Shadow Divers

History

First published: 2004
Print length: 612 pagesRandom House Large Print, 2004

Description

In 1991, deep-wreck divers discover a German U-boat resting 230 feet beneath the Atlantic off New Jersey, far from where official histories suggest it should be. John Chatterton and Richie Kohler, initially bitter rivals, join an elite team determined to identify the submarine and recover the story of its lost crew. Their six-year investigation demands repeated descents through cold water, violent currents, twisted wreckage, and spaces containing human remains. Each clue invites another dangerous dive, while the obsession strains marriages and reshapes rivalry into an intense friendship. Robert Kurson combines maritime mystery, wartime history, and adventure narrative to examine the physical and personal costs of pursuing an answer hidden in one of diving’s most unforgiving environments.

Reading profile

About this profile

Collected’s assessment, not reader ratings. Complexity runs from 1 (least demanding) to 5 (most demanding).

Writing: How much attention the sentences and language require.
Ideas: How much interpretation or abstract reasoning the book asks of you.
Structure: How much you need to keep track of speakers, timelines and connections.
Background knowledge: Prior knowledge needed to follow the book, beyond what it explains.
Emotional intensity: Emotional pressure, from gentle (1) to intense (5). Separate from difficulty.

Writing style

Descriptive · Direct · Journalistic

Pace

Brisk

Tone

Atmospheric · Earnest · Suspenseful · Tense

Structure

Chronological nonfiction

Focus

Character · Mystery · Relationships

Emotional intensity

4 / 5

Reading complexity

1–5 · higher means more demanding

Writing: 3 / 5
Ideas: 3 / 5
Structure: 3 / 5
Background knowledge: 2 / 5

Themes

FriendshipKnowledge and truthMarriageMortalityObsessionSurvival

About Robert Kurson

Robert Kurson writes narrative nonfiction about ambitious undertakings in which technical problems, historical mysteries, and personal risk are closely entwined. A former newspaper features writer, he builds his books from reporting and interviews, then structures them around a difficult objective whose pursuit reveals the people involved. Shadow Divers moves among dangerous descents to an unidentified German U-boat off New Jersey, the divers’ six-year investigation, and the wartime history they are trying to recover. Its accumulating clues give the research the pace of an adventure story, while attention to rivalry, friendship, and strained marriages keeps the human cost in view. Pirate Hunters uses a similar two-track design, alternating a modern search for the Golden Fleece with the career of pirate Joseph Bannister. Rocket Men widens Kurson’s range from the ocean floor to Apollo 8. He follows the astronauts and their families alongside NASA’s technical preparations and the political pressure of the space race. Kurson’s method is direct and descriptive, with complex machinery and historical context introduced through the progress of the mission or search.

Book details

For the print edition listed above.

Publisher: Random House Large Print
Language: English
ISBN: 9780375433870

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