Publication Date: August 1, 2023
The death by bizarre means of his mentor, Professor Barrington Holmes, draws Mathew Shane into the quest of five archeologists, known to each other as “The Monkey’s Paws”, for an obscure object of unprecedented historic and financial value. The suspected murders of others of the Monkey’s Paws follow their pursuit of five clues found in a packet of five ancient parchments. Shane’s commitment to disprove the police theory of suicide by Professor Holmes carries him to the steamy bayous of New Orleans, the backstreets of Montreal, the sunken wreck of a pirate vessel off Barbados, and the city of Maroon descendants of escaped slaves in Jamaica. By weaving a thread from the sacrificial rites of the Aztec kingdom before the Spanish conquest of Mexico through the African beliefs of Jamaican Maroons and finally to the ventures of Captain Henry Morgan during the Golden Era of Piracy in his conquest and sacking of Spanish cities on the Spanish Main, Shane reaches a conclusion he could never have anticipated.
A suspicious suicide turns into a deadly adventure that Matthew Shane must survive if he wants to obtain the answers he so desperately seeks in Deadly Depths by John F. Dobbyn.
Matthew Shane starts his day just as usual when his world is rocked by the news of his colleague and very close friend, Professor Barrington Holmes’ death. After seeing some red flags at the crime scene, Matthew is on a mission to find Holmes’ killer. But the mystery goes deeper and deeper, sending Matthew across the world in seek of answers. To find the killer of his dear friend, he must begin an adventure that has taken the lives of many involved, and Matthew is the next target.
I love a good adventure and mystery. This book brings you right into the story from the first page and doesn’t let off the gas the entire time. It was a great history lesson throughout to learn more about the Maroon people and the story of Queen Nanny. Getting to know more about the history of those that can fly under the radar is always a plus for me. The adventure piece felt right out of a screenplay of Indiana Jones, and that is a compliment.
Where I did struggle with this book is that it had so much going on that it started to lose its grip on reality. A couple of these things happening in a short amount of time makes sense, especially in fiction. But when a couple of things turn into five or six? That is where I start to struggle. If it had been a little more streamlined and kept the story along one clear path, I believe it would have had a more significant impact.
I also had a hard time connecting with our main character. Because this story starts hard and fast, it’s hard for the audience to get to know Matthew. That, mixed with an almost unbelievable charisma from this man, the level of believability does decrease. Finally, I would have loved to see a more fleshed-out ending that wasn’t as clean to leave the audience craving just a bit more of the story.
Overall, Deadly Depths is a fun adventure story with a mystery at its heart. A healthy dose of history lessons mixed with heart-pounding adventure makes this a story you can’t put down.
Following graduation from Boston Latin School and Harvard College with a major in Latin and Linguistics, three years on active duty as fighter intercept director in the United States Air Force, graduation from Boston College Law School, three years of practice in civil and criminal trial work, and graduation from Harvard Law School with a Master of Laws degree, I began a career as a Professor of Law at Villanova Law School. Twenty-five years ago, I began writing mystery/thriller fiction. I have so far had twenty-five short stories published in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine and Alfred Hitchcock’s Mystery magazine, and six mystery thriller novels, the Michael Knight/Lex Devlin series, published by Oceanview Publishing. The second novel, Frame Up, was selected as Foreword Review’s Book of the Year.
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Nice review, thanks! This one sounds very interesting to me!
Dear Tierney:
Thank you so much for your very kind words.
My very best wishes,
John