Rating: 
Summary: vast subject, vacant characters
Review: Simply put, the subject became bigger than its author. As a result, there was little character development, plot, or cohesiveness. The first chapter is a great set-up. A group of upscale, precocious kids pay big bucks for an environmental odyssey, and end up having to take shelter from an unanticipated snow storm in a strange cave filled with bizaar artifacts. So far so good. I begin the next chapter hoping to find out more about the fate of the kids and their tour guides. Instead, I'm drug from one corner of the earth to the next as a sinister subsurface society begins to assert itself...along with a whole new cast of characters at every turn. Events are fired like shrapnel as I'm left hanging. Each new chapter is like a new book. I was exhausted just trying to keep up. Okay, enough said. I guess Im just a sucker for emotional depth...even if its in hell itself.
Rating: 
Summary: Incredible read!
Review: What a great book! I enjoyed it very much. No, it wasn't what I thought it was going to be, but that's good, because it was actually more than I had expected! A modern-day "Journey to the Center of the Earth". Great characters, harrowing adventure, and something for the mind to mull over aftewards. I read the first chapter late at night. Not a good idea. I was afraid to turn off the lights! If there's a sequel, will defintely read it.
Rating:
Summary: Great book with a lot of big holes in the storyline.
Review: This book was exciting, bold, and a great read. The ideas proposed were great. However, there were too many holes in the story (warning;spoilers ahead) such as:What caused Branch's initial mutation as he never was below the surface and was never in contact with the hadals? Why did Branch live after the poison was released? There was no mention of him being inoculated. Why did Thomas not die of the poison? What was the purpose of the adoption scene in China? What happened to January? Why did Ali live after the release of the poison gas? For a gifted writer like Long, I am surprised. Jeff, I'd love for you to contact me and explain you rational.
Rating:
Summary: A Most Excellent Adventure into the Intellectual Dark Side.
Review: In many instances "The Descent" is one of the most intellectual books I've read. The depth of knowledge Mr. Long brings to this book is wonderfully refreshing. From Mythology, Religion, Philosophy, and History...the reader is taken on a journey through a wonderful tale of the Unknown.
Rating: 
Summary: great book!
Review: Picked up the book yesterday and just read non-stop until the end. Awesome, very detailed, chock full of plot twists and surprises...I loved the book! I just wish that Jeff Long made it a bit longer to delve into the development of his characters. I was left wanting to know more about them~ I hope there's a sequel planned, for it was an excellent book.
Rating:
Summary: Measures up to his usally descriptive prose.
Review: THE DESCENT measures up to his wonderfully descriptive, usual prose. I felt I was part of the expedition. Noted some autobiographical stuff, eg, Makalu, Kora:"Ike had broken her heart because he was Ike-- a drifter on life's stream" Question of why he called expedition "HELIOS"? It's paradoxical that Helios is a holistic health center in Boulder. is it merely coincidence? Good luck, Jeff, Marge
Rating:
Summary: Underground Terror
Review: Not since the book "Tales of Dirt, Danger, and Darkness" have I read a book that so vividly describes the terrors lurking underground. Keep the lights on when reading this book! A great read.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best books I've read in a long time!
Review: I could not put this book down. It had it all. Truly one of the best books I've read in a long time, since King's It, or The Stand. Great action, but was also able to get inside the characters. If the book had a downfall, in my opinion, it was one too many plot "twists".
Rating:
Summary: Awesome! One of the best-written books I've ever read.
Review: As an avid reader, I typically read several books at a time, and several a week. This novel has it all -- sex, gore, romance, piracy, mercenaries, world leaders, hellfire and brimstone, God, Satan, and adventure like Jules Verne never dreamed of. As good as the best of Grisham. This author has an imagination, knowledge, and depth that one seldom encounters.
Rating:
Summary: a great summer page-turner
Review: On a recent trip to boston which included missed planes and being stuck in a tunnel during a fire, I was exceedingly glad to have this great summer page-turner with me. Yes, the book could have been longer, but I predict a sequel. I thought this was a fantastic update of dante's Inferno and HG Wells' Time Machine. The whole concept was fantastic and I felt the author made great points about our civilization without being obvious. The torturous barbarism of the dwellers below has been demonstrated by our own people during the time of the ancient Aztecs, who used body modification and torture as a religious practice (and even today, body piercing, tattooing and body modification such as fingernail removal have regained a popular stance). We shudder in horror at the killing instinct of the people below, yet we have killed thousands instantly with nuclear bombs. The terror of bosnia is quietly held up in the beginning of the novel, and the author never even mentions the Holocaust. As a reader of science fiction and horror, i can heartily recommend this hook to anyone looking for a gripping read.
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