There are far too many of these books on global (viral) disasters, but this was fun to read. Caves can hold my interest for quite a while. ( )

Excellent! Reminds me of classic Michael Crichton and early Preston/Child.

In this book, you've got a virus with no known cure except, possibly, one. And the source of this cure had been found in the depths of a very big cave in Mexico. Unfortunately, the little that had been collected previously is now gone and more must be retrieved. Add to that national security issues, spies, and well developed characters and you've got the makings of an excellent techno-thriller. ( )

Pretty good debut. Some good action, but some scenes felt a little rushed while others were misplaced. Tabor knows his cave and diving stuff though and made it approachable for those of us who don't. ( )

Hallie Leland was once a microbiologist working in a government laboratory, but after being fired unfairly she now works at a small shop selling diving equipment to tourists in Florida. Her loves for diving/caving and microbiology led her to discover an amazing extremophile miles deep in a cave in Mexico when she worked for the government, which seemed to have the miraculous ability to cure certain incurable diseases, but she was never able to complete that research.

Now the U.S. government once Hallie back, because some terrible disease is ravaging the army in the Middle East, one that can only be cured by Leland's extremophile, and only she knows where to find it. In the dark depths of a terrible cave system,

Thrillers are a tough sell for me. I usually read a few per year, and while they are exciting, I'm rarely enthusiastic about them after putting them down. With that in mind, I was pleasantly surprised by The Deep Zone, not only was it a great reading experience but I'm quite satisfied with it now that I've finished it. I suspect it's probably because it's more of an adventure novel than a thriller, but regardless, it's an exciting plot and the characters are well-drawn and interesting. It's always a good sign when characters say things I strongly disagree with and I still like them anyway.

The real star of the book, however, is the cave. I haven't read a lot of caving stories in the past, but I do seem to be mystified by them whenever I do. I felt the same way about Jeff Long's Descent series. The cave creates an amazing sense of danger and isolation, which really ramps up the tension in the book, without the need for gun fights and car chases, which is a huge plus.

Chalk this one up as another thriller I don't hate. Not bad, not bad at all. ( )

Excited to start another first reads giveaway. Love the feel of a new book and wondering if e- reader users can get the same little thrill from downloading something as I get from holding a book in my hands...the pages are bright white and the type is crisp. When I found out I was getting the ARC, I went back to the description and thought to myself that it sounded more like the type I might enjoy listening to in the car - kind of light, not requiring a ton of attention. I was pleasantly surprised that I could barely put it down this weekend and stayed up past midnight this morning to finish it. The first chapter really pulled you in quickly. It was really just a very fun and extremely interesting read with the level of detail that was provided, and it came through that some things that would read like science fiction to a regular Joe were far more closer to science fact. Mr. Tabor knows his stuff, and he had me hook, line and sinker. His prose flows very nicely, and while yes of course there were a few things that were just a tad bit of a stretch, or too coincidental, the end result is that I was very much entertained and look forward to his next work! ( )