Barbara L. (Barbllm) reviewed on 11/20/2009 + 241 more book reviews

Cave diving and history collide in this pleasant thriller about a Christian dive instructor, Beck Easton, who's hired to do research by a young graduate student named Jennifer Cassidy. Cassidy suspects that somewhere down south there's a fortune in gold for the taking. However, their plans are interrupted by a man who wants the gold in order to control Cuba.

One glaring mistake caught my attention: Jennifer is a second year MS student in information science (sleuthing out facts, as she puts it) and she doesn't know when the Nixon administration was? Come on. Elementary school students know this!

Easton practices karate one morning on a secluded beach. I can understand his learning this in the military, but consider this: The Economist magazine recently reported: "Most, if not all, of the martial arts are inextricably linked to the three main East Asian religions, Buddhism, Taoism and Confucianism." Another source adds: "Everything done in karate--every movement, every feeling--can be traced to some principle of Zen." Zen is a sect of Buddhism that emphasizes religious meditation. These religious roots pose a serious problem for Christians in view of the Bible's words at 2 Corinthians 6:17: "`Therefore get out from among [false worshipers], and separate yourselves,' says Jehovah, `and quit touching the unclean thing.'" How can you practice Christianity and link yourself with Eastern religions through martial arts?

There is a lot of history to wade through in this plot, and Morrissey does a decent job of weaving real life (he mentions the wreck of the Central America) and fiction.

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