Deep Shadow

For some reason I like reading RWW. I think it is because they involve older characters who are generally doing interesting and adventurous things. However, overall they are always just okay reads.

I’d say my first problem is the excessive internal dialogs, at times it seems like that makes up 80% of the books. Instead of simply doing more stuff, it is an endless narrative of every last thought of every single character. And that can get confusing as the chapters jump back in time to pick up the thoughts of whomever from a few chapters back. So I find myself reading and then stopping... huh, what... what’s going on... oh, I get it, now we’re back to this point in the story and now have to find out what was going through that show more person’s mind at that point in time. Okay, got it.

Another thing I realized is that the stories are just way to complex. The elements of the stories are generally all good. And I get the feeling that RWW gets these great ideas and can’t give them up until they play out into these massive, convoluted stories. But every time, I can’t help but think... this would never happen (not even in fiction). The question is: why would anyone make it a thousand times harder than it has to be... except to fill out hundreds of pages... like, maybe, to add hundreds of pages internal dialogs! There are just too many moving parts making an implausible story even more implausible. That gets old.

And then there is Doc who, like a ninja, can kill 73 different ways just by looking at someone... but is always being bested by some toothless knuckle-dragger with an IQ in the low double digits. After a while I can’t help but think that the best thing that can happen is that Marion Ford finally dies... and good riddance! What I mean is that stupid stuff happening to drag out the story and add suspense doesn’t really do it for me. That’s why I like the RWW / Doc Ford books, but they always seem to leave me somewhat disappointed when I finish them. show less

Doc Ford lets himself get talked into diving a remote Florida lake to search for a downed plane loaded with gold Fulgencio Batista smuggled out of Cuba as he was overthrown by Castro. In the lake, Doc's friend Tomlinson and another diver are trapped in a cave collapse with about an hour of air left in their tanks. In the fiction tradition of piling trouble upon trouble, two gold-seeking murderers on the run happen upon the group. And there’s a massive Komodo Dragon that was apparently also on the plane and has had fifty years to grow and reproduce asexually to ensure a continuing population of the beasts.

Unique to the Doc Ford series, the story takes place almost entirely in and around the small lake. There’s still plenty of gear show more and gadgetry and obviously much research has been done. This is a fast moving story and a good change of pace in the series. show less

Randy Wayne White has written 16 previous novels about the same hero that appears in Deep Shadow but I hadn't read any of them. This book was a gift to me some time ago and I just now got around to reading it. Now I think, if my heart can stand it, I'll look for the rest of his books. He's also written nonfiction about sea creatures and travel, and he lives in Florida where he used to be a fishing guide.

I like the hero, Marion "Doc" Ford, who is a biologist who supplies fish. Two of his best friends are funny characters. Captain Arlis Futch is an old swamp expert, Tomlinson is a hippie who smokes too much pot but has a good heart, and Will Chaser is an Indian teenager who has been brought to Florida to learn more about diving. These show more four guys are very entertaining and we get to know all of them well, as we hear their individual experiences and point of view.

The reason my heart has something to do with whether I read more of these novels is that I read this book alternately clenching my jaw, holding my breath, and fighting the need to do anything but read. In fact, my jaw aches today after finishing the book this morning.

Capt. Futch talks the other three into going with him to a teardrop shaped lake he found. He's positive it's where a plane loaded with gold crashed in late 1958. That was when Castro was closing in on Cuba's leader, Batista, so Batista loaded four planes with gold raided from the treasury and anyplace else it was stashed and fled the island. Three of the planes landed safely but the fourth apparently wandered off course and was never found. Futch has actually bought the land the lake is on so they can dive and look for the plane, because he has found gold coins and a broken propeller.

They think they're alone but unfortunately a couple of really desperate bad guys are watching. There is also apparently some kind of "creature" in the lake area that has been killing a neighbors cattle. Spooky enough for you?

I learned a lot about what's under what we all see and enjoy in Florida. There are limestone caves and underground rivers. There are also many exotic animals living and breeding there. They had been brought into the country, then escaped or were simply turned loose to thrive in the swamps of the state. Very interesting stories.

I think this is meant to be a guy's novel, but it's full of all the ingredients for making your heart race as you turn the pages. Great story that I highly recommend if you like action and danger. show less

Danger runs rampant in this thriller. In a race against time, it is a tossup as to what is most life-threatening. Is it the lake where underwater caves may prove to be treacherous? Is it a couple of on-the-run killers who will do anything to get what they want? Or is there an even more threatening being that has no restraints at all? In this adventure story, Doc Ford’s diving companions are trapped beneath the water and time and air are running out for them. But above ground, Doc and his friend Arlis are being held captive by two men who only want gold and the keys to Arlis’s truck. The playing ground evens out somewhat when a third menace is thrown into the mix – a creature whose only thought is to feed. Tension builds slowly but show more consistently in this suspenseful tale. Because this is the 17th installment in the series, people who have not been following the characters from the beginning may think it lacks character development or has some unanswered questions. All the more reason to read the rest of the series! A gripping tale. show less

Doc Ford wrestles more than one kind of demon - many dangers can be found in the deep - the worst of them are human. Thirty minutes into what should have been an easy, beginners-level dive in a remote Florida lake, the rim of a cave collapses, trapping two of Doc Ford's friends. Ford himself manages to escape and quickly surfaces to find help - but that's when his troubles only begin. Two men are waiting for him on the shore, and they are not the kind of men you want to meet at any time.

Synopsis: Doc, Tomlinson, Arlis (an old hunting buddy), and Will (a young Indian from Arizona who is working off some criminal charges) are going out do dive in a sink hole. Arlis has bought the land with the sink hold because he is convinced that a plane from Cuba loaded with gold went down in that water. The rancher wanted to see the area because of the giant alligator that had for years been killing full grown cattle and hadn’t ever been caught. Meanwhile in another part of Florida, two ex-cons decided to rob an old man. What they didn’t count on was that he’d have a shot gun; they killed him, his housekeeper and her family then went on the lam. As luck would have it, they end up in the area that Doc and company are exploring; show more the legend of the giant gator is a reality, but it’s not a gator. It’s something much worse.

Review: This is one of RWW’s best stories. However, I didn’t like the extensive background given for all of the characters between the actual action. It was as though he had a word quota to fill. show less

Definitely suspenseful! Interesting description of Florida inland lakes including the wildlife, decent plot, simplistic characters.