Brendan Reichs Books in Order

Ally Condie and Brendan Reichs joined forces for the three-book The Darkdeep sequence, a middle-grade adventure with a creepy edge. The books begin in Timbers, a small Pacific Northwest town where locals know not to go near Still Cove. It has a history of strange sightings, old stories, and a sense that the water is hiding something.

When twelve-year-old Nico Holland falls into the cove after a bullying incident, Tyler, Emma, and Opal help pull him to safety. Their rescue leads them to a mist-shrouded island and an abandoned houseboat packed with maps, odd equipment, portraits, and clues from an earlier generation. The place becomes their secret refuge, but it also brings them close to the Darkdeep, an ancient force that can turn thoughts, wishes, and fears into something physical.

That is a terrible power for anyone to have nearby.

Nico, Tyler, Emma, Opal, and later Logan do not begin as a neat, ready-made team. They have different social circles, rivalries, worries, and family pressures. The series lets those differences matter. They have to learn when to trust one another, when to admit what scares them, and when a secret is too dangerous to keep.

The first book, The DarkDeep, sets up the strange rules of Still Cove and the group’s discovery of the houseboat. The Beast expands the threat as new creatures and unexplained events put Timbers at risk. The friends become Torchbearers, protectors with responsibilities they are still figuring out. In The Torchbearers, the mysteries around the Darkdeep, the Rift, and the earlier Torchbearer Order grow larger, while the group’s friendship is tested from several sides.

Expect quick chapters, alternating viewpoints, monster scares, and the kind of problem-solving that requires everyone to bring a different skill. The atmosphere is spooky rather than relentlessly grim, with plenty of room for banter, loyalty, and kids doing their best when the adults do not have the answers.

The core question stays personal: what happens when your deepest fear gets the chance to step out into the world? The answer is never just about defeating a creature. It is also about facing what each character carries inside and choosing to stand with other people anyway.