Rating:  -
Unlike most, I found Excavation to be much better than Deep Fathom. Rollins' strengths are in plot twists, engaging premises, and strong, stock characters. Unfortunately, he leaves all of this on the surface for Deep Fathom.
In all honesty, I did not finish the book. I couldn't. It was simply too awful. Too many details rang untrue. Many of the stories premises were beyond the scope of believability. The characters were uninteresting, and the tensions between the characters was simply laughable. You can enjoy a book for what it is, but only if it is true to itself. This book came up empty on all counts.
I have no problem with suspending disbelief. However, a book of this caliber has me running, not walking, back to better crafted novels.
Rating:  -
Having read Rollins other books, with their alternate realities, I was eager to read this one. I was not disappointed. The plot is straight forward and the action fast-paced. The characters are standard without too much depth to them but enjoyable.
The use of disparate bits of info, like rongorongo, a real undecipherable language found in Micronesia, the Devel Sea, a region of the pacific similar to the Bermuda Triangle and the mysterious megalithic buildings scattered throughout Micronesia and the legend of MU is interesting. Rollins weaves them together into an very enjoyable, entertaining book.
But why does every modern hero have to be a ex-Seal? Why not Marine Recon or Ranger, both of whom have beat Seals in Armed Forces competition. But, since I am former Marine Recon, I'm biased.
Anyway, get the book.
Rating:  -
While similar in nature to his two previous novels (Subterranean and Excavation), Deep Fathom is still an easy and entertaining read. While all his novels require the reader to suspend some belief, he does provide ample reasoning to support the events occurring. I won't go into details to avoid spoiling any of the plot for future readers.
All his books have a little Cussler (adventure), Ludlum (espionage) and James Bond (hero avoids being killed). Of his three books published in paperback, this one is the best of the three. All grip the reader from the start (eclipse, earthquakes, etc. in this one) and don't let go until the end. The major knock on this one, and a reason I gave it four stars instead of five, was the somewhat "hokey" resolution at the end/prologue. Aside from that, this is a excellent novel to fill some hours of reading time.
Rating: -
This was doubly interesting because we lived on the island of Pohnpei, where the ancient royal city of Nan Madol is located, durng the 1990's and also on Guam. (The scene at the Governor of Guam's residence was cool because we've been to receptions there.) There is no way to describe the feeling of drifting up to Nan Madol in a small boat the first time you see it in real life. Rollins captured the essence of the place and it was the perfect setting for his supernatural mystery. A clever trick to relate it to the Bermuda Triangle and also to explain the unexplainable origin of Nan Madol (how the huge heavy basalt logs were transported twenty miles from Sokehs, the only place it is found, to the site. Trust me- they don't float and you can't pick one up). Great ending. All in all a good adventure/political story with some neat Pacific flavor thrown in from a beautiful part of the world very few people have ever even heard of much less been to. One thing - during one early scene at Nan Madol, the time was pegged at around 7:30 p.m. , but the action seemed to be occuring as though it were daylight. At about 6 degrees north of the equator, it's dark every night by 6:00 or so in Micronesia. No biggie. The whole thing was very real for us because we could picture it from our own memories. Thanks for someone finally setting a good story in that part of the world! ...Had the pleasure of meeting the author - a great guy.
Rating: -
Deep Fathom was awesome. I picked it up at KMART one day, not expecting very much. I started it on the way home, and I was kind of liking what I saw. That night I was bored, so I picked up the book and started reading. Before I realized it, it was three in the morning, and I was caught up in a world of political tensions, ancient civilizations, and old hatred. I kept reading, with no signs of slowing down! The book was so good, that I didn't even notice the sun come up, or my parents leave for work! I finally finished the book around 7:00, and I never wanted to leave the world of Jack Kirkland! So, here's my tips. 1. Get the damn book. 2. Don't read at night. You'll never sleep.
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