She Treads Softly: Dark Dive

Saturday, March 2, 2024

Dark Dive

Dark Dive by Andrew Mayne
3/12/24; 296 pages
Thomas & Mercer
Underwater Investigation Unit #5

Dark Dive by Andrew Mayne brings back divers Sloan McPherson and Scott Hughes from the Florida Underwater Investigation Unit. It is a highly recommended procedural.

Sloan and Hughes are summoned by their boss George Solar to recover a coroners van and the two bodies in it from an alligator breeding ground. After the harrowing dive Sloan had to make, their next case is that of a missing person, Fred Stafford, who is also a longtime family friend of Sloan. It seems Stafford was diving and/or treasure hunting with a group of underwater cavern junkies called the Dive Rats. It also is clear that he was diving in the many sinkholes located in Florida and his truck is found near an unmarked sinkhole. Sloan is concerned that they may be looking for a body. The investigation takes some twists and turns along the way to an exciting conclusion.

Dark Dive meets the criteria for an exciting thriller/procedural, further cementing Mayne as a dependable go-to writer for the genre. There are plenty of twists and interesting details uncovered during the investigation. Although I was pleased with the main case, there is one story line that is left unresolved and a few other questions that were left unanswered. I liked the inclusion of Hughes' ROV, remotely operated vehicle, and AI into the narrative. Dangers the team face are numerous and many of them in the wild - big cats, alligators, crocodiles, anacondas, pythons, to name a few, along with the human threats.

For those new to the series, it can be read as a standalone novel. There is enough information and background about the characters to easily slid into their world and enjoy the investigation. Thanks to Thomas & Mercer for providing me with an advance reader's copy via NetGalley. My review is voluntary and expresses my honest opinion.

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John Updike's six rules for reviewing:

1. Try to understand what the author wished to do, and do not blame him for not achieving what he did not attempt.

2. Give him enough direct quotation--at least one extended passage--of the book's prose so the review's reader can form his own impression, can get his own taste.

3. Confirm your description of the book with quotation from the book, if only phrase-long, rather than proceeding by fuzzy precis.

4. Go easy on plot summary, and do not give away the ending.

5. If the book is judged deficient, cite a successful example along the same lines, from the author's oeuvre or elsewhere. Try to understand the failure. Sure it's his and not yours?

To these concrete five might be added a vaguer sixth, having to do with maintaining a chemical purity in the reaction between product and appraiser.....Review the book, not the reputation.... Better to praise and share than blame and ban. The communion between reviewer and his public is based upon the presumption of certain possible joys in reading, and all our discriminations should curve toward that end.