Robert Kurson
This is the true story of the divers who discovered and, finally, identified a mysterious U-Boat wreck off the New Jersey shore. Several of the divers died in the quest, and Kurson’s descriptions of the hazards of the dive are terrifying.
An ancient manuscript, a modern multi-generational mystery, engaging characters, a well-drawn setting, and near perfect pacing: this book has it all. It’s Fat Tire Amber Ale to the Coor’s Light of “Da Vinci Code”. If only it were a little longer, it’d be Guinness.
Lynne Truss
It’s hard to imagine a more entertaining book about punctuation than this one. Truss is cranky, funny… and right.
David Haward Bain
Bain is the author of “Empire Express”, a history of the first railroad across North America. After finishing that book he took his family on a transcontinental journey and wrote this wonderful, fat, discursive book about their trip. He writes about family history, tourist sites, and relics found along the old right of way. It’s a travelogue liberally seasoned with history and a joy to read.
Matthew D’Ancona, Carsten Peter Thiede
In 1901 an Englishman, the Rev. Charles B. Huleatt, discovered papyrus fragments in Egypt that he donated to his alma mater, Oxford’s Magdalen College. They sat, largely unnoticed, until a few years ago, when Dr. Thiede re-dated them to about 60 A.D. Because these are fragments of the Gospel of Matthew, the new dating dates one of the canonical Gospels to before the fall of Jerusalem.
This is a short, accessible, but detailed look at this fragment and the topic of dating the Gospels. Since many people persist in thinking the Gospels were not written during the Apostle’s lifetimes, it challenges modern doubts about the Gospels accuracy and authenticity. Aside from the religious and historical significance, the book provides and entertaining look at Biblical scholarship and give the general reader a fascinating glimpse into the arcane techniques used by scholars attempting to understand and date ancient manuscripts.
David Poyer
Unlike so many writers of military fiction, David Poyer manages to have a continuing character - Dan Lenson - who changes and grows from book to book. That, and the air of authenticity that Poyer generates (thanks to his own years in the navy), distinguishes the Lenson books from the likes of Dan Brown and Tom Clancy.
This book finds Lenson dealing with a divided crew learning to cope with gender integration aboard a destroyer on a Read Sea deployment. Interesting characters and situations combined with a gripping climax involving a terrorist nuclear device make this one stand out from the pack.
