The Salvage
The SalvageAnbara Salam
Buy on Amazon

The Salvage (2025)

Anbara Salam

Others: Positive

A twisting, gothic literary thriller sure to delight fans of Our Wives Under the Sea by Julia Armfield, The Wonder by Emma Donaghue, and The Paying Guests by Sarah Waters. It is 1962, and Marta Khoury, a trailblazing marine archaeologist, has been called to Cairnroch, a small island off the east coast of Scotland. A Victorian shipwreck, dragged from arctic waters, holds the remains of a celebrated explorer and the treasures of his final expedition. But on her first dive down to the ship, Marta becomes convinced she has seen a dark figure lurking amid the wreckage. When the Cuban Missile Crisis and the deep chill of a record-breaking winter keeps Marta stranded on Cairnroch, she forms a relationship with Elsie, a local woman working in the island’s only hotel. When the ship's artefacts inexplicably disappear, Marta and Elsie have to brave the freezing conditions to search for the missing objects before anyone else catches on. As something eerie seems to follow her at every step, Marta must confront if the haunting is a figment of her imagination, the repercussions from a terrible mistake from her past, or if something more sinister is at play that will trap her and everyone on the island—and their secrets—in an icy wilderness.

ISBN:
9781399806640

Genres: horror, thriller, historical fiction

Lists: …

Similar books

1 of 6
  • Lady of the Lake

    Jean Menzies

    2025 · 368 pages · 3 reviews

    Others: Positive

    When Lady Viviane leaves the lakes of the far North for the splendour of Camelot, she knows the destiny her father has planned for her. To capture the heart and hand of the young prince, Arthur. To bring her family richness and glory. But it is Arthur’s sister Morgan who captures Viviane’s eye. Fierce and headstrong, Morgan sees another path – one she and Viviane can carve for themselves in this world built for knights and kings. Now everything has shifted and changed. Under the guidance of the court sorcerer Merlin, she discovers magical powers within herself. And before long, she finds her friendship with Morgan deepening to the first flush of love. But in Camelot eyes are everywhere and no one is as they seem. The quest for power breeds darkness and danger, and when Arthur pulls the legendary sword from the stone and rises to King, his closest allies will ask terrible things of Viviane and Morgan – striving to tear them apart for their own ends. And if they cannot find their way back to each other, Camelot itself could fall . . .

    Why?

    What made the match, strongest first

    On the same reading list
    86%
    Also historical fiction
    8%
    Jean's Thoughts loved both
    6%
    Personalize your recommendations
  • Need Fire

    M.K. Hardy

    1 review

    Others: Positive

    Why?

    What made the match, strongest first

    On the same reading list
    93%
    Jean's Thoughts loved both
    7%
    Personalize your recommendations
  • Game in Yellow

    Hailey Piper

    2025 · 288 pages · 3 reviews

    Others: Mixed

    Euphoria meets Things Have Gotten Worse Since We Last Spoke in this latest novel by the Bram Stoker Award–winning author Hailey Piper, following a couple whose search to spice up their sex life leads them down a path of madness. A kink-fixated couple, Carmen and Blanca, have been in a rut. That is until Blanca discovers the enigmatic Smoke in an under-street drug den, who holds pages to a strange play, The King in Yellow. Read too much, and you’ll fall into madness. But read just a little and pull back, and it gives you the adrenaline rush of survivor’s euphoria, leading Carmen to fall into a game of lust at a nightmare’s edge. As the line blurs between the world Carmen knows and the one that she visits after reading from the play, she begins to desire more time in this other world no matter what horrors she brings back with her. Bram Stoker Award–winning author Hailey Piper masterfully blends horror, erotica, and psychological thriller in this captivating and chilling story.

    Why?

    What made the match, strongest first

    On the same reading list
    67%
    Also horror and thriller
    30%
    Similar descriptions
    3%
    Personalize your recommendations
  • One of the Boys

    Victoria Zeller

    2025 · 344 pages · 1 review

    Others: Positive

    Grace Woodhouse has left a lot behind. She used to have a great friend group, an amazing girlfriend, and a right foot set to earn her a Division I football scholarship—before she came out as trans. As senior year begins, Grace is struggling to find her place in early transition, new social circles, and a life without football. But when her skills as the best kicker in the state prove to be vital, her old teammates beg her to come out of retirement, dragging her back into a sport—into a way of life—she thought had turned its back on her forever. When a chance meeting cracks the door to college football back open, she has to decide how much of herself she's willing to give up for the game she loves.

    Why?

    What made the match, strongest first

    On the same reading list
    100%
    Personalize your recommendations
  • The Starving Saints

    Caitlin Starling

    2025 · 352 pages · 6 reviews

    Others: Negative

    Aymar Castle has been under siege for six months. In this isolated setting, food is running low and there has been no sign of rescue. But just as the survivors consider deliberately thinning their number, the castle stores are replenished. The sick are healed. And the divine figures of the Constant Lady and her Saints have arrived, despite the barricaded gates, offering succor in return for adoration. Soon, the entire castle is under the sway of their saviors, partaking in intoxicating feasts of terrible origin. The war hero Ser Voyne gives her allegiance to the Constant Lady. Phosyne, a disorganized, paranoid nun-turned-sorceress, races to unravel the mystery of these new visitors and exonerate her experiments as their source. And in the bowels of the castle, a serving girl, Treila, is torn between her thirst for a secret vengeance against Voyne and the desperate need to escape from the survival horror unfolding within Aymar’s walls. As the castle descends into bacchanalian madness—forgetting the massed army beyond its walls in favor of hedonistic ecstasy—these three women are the only ones to still see their situation for what it is. But they are not immune from the temptations of the castle’s new masters… or each other; and their shifting alliances and entangled pasts bring violence to the surface. To save the castle, and themselves, will take a reimagining of who they are, and a reorganization of the very world itself.

    Why?

    What made the match, strongest first

    On 2 of the same lists
    69%
    Also historical fiction and horror
    30%
    Similar descriptions
    1%
    Personalize your recommendations
  • Inheritance

    Trisha Sakhlecha

    2025 · 400 pages · 1 review

    Others: Neutral

    Most family reunions end in tears. This one will end in murder. Meet the Agarwals, who have gathered on a private, luxury island off the west coast of Scotland for a much-anticipated family reunion. Raj, the patriarch and a business tycoon, is about to announce to his wife and three children the succession plan for his multimillon-dollar Delhi-based company. Shalini, the fragile matriarch, is ready to have her husband to herself after years of sacrifice to the family business. Myra, the golden child, owner of the island and host of the reunion, is, unbeknownst to her family, on the brink of bankruptcy. Aseem, the son and supposed heir, is torn between his love for his wife and his duty to family. Aisha, the youngest, a party girl whose antics are legendary, can’t pass up an opportunity to wreak havoc. And then there’s Zoe, Aseem’s wife, the outsider whose #InstaPerfect life is built on a foundation of lies. They’ve all got secrets they would die to protect. Who will survive this high-stakes reunion, and who will become a victim of their own greed? One thing is certain: this family gathering will shatter more than just their illusions of unity.

    Why?

    What made the match, strongest first

    On the same reading list
    80%
    Also thriller
    15%
    Similar descriptions
    5%
    Personalize your recommendations

Reviews1