CindyJean's Full Review: Colleen Coble - Dangerous Depths
I’ll Make Time
I’m way behind in my ‘to review’ reading and I’ve got a good-sized stack of books waiting for their turn. I’ve been really good about reading books in order, the ones I get first I read first. It just seems ‘fair’ to me.
However, when I got a copy of “Dangerous Depths” by Colleen Coble I put it on top. That’s right, I cheated on my own rule. I have loved every Colleen Coble novel I’ve ever read, so I decided to treat myself get right to it.
Dangerous Depths by Colleen Coble
Brief Synopsis
Leia Kahale’s life is a lot different than it was a short time ago. She gave up what looked to be a promising medical career and an engagement to Bane Oanu in favor of the life she keeps telling herself and her family she wants as a homeopathic care-giver at a leper colony in Hawaii.
What Leia isn’t telling people is that there’s a reason for her self-imposed exile. Genetic testing has shown that she has a very, very high chance of producing a child with a birth defect–something both she and her sister have lived their life with (in different form). She doesn’t want to impose that on a child and she cannot bear to keep a man like Bane, who would make an exceptional father, from having a child of his own.
Leia’s life kicks into high gear when several major events happen in a very short time–Bane returns to hunt a treasure (both Leia and a sunken ship) and two friends die over events that may or may not be connected.
As with all of Colleen Coble’s work, “Dangerous Depths” is an action-packed, mysterious thriller. From early in the novel you get sucked into the action and then you find yourself unable to put the book down until it’s finished.
Colleen Coble uses some thematic elements not common to your average Christian novel. This particular novel includes two characters with birth defects. Leia was born with a cleft lip and even as an adult bears the scars of her surgery–both emotionally and (to a lesser extent) physically. Leia has a sister named Eva, and Eva was born with Down Syndrome. This book handles these issues sensitively, but not in an over-the-top, hyper-PC manner. Colleen Coble does not in any way present a negative view of people who appear different from the ‘norm.’
I am a huge, huge fan of series novels. I love knowing more about the characters, or maybe what happens to their friends. I just like series novels. “Dangerous Depths” is the third book in the Aloha Reef Series. With some series novels you will get seriously lost if you try to enter the series at anywhere other than the beginning. However, with the Aloha Reef Series that is not the case. These books are the story of three members of the Oanu family, first Kaia and then Mano, before we get Bane’s story in “Dangerous Depths.” I hear that there’s a fourth novel to come, and that will be the story of one of the Oanu’s in-laws. Can’t wait! What all this means is that each novel can easily stand on it’s own. You don’t need to read them sequentially to fully appreciate them. The characters from each prior novel do make appearances, but you can fully understand and follow the plot whether you’ve read them or not.
Conclusion
I have noticed in the course of my reading that generally speaking I enjoy mystery/thriller novels written by men more than women–with Colleen Coble being the most notable exception. She has a knack for crafting a mystery that I cannot solve until she’s ready to reveal the villain. I keep turning pages, staying up late, hoping to remain awake long enough to get to the end.
If you love a good mystery, then you will be crazy for Colleen Coble’s writing. If you like Colleen Coble’s writing, you will love “Dangerous Depths.” It’s got action, excitement, mystery and more!
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