Deep Fathom Review

Deep Fathom

James Rollins

Publisher: Harper

Ex-Navy SEAL Jack Kirkland surfaces from an aborted underwater salvage mission to find the Earth burning. Solar flares have triggered a series of gargantuan natural disasters. Earthquakes and hellfire rock the globe. Air Force One has vanished from the skies with America's president on board. Now, with the U.S. on the narrow brink of a nuclear apocalypse, Kirkland must pilot his oceangoing exploration ship, Deep Fathom, on a desperate mission miles below the ocean's surface. There devastating secrets await him—and a power an ancient civilization could not contain has been cast out into modern day. And it will forever alter a world that's already racing toward its own destruction

Ever had one of those reading periods where every book you pick up is exactly what you need at that time? I’m right in the middle of that period when I picked up Deep Fathom, a book that has been on my TBR pile for a long time and found a book that combined ancient mysteries, exotic physics, world-in-peril, tortured hero, smart heroine, sadistic villain with a vendetta and Pacific trotting locations – in short exactly what I needed for humid train journeys in London!

Jack is one of those too good to be true heroes – and ex-SAS officer, former NASA astronaut and current deep sea treasure diver who finds himself and his crew pulled into a global emergency when tidal waves and earthquakes hit all the countries around the Pacific. From there it is a hop, skip and jump to being the only person in the world aware that those quakes could only be the start and worse could follow if he and anthropologist, Karen can’t work out the secret behind a lost race and their writing. They race around Pacific Islands, being shot at by bad guys, figuring out mysteries that had been kept secret for hundreds of year and surviving by the skin of their neck! It is a thoroughly entertaining ride which happily passes a few hours. If you try to think too much about the history or physics, you miss the joy in just following the good guys around.

I loved the joy and simplicity of the story but the final ending was a slight overstep for me. Apart from that it was a great summer read and perfect for the beach.

Recommended for fans of David Gibbins and Steve Berry. 8 out of 10