Product Description

Chris and Chrissy Rouse, an experienced father-and-son scuba diving team, hoped to achieve widespread recognition for their outstanding but controversial diving skills. Obsessed and ambitious, they sought to solve the secrets of a mysterious, undocumented World War II German U-boat that lay under 230 feet of water, only a half-day's mission from New York Harbor. In doing so, they paid the ultimate price in their quest for fame.

Bernie Chowdhury, himself an expert diver and a close friend of the Rouses', explores the thrill-seeking world of deep-sea diving, including its legendary figures, most celebrated triumphs, and gruesome tragedies. By examining the diver's psychology through the complex father-and-son dynamic, Chowdhury illuminates the extreme sport diver's push toward -- and sometimes beyond -- the limits of human endurance.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #161254 in Books
• Published on: 2002-03-01
• Released on: 2002-02-19
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 384 pages

From Publishers Weekly
In a captivating account of sport diving, Chowdhury chronicles the tragedy of Chris and Chrissy Rouse, an energetic father-son dive team who met with disaster while attempting to explore a German U-boat 230 feet deep in the waters off New York. Conway reads with a raspy voice and dark intonation, and he revels in bringing alive the book's dramatic moments, such as when Chrissy slithers through cold, murky waters inside the submarine's cramped hull. Though highly competent in perilous underwater cave diving, the Rouses lacked experience on the open sea, leaving them unprepared for a cruel convergence of deadly circumstances. Aside from telling the Rouses' story, Chowdhury does an excellent jobAreinforced by Conway's audio skillsAof introducing listeners to the history, equipment and dangers of diving at extreme depth. The streamlined audio abridgment omits some of this information, along with a handful of alluring anecdotes, but it also does away with some of the obsessive personal details of the Rouses that occasionally bogged down Chowdhury's narrative. Though this makes for a few clumsy moments (the tape mentions, for instance, how Chrissy had once saved his father's life, yet the story of the machine-shop explosion to which it refers has been edited out), its overall effect is to create a crisp storyline that listeners will appreciate. Simultaneous release with the HarperCollins hardcover (Forecasts, Sept. 25). (Oct.)
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal
Extreme sports, such as climbing Mount Everest, are becoming increasingly popular in this country. Among these activities is extreme scuba diving deep diving, wreck diving, and cave diving, often using nonair gas mixtures. Chowdury chronicles the world of these divers, using his own story and that of a father-and-son dive team that died following a penetration-wreck dive at 230 feet using air. Excellently written and a real "grabber" to read, the book includes much information about the history, equipment, and people who make up the world of extreme or "technical" diving. This book should be read by any diver thinking of getting involved in wreck, cave, deep, or mixed-gas diving. One hopes it will change their minds, for there's absolutely no margin for error in these risky ventures. There is also much meat here for those interested in the psychology of extreme sports. Strongly recommended for libraries of all types with interests in scuba diving, sports (especially extreme sports), and the psychology of sports and risk-taking.DMargaret Rioux, MBL/WHOI Lib., Woods Hole, MA
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From AudioFile
Chowdhury was friends with the father and son who die here. He's felt the fascination of the deep wrecks. He knows the "Martini Law," which states that for every 50 feet down it's as if the diver has had one martini on an empty stomach. The author tells us how he nearly perished while exploring the wreck of the Andrea Doria. When he writes about how Chrissy Rouse gets trapped in the mystery U-Boat at 230 feet, we hear the boy thumping the hull. We feel a father's terrible panic. Kevin Conway's voice is a rich, full-throated instrument. The abridgment is superb. Don't operate heavy machinery while listening to this book. B.H.C. Winner of AUDIOFILE Earphones Award © AudioFile 2001, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

Customer Reviews

Much more than just the Rouse's "Last Dive"
"The Last Dive" is a very engaging read that is every bit as much about why people take risks at the edge of human ability (diving, mountain climbing, racing, etc.), their personalities, and their weaknesses, as it is about Chris and Chrissy Rouse and their fatal dive on the U-Who.

Although I found "Shadow Divers" and "Deep Descent" a bit more riveting; after the somewhat flowery prose of the initial couple of chapters, "The Last Dive" did an excellent job of bringing me into the club of elite cave and wreck divers, introducing the history and exploits of the key divers including the Rouses, helping to understand a bit of what motivates these divers to make the deep dives and take the risks they do, introducing some of the key wrecks that help to set the stage, and taking you inside the head of the author as he experiences the same fascination, thrill, fever, risk, and pain of a dive gone bad.

The author is a friend of many of the key divers and has personally made many of the same cave and wreck dives and has been through a serious episode of the bends, so he knows what he is talking about. He does a good job of describing technical issues in lay terms, so "The Last Dive" will engage the diver and non-diver alike.

While the lives and personalities of Chris and Chrissy Rouse are a thread running through "The Last Dive"; it is just as much the author's story and that of the other deep wreck divers who take the same risks, and their inner needs and drive to do so. Once you get through the first two chapters, you will find "The Last Dive" to be a page-turning adventure.

Definitely read the postlog chapter, "Ever Deeper". It's not the same rate of adventure as the rest of the book, but the additional information about many of the divers, advances in the science and psychology of deep wreck diving, and further information about identifying the U-Who (covered better in Shadow Divers) is worth the additional reading.

great book
If you are looking for a great book about scuba diving you search has ended. The last dive is amazing and is a great story about a diving family and their quest for improvement.

A book for a diver
This isn't Shadow Divers. This isn't written like a NY Times bestseller. It doesn't intensify or create drama like some other books do to try to captivate your interest. This book is written by a diver and is most appreciated by a fellow diver. Some complain of tangents which they say detract from the father and son story. These only serve to richen the experience for me. It not only tells the story but teaches valuable lessons and makes a diver desire further understanding on the many subject which are touched upon.