I enjoyed the book a great deal. The book is a lot more than just the story of the lives, diving careers and death of the Rouse's though that's an interesting story in itself. It's a great insight into the world of cave and deep wreck diving/penetration. It goes into a lot of the technical aspects of this extreme sport. It offers insights into the people who participate in the sport. I'm strictly a recreational diver, open water instructor actually, and I have no personal interest in the kind of diving that drove the characters in this book but it's still a fascinating read. I found it well written, informative and entertaining. I recommend it to divers and non divers alike.

The author flashes forward and backward in time, making the "story" a little hard to follow. He also repeats himself on several occasions, making the reader wonder why the editing wasn't better. The story is interesting -- a father and son that push the envelope, without being overtly wreckless. Unfortunately, as with most diving accidents, several unfortunate events came together to result in tragedy for the Rouses. Several accidents are described peripherally (not the Rouses) that help the reader learn things to look for when diving themselves -- for example, being overweighted and forgetting to turn his air on before dropping off the boat cost an experienced diver his life. Two mistakes and questionnable judgement (solo diving) is all it took. The book is worth the read for these little gems, but don't look for a happy ending...

This is by far the most informative, well written and insightful book on tech diving I have read. It is a gripping read yet you still learn heaps from it. A rare combination.

Tim Grabrovaz

This is an excellent book. It also correlates well with "Shadow Divers" and "Deep Descent", two more excellent books. They all are well written stories about the lives of divers and the dangers of diving.

Sooo repetitive. I'm a non-diver but I think I get what the bends are now, lol, god help me if I don't after sludging through LD. Good potential but waaaay too long....just would not end! Found the chapter tows the end "The Last Dive" disappointingly anticlimactic. The book was about the author as much as the Rouses so it was a bait and switch as far as the title/subtitle go although I enjoyed reading about the author's experiences too. Like the gases, I'm mixed overall about this book: if you're curious about diving and brave enough to swim through an ocean of words, you might enjoy this.You will know what the bends are. Maybe reading this book is good practice for new divers learning about deco......patience...you'll get to the surface (end of the book) eventually! I found the author a bit anal but I guess that might be a good thing in deep sea diving.