Night Diver by Elizabeth Lowell

 

 

 

 

New York Times bestselling author Elizabeth Lowell plunges into the adventurous and deadly world of underwater treasure hunters in a heart-stopping tale that superbly combines atmosphere, action, romance, and suspense.

 

After a family tragedy, Kate Donnelly left the Caribbean behind forever. But a series of bad management decisions has left her family’s diving and marine recovery business drowning in red ink. Now her brother pleads with her to come back to the island nation of St Vincent. Without Kate’s financial expertise, the iconic treasure-hunting enterprise started by her grandfather will go under. Unable to say no to the little family she has left, Kate heads back to the beautiful and terrifying ocean that still haunts her nightmares.

Holden Cameron was addicted to the adrenaline rush of active duty—including narrowly surviving an underwater explosives accident. The last thing the former British military diver wants is to babysit a family of thieves on a tropical island—even if they are the world-famous Diving Donnellys. But in his new civilian job, Holden must investigate the suspicious activity surrounding a Donnelly dive to recover treasure from the ancient wreck of a pirate ship.

When equipment, treasure, and even divers begin to disappear, Kate and Holden form an uneasy alliance to uncover the truth. But the deeper they plummet into the mystery, the closer they come to each other. Soon they are sharing their deepest fears and darkest secrets—and a combustible chemistry too hot to ignore.

 

Read an Excerpt

 

“Let the lover be disgraceful, crazy, absentminded. Someone sober will worry about things going badly. Let the lover be. ” -Rumi

 

Kate is trying to save her family’s maritime salvage company while coping with the fact she witnessed mother being lost at sea and her father dying at her feet. The author conveyed Kate’s struggle brilliantly. I could feel her trepidation at having to return to her grandfather’s dive ship, yet her character wasn’t a simpering woman and I liked that.

 

Holden was sent there with two purposes: Catch the thief and shut down the dive. He was suspicious of everyone, Kate included, which was interesting considering he was attracted to Kate from the start. Although Holden was a very insightful, almost philosophical, character I didn’t feel as though I got to know him as well as I did Kate.

 

While the sexual chemistry practically exploded from the pages since the first meeting of Holden and Kate, they didn’t automatically jump into bed with each other, which I liked. Seeing as they didn’t trust each other at the beginning of the novel, their relationship built up as they gained each other’s trust.

 

The mystery aspect of the novel was there fairly early on. It was obvious that Holden was there with the purpose of seeking out the person who was nicking artifacts from the dive and even though the mystery kept my attention, the actual suspense part of the novel only came in during the last 50 or so pages.

 

I enjoyed how well researched the author was when it came to the actual process of the dive and recovery process. Having seen this process before, I paid close attention to the way the author handled it and it was one of the things that drew me in even more.

 

Although I was over the moon and was up until the wee hours of morning reading the novel, there were still a few things that I wasn’t so thrilled about. While the fact this novel relied only on the POV’s of Holden and Kate worked wonders with the romance aspect, it was a little lacking when it came to the suspense/mystery parts. I would have liked to have seen things from the full range of characters POV’s but the novel still worked as it was, it just came off more of a full on romance rather than a suspense/mystery.

 

Holden’s character could have been fleshed-out a little more. I felt as though I only received a sampling of who he was. There could have been more suspense mixed through the plot. I would have also liked to have seen some sort of conflict between Kate and Holden. While I enjoyed the HEA, it almost felt too perfect.

 

Overall, I enjoyed this novel. Sunken treasure, romance, murder, and mystery what’s not to love? I am very pleased that I purchased this book. I cannot wait to read more from this author.

 

Why did I purchase this book? The title, Night Diver, called me over, the blurb made me buy it.

What movie would I compare this book to?  Fool’s Gold

What I drank while reading Night Diver? Jamaican Rum tea

Book Details

Title: Night Diver

Author: Elizabeth Lowell

Publisher: Wm Morrow

ISBN-13: 978-0062132826

Pub Date: April 2014

Format I read: Hardcover $26.99

How I Read It: Purchased

Rating: 4.5 Cups

 

 

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