Product Description

When graduate student Jennifer Cassidy approaches cave-diver Beck Easton with a 140-year-old mystery, they set out on a suspense-filled search for hidden treasure--and hidden truths.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #580894 in Books
• Published on: 2005-01-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 352 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Despite a few flaws, this well-paced romantic adventure yarn about a lost ship full of gold will please history buffs who like faith fiction. Morrisey (Yucatan Deep) opens with an intriguing prologue in which a Confederate family attempts to hide a mysterious package deep in the heart of Florida's Twin Springs—with tragic results. One hundred and forty years later, University of Michigan graduate student Jennifer Cassidy ("cute as the proverbial button") is hot on the trail of the secret. Helping her is hunky widower Beck Easton, a seemingly flawless, teetotaling Christian shipwreck diver who has "biceps like firm bread loaves" and is equally at home flying small aircraft or whipping up gourmet spinach pasta. If what they discover pans out, history will be rewritten and both will become rich beyond their wildest dreams. But they have to outwit the bad guys first. Morrisey's knowledge of diving adds colorful and precise details to the underwater scenes, and the plot offers plenty of surprises. However, Morrisey relies on tired novelist tricks (characters described as they look into a mirror) and the occasional humor falls flat, as when Jennifer makes a stab at a pun: "Beck Easton seemed to have new depths at every turn." Although readers may find themselves doubting the choice Beck and Jennifer make at the conclusion, they will still enjoy the journey.
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From the Back Cover
A suspense-filled search for hidden treasure—and hidden truths While University of Michigan graduate student Jennifer Cassidy is researching the family history of Cecilia Sinclair, a long-deceased Southern expatriate, she discovers that something of great value is hidden in a spring near the family plantation in Florida. Jennifer contacts Beck Easton, a cave diver and former Marine, to help her. When Beck finds a map, it sets off a race for gold, and both pro- and anti-Cuban groups follow Jennifer and Beck as they travel from Florida to the Bahamas to Lake Huron, tracking clues that pre-date the Civil War. After nearly losing her life, Jennifer is confronted with the meaning of Matthew 6:19-21, "Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven ... For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." And she realizes that she will have to make a decision—will she pursue gold and glory or God?

About the Author
Tom Morrisey is a mountaineer, aviator, shipwreck diver, and explorer, who holds a Full Cave certification from the National Speleological society - Cave Diving Section. He has launched, edited or contributed to numerous national publications and is an award-winning adventure travel writer. A popular speaker, he is also active in both youth and prison ministry,. Morrisey eared an MFA in creative writing from Bowling Green State University, and his fiction has been featured in numerous anthologies and magazines. His previous novel, Yucatan Deep, was a 2003 finalist for the Christy Award. He and his family live in rural Jackson County, Michigan.

Customer Reviews

History and Mystery Collide!
Morrisey can tell a good story. He did so in "Yucatan Deep" and in "Turn Four." He's the Clive Cussler of the Christian market, churning out testosterone-driven adventures with strong spiritual themes.

This time, we meet a new hero in Beck Easton. Nosy young Jennifer Cassidy, a university graduate, drags Beck from his Florida diving business, to the Bahamas, then up the Great Lakes. The goal: to track a lost fortune in gold. But not all is as it seems. Soon history and mystery collide, with Beck and Jennifer risking their lives to uncoer the truth.

"Deep Blue" has some good twists, some memorable locations, and great "what ifs." I raced from beginning to end, curious as to the fortune's true nature. I appreciated Jennifer's spiritual struggles. Although Beck is likeable enough, he's harder to relate to because of his "Incredible Hulk" physique, his fortitude in the face of any temptation, and his seemingly endless repertoire of knowledge. No matter what situation he's in, he knows just what to do because he's done it before...flying, diving, espionage, etc.

Morrisey combines the adventure of "Yucatan Deep" with the spirituality of "Turn Four", throws in his most flawed character yet in Jennifer Cassidy, and offers up his best thriller yet.

A Fascinating Look from Down Under
This book is a winner, though not quite up to the standard of Yucatan Deep. Beck Easton, a widowed 5th level black belt with military intelligence background has all the requisite skills for his role, but barely escapes being somewhat flat. Jennifer Cassidy, an attractive research specialist, is a more colorful character with a vulnerability that makes her believable and winsome.

The fascinating glimpse of historic cave diving before scuba gear is a delightful plus for this book, and some of the strongest writing. The technical cave diving - the hook that drew this reviewer to the book - received less attention than I had hoped for.

The competing interests that all characters become obsessed with - and the clues to an ancient treasure in gold - seem contrived, but are almost imperative to drive the story.
Still a good and enjoyable read in spite of the weaknesses. Overall a well crafted story with some intriguing historic tidbits.

Christian fiction lover
I love Christian fiction and it's nice to have Christian action/adventure/suspense books. I really enjoyed this book and unlike many of the reviews on this and Tom Morrisey's other books, I did not think that the characters were "too perfect" or the plot "too preachy". It is a sad state of affairs that people think men cannot be He-men and Christ-like at the same time. Do we feel guilty reading about "good" people because we aren't? Can we not handle "sermonizing" and "preaching" because it convicts us? We are called to "be perfect as He [Christ] is perfect". Christians shouldn't have a "dark side" and if they do they need to repent and change. Thank God for fiction that shows us a better standard to attain to. Christ himself has been labled "too perfect" and I think that's a pretty good standard to strive for!