This is one of those rare books that you know within the first dozen pages it's going to be a great read and you're going to be disappointed when it ends. Robert Kurson's tremendous research combined with a great historical narrative style results in learning not only about the lives of the living players such as Chatterton and Kohler, but the dead sailors on the submarine as well. While this is Kurson's book, you can see the extensive contribution provided by Chatterton, Kohler and others who shared the experience. This book fits beautifully with "The Last Dive", which I reviewed here a few years ago. I did learn things here, which surprised me relative to "The Last Dive". I thought they had been doing mixed-gas diving much longer on U-869 then just before the Rouse's arrival. Chapter 2 is about the dangers of wreck diving and sets the stage of what to expect throughout the remainder of the book. Kurson makes sure the reader understands this wasn't just a bunch of treasure hunters looking for some "stuff". These guys respected this dive site as sacred resting place for these German sailors and their actions (including their own research) supported that belief. And in the end, I was right...it was a disappointment to see it end. Shadow Divers: The True Adventure of Two Americans Who Risked Everything to Solve One of the Last Mysteries of World War II
This retelling of true events is as good and as close as you can get to the excitement of made up fiction. Admittedly the author, Robert Kurson, had good material with which to work, but a writer of lesser talent could have easily botched this little gem of an opportunity. As it is, Kurson's ability to grab the reader and maintain his/her full attention throughout a story that spans more than six years, is a testament to his writing prowess.
Kurson puts us in the center of the action as we learn about the discovery of a mysterious submarine shipwreck--not one of ours--just 60 miles east of Pt. Pleasant, NJ. In nautical terms this is literally in our backyard. Resting on the bottom of the ocean at 233 feet, it is a depth that is tantalizingly close, yet dangerously deep and accessible to all but a few of the most experienced deep diving specialists.
Central to the story are the truly larger than life main characters: hard drinking rough hewn John Nagle, Captain of the dive-boat and world renowned wreck diving legend; two peas in opposing pods, John Chatterton and Richie Kohler, wreck diving enthusiasts who idolize Nagle and only hope to share in some of the excitement that he has experienced in the past; and a rather odd assortment of other players who come and go at different times. Along the way we witness relationships destroyed, marriages ruined, jobs forfeited, sanity questioned, and even lives tragically lost, all in the single minded pursuit to solve a seemingly unsolvable puzzle.
Kurson pulls it all together nicely, and without revealing the end, I will just say that this book is a richly rewarding experience for the reader. Good books like this leave me wanting to know so much more about the characters, sort of "where are they now?" Fortunately, the adventures experienced by these fascinating men don't end with the telling of this story; John Chatterton, and to a lesser extent Richie Kohler, can be seen quite regularly on the History Channel as the hosts of the Deep Sea Detectives docudrama television series.
My reading tastes have always been fiction: action, adventure, thrillers, and since going away to college two years ago I have not had time for any fun reading, But started this book last week and then could not put it down. It is TRUE action adventure!
This is the story of two deep sea wreck divers who dive into a long lost wreck in over 200 feet of water, which they identify as a German U-boat. The book follows the lives of these two men as they attempt to discover the identity of the U-boat and discover things about themselfs. There lives are greatly changed by the discovery, Jobs changed, marriages lost, diving companions killed on the wreck, and lost to the bottle.
The story is more than just about the men's dives on the wreck and there attempt to discover its identity, and the adventure involved in such an endeavor, but also about the characters (which are rich in this story) involved, the history behind the boat and Hitlers 3rd Riech. there is so much to learn on every page. In the end though it is the under water action that kept me enthralled. If you read this book you will gain an appreciation of the wonders and dangers of deep water diving.
....but a mite overwrought. Kurson does a remarkable job recounting the story of the men who found and identified a German submarine of the coast of New Jersey. The story transcends its gripping details to become a story of redemption: self-interested treasure-hunters in the habit of hauling mementos from shipwrecks ("Andrea Doria" china and the like) become genuinely interested in the history of the boat, genuinely frightened of the dangers in exploring it, and genuinely respectful of the German sailors who died in it.
From time-to-time Kurson lays it on pretty thick stylistically; the story is so dramatic (several divers died during the search) that it does not need melodramatic prose. There is an interesting but strangely apologetic chapter on the German sailors; Kurson seems a little too eager to prove that many of them had anti-Hitler leanings. This is surely true, but the story of the lost men, whose bones still rest on the bottom of the Atlantic, is tragic and touching regardless of their politics.
Still, if you like true adventures, you can't do better than this.
If you like books such as The Perfect Storm or Into Thin Air, you'll enjoy Shadow Divers. It's the true adventure story of 2 American divers who discovered Hitler's missing-and-presumed-dead submarine off the coast of New Jersey. It was long believed that this missing German sub, number U-869, had been sunk somewhere off Gibraltar. Then two death-defying wreck divers from the US began delving into this boat found off NJ in 1991 and discovered the German U-boat had actually been sunk by its own torpedo, killing all on board. But that wasn't the end of the killing. During the discovery/exploration phase of this expedition, 3 wreck divers died, mostly from the complications of SCUBA diving in 230 feet of cold water. But the physical aspects are only part of the tale. There are also the relationships and psychological games that are played out among weekend warriors wearing wet suits.Mystery, action, danger, history, drama, fame: who could ask for more from a true adventure book? - Shipwrecks - History - Scuba Diving - Wreck Diving'
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