Rating:  -
I have read several of James Rollins' novels, and realize they all pretty much follow a similar pattern, extremely good looking protagonists with haunted pasts, Special Forces trained bad buys, ancient civilizations, strange artifacts that help the protragonists along their way, etc. And that is not a knock on the author or his books, as he has found a successful pattern why not stick with it? I like the way Rollins creates his characters, and he has a great way of injecting them with the right touch of personality to make them endearing. And though most of Rollins' stories are grounded in science (beliveable or not is up to the individual reader) he doesn't get as technical as Michael Crichton or Ken Follett, which allows the reader to stay glued to the story. "Deep Fathom" was the perfect choice to take to the beach with me this summer, and made for a great summer read. The story isn't heavy, the characters and situations they are put in are fun to read about, and there is an abundence of action that really keeps you turning the pages. Think of "Deep Fathom" as you would one those special effects heavy summer blockbuster movies, lots of fun while there, but forgotten about almost as soon as it's over.
Rating: -
An ok book, but gets too sci-fi at the end. His newer books are nuch better.
Rating:  -
With Deep Fathom, like the other Rollins books, sometimes I want a totally off the planet read, which I needed at this particular time, so I enjoyed this one. This kind of book takes you out of your humdrum life and catapults you to a different dimension. It isn't for everybody.
Hey folks, you want mindless entertainment? Then just take it for what it is. It's the same unbelievable stuff that come from authors such as Matthew Reilly, Cussler (did you read 'Sahara' - a civil war vessel crossing the Atlantic and winding up in Africa? C'mon!) Clancy, and others.
It's just personal taste, I don't like every book that a writer puts out. Love some Clancy's - hate others. You can't please all the people.
Here in Western Australia, I couldn't even find some of the books I wanted to read. Just happened to see Deep Fathom and Amazonia in a second hand book store. (reading Amazonia next, can't wait for that).
Deep Fathom isn't 'deep' and it has many problems. A GPS, for example, is a receiver, so the ship couldn't possibly home in on the signal. It also doesn't work under water - but - it's a great yarn and a good read.
This would make a great film - I saw the movie 'Sahara', loved it!
Rating: -
This is my third James Rollins novel beginning with Subterranean, followed by Excavation and now Deep Fathom.
Once again Mr. Rollins entertains us with ancient mysticism, idolatry, archaeology, anthropology and ultimate battles of good versus evil with the world's fate hanging in the balance.
I think because we were spoiled with Subterranean & Excavation prior to Deep Fathom that this story held much promise but it just falls short.
His first two novels were "terrestrial" but here he takes the readers into the depths, hence the title. And since Mr. Rollins likes bizarre creatures pursuing his characters (Subterranean & Excavation) you expect many imaginative, marauding undersea monsters but there was only one and the ocean's dark depths lent themselves to many possibilities.
You could not seem to really care for the characters as they were all undeveloped. The story's main character was a former SEAL and astronaut, and for all his training seemed lost and indecisive which made his character uninteresting. An "AI" computer with the name "Gabriel" could have been used so much more but probably would have overshadowed all the "human" characters in the book.
There was less action in this novel than his prior works. Too many pages were devoted to repeatedly talking about a lost ancient Pacific culture and I often found myself skimming pages as a result, unusual for a Rollins' novel.
At the end of the book the reader was left confused as to how this Pacific culture was really relevant to the story given all its discussion. The ending itself happened so quickly that it failed to tie all the sub-plots together. There were too many irrelevant sub-plots that made it difficult to keep one's attention.
His storylines can be unique. Deep Fathom started out with much promise, slowed throughout most of the book and at times was burdened by unnecesary distractions. It was the book that "could have been" but Mr. Rollins seemed to just not take it to the next level.
Again, perhaps he spoiled his readers with his earlier works. His fans will have expected more which is a compliment. Not bad though, just had the potential to be a whole lot better.
Rating:  -
This is another great adventure from James Rollins, who's the Jules Verne of our days. Full of action, it is a non-stop, chapter after a chapter adventure tale. Natural catastrophes occur one after another, bringing the world on a brink of destruction and nuclear threat. The secret lies at the deep bottom of the ocean, left by ancient civilization and if it isn't solved, world will cease to exist. Very well written.
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