When I was around ten years old my dad handed me this book. Looking back on it, I'm not too sure why he did so.

This is what I remember: I heard the word "motherfucker" for the first time, and reflected that it's one hell of a curse word. I became engrossed in the truth and real journalism in this novel--it made me realize the mysteries of the world and the great depths of the sea. Mostly, though, I remember loving the men and their devotion to this wreck. I remember them perservering through it all to try to uncover the truth about something they had fallen in love with, in a way.

I guess he had wanted to entertain me while I was stuck with him at his office the whole day. Maybe he wanted to teach me a lesson about dedication and freindship. Maybe he wanted to teach me about my Jewish heritage and submarines and warfare and such, somehow.

I remember loving this book and not putting it down until I was finished. Mostly, though, I just remember asking my dad what a motherfucker was, hah!

Utterly mesmerising. My favourite book of the year!

Excelentă cartea lui Kurson. Parte aventura unei pasiuni mortale, scufundarea la mare adâncime a cercetătorilor de epave, parte istoria la fel de letală a U-boot-urilor naziste, cartea se citește cu sufletul la gură, asemenea unui thriller bine documentat și scris de-o mână de maestru.

As a kid one of my favorite television shows was Jacques Cousteau's Undersea Kingdom. I was enthralled with the idea of scuba divers swimming with dolphins and looking for sunken treasures and video taping their findings for the world to see. While Cousteau's weekly program showed coral reefs and shallow water scuba diving that many tourists engage in, he on occasion aired a program about deep sea divers searching for the sea's mysteries. When the nonfiction book club on goodreads selected Shadow Divers by Robert Kurson as one of the group's monthly reads, I had my curiosity piqued. Combining two of my interests, history and marine life, Kurson takes his readers on an adventure to discover the identity of one of the last World War II vintage ship wrecks. Although not as breathtaking as Jacques Cousteau's videos, I knew that I would be in for a death defying ride.

Bill Nagle was considered a legend in the North Atlantic deep sea diving community. Engaging in multiple dives to offshore ship wrecks each summer, Nagle dove for the sheer pleasure of it and to unlock clues to the mysteries of the deep. His legend grew to mythic proportions when he rescued the bell from the Andrea Doria and soon began to charter trips to various deep sea wrecks from his boat the Seeker. Although his sport has its risks, Nagle took measured risks in all of his dives, obtaining relics from wrecks up and down the Atlantic seaboard. His name growing to become one of the leaders of his sport, one day a chance meeting lead Nagle to secret coordinates of the coast of Brielle, New Jersey where laying on the ocean's floor was a sunken U-boat. Quickly assembling a team of only the best divers to submerge to the risky depth of 230 feet, the race to discover the mystery of a sunken World War II vintage submarine had begun.

Emerging as the leaders of the quest to obtain the identity of the Who-Boat were John Chatterton and Richie Kohler, Kurson's leading informants on this project. Both men came of age during the Vietnam years, never attended college, and felt more at home in the sea than on land. Chatterton dove to find himself and Kohler, on this mission especially, to find the identity of seamen in order to bring a sense of closure to their families. The two divers despite their at times differing ideologies were kindred spirits. Between 1991 and 1997 either on dives or during research, the two divers stopped at nothing to find out the identity of the mystery U-boat. Whether it was in the form of meetings at restaurants, late night phone calls, or fact seeking missions to the United States Naval Archives in Washington, D.C., Chatterton and Kohler would not rest physically or emotionally until they knew for certain the identity of their mystery U-boat.

With the divers as his guides, Kurson pieces together the difficulty in solving a unique case. I gravitate toward fictional mysteries in between heavier reads to clear my palette, but Kurson has introduced his readers to a truthful mystery. What is the identity of the U-boat? When did it sink and why? In what part of the submarine could divers finally discover the truth to its identity? The search was not without peril as three divers died and others nearly drowned during dives to the wreck. Chatterton and Kohler would not relent on their quest, both at the expense of their marriages. The men would question naval authorities and mentally videotape the rooms of a U-boat both underwater and in museums in order to finally piece together the clues that would solve this great mystery. Kurson was fortunate to be along for the ride.

Bill Nagle was not alive when this mystery was solved, succumbing to cirrhosis after a lifetime of drinking. Chatterton and Kohler persisted even after many members of Nagle's original dive team aboard the Seeker dropped out. After six years they would not rest until they knew the identity of the U-boat and were able to deliver the news to the victim's families after over fifty years of uncertainties. Even though at times I grew frustrated especially as I came to know the dangers of deep sea diving, I remained with Chatterton and Kohler for the duration of their mission. While not a book I would necessarily choose had it not been a group read, I was enthralled by both the history lessons and secrets of the deep, which Kurson unravels over the course of this compelling book.

3.75 stars

Great story, great buildup. For history or diving buffs this book is a must. It was thoroughly researched and adequately written. I learned more about submarines and U2 boats in this book than in all my prior readings on the subject put together. The author is able to make the people --including the sailors who perished in the sub-- the real drivers of the story.

I was not expecting to enjoy this book at all, but I was pleasantly surprised! It was amazing. I learned so much about the world of wreck diving and was enthralled with the story the whole time.

Hard to put this own down. The high seas bromance between divers Chatterton and Kholer will warm your heart, when it’s not beating out of your chest.
Kurson expertly blends action and exposition to deliver a trimix of adrenaline, heartbreak and personal sacrifice you won’t soon forget.

Audiobook - 4.75. This is one of the best books I have read in a very long time!

I believe I read a review of this book recently that stated: Things I'm not interested in, 1.) WW2 U boats, 2.)Deep sea diving 3.) WW2 history of any kind....And yet I LOVED this book! I can honestly say I relate. While I do typically stick to WW2 fiction, I found this read absolutely fascinating. I'm awed by the amount of research that had to go into writing this. And I'm equally awed by the divers that were so committed to revealing the mystery behind this U boat. (Which by the way, was found off the coast of New Jersey?! Yikes! I had no idea any german U boats were ever that close to our shores.) I happened to listen to this via CD. A plus was that when the book ended, there was an interview with the author and Bill Chatterton and Richie Kohler. It was so interesting to hear their voices. You could easily tell how impactful this whole adventure was on all of their lives.

Excellent story

Liked it, gave it four stars.

The best part, the many and detailed descriptions of searching the u-boat. The hazards, the danger, the insistence of certain divers to keep going back and back again, and yes, back again.

Why I took off one star, I didn't like the main characters. Perhaps I know too many people like this, driven to such exacting precision and perfection they become almost stereotypes of themselves. Or it could be the way the author chose to represent them. I wanted to say (to the author) yeah, I know, your MC is driven, he's brave, he's courageous, he's a man's man, a hero, actually he's more than a man. Where does he hang up his super-hero cape?

Very good book, though.

Why the reluctance to use the services of a good editor? It could have been a well-told tale, but the writing was at times confusing to follow as it presented events out of time sequence within the same paragraph, there was the use of "he" when discussing two different male characters, and the writer was fond of making grandiose, nonsensical statements apropos of nothing. For example, after the description of one character purchasing an insurance policy for an artifact found on a sunken ship, the paragraph ends, "He was among the immortals." (Um...ok? Well, good for him.... Whatever that was supposed to mean?)
Good editing makes all the difference.