found myself getting caught up in the characters. And the internet links really add a lot. At the end of each chapter there’s a link to a blog written by the character (supposedly), which adds a lot of insight into what is going on in the book. Sort of a “behind the scenes look” into the minds of the 4 characters. The plot and characters kept me glued to the pages, and had me in tears when ….but no, I don’t want to spoil the story!”

Joan Burton

“This book is fantastic. I read all the time and I have to say it has been a rare thing to come across such a thoughtful, emotionally relevant and ultimately inspiring novel. It is clear that the author “gets it” when it comes to what really goes on between people, be they lovers, families or friends. I highly recommend it.”

Katy MacKinnon

“Wow! What an ingenious way to write a novel! Author Michael Robert Dyet has included blogs from each of his characters in “Until the Deep Water Stills” to give readers a better perspective and understanding of each character. In addition to this, Dyet introduces readers to the four main characters a little at a time, which enables us to decide how each person interacts and relates to each other in the overall plot.

Our first characters are Jayce and Katherine (Kat) who are having difficulty communicating in their marriage. Kat is feeling fenced in and would like to go back to work, however, she agreed that if Jayce changed his job she would remain home until the children got into school. Their youngest child is experiencing some development delay problems, which adds more stress to the family. Jayce has a dark hidden past and doesn’t want it to come out, but he seems to be out of control with everything that is going on.

Bryan and Grace lost a daughter from a drug overdose at a rave party. Grace has tried to go on living and appears to be hard and critical. She refuses to go to her daughter’s grave once a year. Bryan lives daily with visions of his daughter and wants to talk about it. Ironically, Grace is Jayce’s sister.

Although the town would rather not see raves continued, one aggressive social activist named Faith is trying to hold them where drugs wouldn’t be allowed. This splits the town in half and leads to some interesting brawls. She has no idea that more trouble is stirring from her actions.

“Until the Deep Water Stills” by Michael Robert Dyet was a fascinating read; readers can relate to the characters, their issues and demands. All of us have secrets we keep hidden from others, as do the characters in this book.”

Reviewed by Carol Hoyer, PhD, for Reader Views

“Doomsday prophets who sound the death knell of the book shortchange the artist and his abilities to find new ways to express himself. In Until the Deep Water Stills, Michael Dyet offers a glimpse into the evolution of the novel, harnessing the new technologies to reveal layers of story in a way that can only be done in the electronic age. Dyet deftly uses the Internet to create underlying strata, allowing the reader to slip away, if she wishes, from the third-person narrative of the novel to access the first-person intimacy of the blogs, diaries, letters, audio, and photo journals of the characters. When the reader returns to the main narrative, it is with deeper understanding, and sometimes astonishing new facts.

The story unfolds from a central event – the drug overdose death of a teenage girl at a rave. The aftershocks set out in ever-expanding circles, engulfing her parents, her aunt and uncle, and also a social worker using the death to promote her personal agenda of drug-free raves. Tragedy and misfortune rock the lives of the characters, but it is the emotional narrative beneath these events that is the epicenter of the novel. Secrets lie beneath the surface, as do fault lines beneath the earth. It is private life to public life, subconscious mind to conscious mind, third person to first person – what we choose to reveal (or not) to those who are supposed to be our “intimates” – our spouses and partners.

Bryan speaks openly of his affair in his blog, telling strangers of his marital infidelity and his innermost thoughts, but not his politician wife, Grace. Jayce’s anger erupts so that he smashes a glass-top table in front of Katherine and their young daughter, but he can’t bring himself to share with his wife the one act of violence from his past that most plagues him. Katharine publicly communicates to her husband her desire to leave their marriage through the photographs she has chosen to display at the opening reception of her art show. Faith writes letters to the mother who abandoned her at a young age, but doesn’t send them, choosing instead to view her mother from afar.

Marshall McLuhan said, “The medium is the message.” He might have been peering into the future to see Dyet’s novel, where the medium of the Internet enhances the story, certainly, but also, becomes the story, revelations offered to the reader in a way not possible in the hard-copy, print-static world of the past. The mode influences the telling.”

Marianne Paul, Author of Tending Memory, Twice in a Blue Moon and Dead Girl Diaries

“It’s an urbane story of relationships and choices people make. The theme of facing up to the consequences of our choices is poignantly unfolded, with the tragic loss of love and life, a cautionary tale of our contemporary times. The writing is excellent, whose luminous quality oft outshines the waxing moon on the deep still water.”

 Ben Antao, Past President, Canadian Authors Association, Toronto Branch, Author of: Blood & Nemesis, Penance and Living on the Market

“It is an unusual book in that each chapter is told from the viewpoint of one of each of its 4 main characters. I haven’t gone online to delve deeper, and I suspect that the loss is mine because Mr. Dyet’s writing style is compelling – very eloquent use of language and you can easily get swept along on the lyrical nature of the writing.

The characters are believable and given the depth to which the author relates each character, it is to his credit that their portrayal remains true to each – each being so different too… I would say it is a book for the ‘Oprah Generation’.”

Lynn Fallon, United Kingdom

“The interesting added dimension to this book is the Internet component that reveals more of the characters and their secrets. The affair that Katherine conducts happens mostly in this dimension and I would have missed it had I not read her online journal. I think Dyet has hit on the future of the book – with the technology available and emerging – it could become a multi media experience.”

Shane Joseph, Author of Redemption in Paradise and Fringe Dwellers