A sleeper hit that The Martian fans will devour in a weekend takes place inside a whale

Whalefall is a gripping book you should read before the movie If you suffer from thalassophobia (the fear of deep bodies of water and what might lurk unseen in them) or cetophobia (the fear of whales) then Daniel Kraus’s scientific thriller, Whalefall, might not be high on your list to read. That said, if you’re in the mood to read something like Andy Weir’s The Martian meets Jonah and the Whale with some family drama mixed in, then this one’s for you. And you should do it soon — the movie version is arriving this October from No One Will Save You writer-director Brian Duffield. First published in August 2023, Whalefall tells the story of Jay Gardner, a young man who is grieving the death of his seafaring father. While he is never described as being overtly abusive toward Jay, it’s clear that Mitt Gardner’s relationship with the ocean and diving has become suffocating, and drives father and son apart. Despite their emotionally tumultuous relationship, Jay is determined to find his father’s remains where they rest in the Pacific Ocean off the coast of California — a nearly impossible task — in order to gain some semblance of closure. While Jay’s dive goes according to plan at first,