Rating: 
Summary: Too bad it wasn't Chowdhury's last dive!
Review: This book is a good read for divers interested in the technical aspect of scuba diving, but more than half the book is spent on Chowdhury's own diving tales, including the story of how he got bent, partially paralyzed, etc. As I read I couldn't help but get the impression that this was more of an ego trip of Chowdhury's than a tale of a tragic father/son diving accident.
Chowdury's personal reverie doesn't contribute much to the story, but added pages to the book, thereby increasing the purchase price of the book!
P.S. Don't blame Michele for this review. I'm her husband, Dan Benson!
Rating:
Summary: A poorly written book about an interesting subject
Review: The author of this less-than-well-written book spends a good deal more time telling you about himself than he does the father and son team that it is supposedly focused upon. Indeed, if you removed all of the first person signular pronouns, the book would be shortened substantially. The subject matter is undeniably interesting and the book conveys a good deal of information, albeit somewhat repetitiously. The title, however, is misleading. The book should have been called "All About Me (and a little about Chris and Chrissy Rouse, who died of the bends after diving on the U-Who).
Rating:
Summary: This book tends to repeat
Review: The story and information were interesting and a good read. However the author tends to repeat himself throughout the book.
Rating: 
Summary: Enjoyable even for non-divers!
Review: I picked this book up at the library because it looked interesting. I was hooked from page 1! I'm not a diver, I've never been interested in diving and I don't plan to start anytime soon. But this book was informative and compelling, but also very personal. I had no problem understanding the "technical" issues of deep-sea diving, and I feel that I learned quite a bit about the sport. Knowing from the beginning that the main characters would both die didn't make the book any less exciting.
Rating:
Summary: Breathtaking
Review: Reading this book is like sitting in front of a fire place, listening to the author telling his stories, as if to impress and scare the listener about incredible people doing amazing things. It is emotionally captivating; at the end of the book I felt as if had known Bernie Chowdhury and the Rouses and been friend with them for years. The author takes the readers to dive, not only into deep ocean waters, but also into the inner feelings and behaviours of himself and his friends, showing much more than adventures and risks in blue water. That so many men and women are willing to risk their lives, in order to do things such as deep diving, may seem crazy, or to some may show disrespect for human life. In my opinion, such a book clearly demonstrates that it is "normal" people, with their willingness to explore their limits, set new thresholds, and open up new frontiers, who advance humanity, step by step, little by little, towards better future. The economical reward, when and if it comes, and for few only, is a secondary element: most important is doing things first, is moving ahead exploring what someone has never tried before to show that it can be done. Great explorers, inventors and leaders have the same genes. A book worth every minute spent on it.
Rating:
Summary: Outstanding reading for technical divers!
Review: After reading DEEP DESCENT, I had to come back and write a review for THE LAST DIVE. While I knew THE LAST DIVE was a great book, it took the side by side comparison to DEEP DESCENT to really make that register. I am part of a group of technical divers, principally involved in cave diving. After reading this book, we made it required reading for the entire team! For advanced and technical divers, learn from this book! The lessons flow from every page. For anyone else remotely interested in diving, or in action adventures, this book provides true life drama. Easy to read, hard to put down. You won't be sorry you bought this one!
Rating:
Summary: Well thought, researched and written
Review: I've found in the past few days, now that I am finished reading The Last Dive, that I find myself wishing there was a "Part Two", or continuation. The Last Dive is a great account on several levels, from the authors personal friendship with the Rouse's, to dive history, dive training and theory, and the 'cowboy' like culture of the deep & tech diving communities. Some parts in the book on dive training made me bring my own training into question and encouraged me to seek further answers and knowledge to augment my certification. The story jumps around a little, but it doesn't detract from the feel of the book. I felt as if I was on the Seeker, getting tossed around by pounding waves that were hitting the hull of the ship as I suited up for my decent to the Andrea Doria. I also felt the loss, like two of my friends just died when the Rouse's met their fate because of the author's wonderful character development. I would highly recommend this book to anyone because of it's sheer readability.
Rating: 
Summary: the greatest risk takers don't always survive...
Review: More like two brothers than father and son, Chris and Chrissy Rouse met their fate while exploring a newly discovered German U-boat in deep water off the coast of New Jersey. Far from the normal safe depth of 130 ft for recreational divers, this german wreck split in two on the ocean floor (200+ feet below the surface) lured father and son to explore its deep interior in search of a log book that would reveal its secrets. They had been this deep before, and on normal compressed air instead of safer mixed gas. But carelessness and lack of focus will catch up to any diver no matter how much experience they may have. This book tells the story of such carelessness. Even the author himself, a veteran diver suffered from the bends when he had to abort his decompression stops from making a simple mistake while diving another deep water wreck, the famous Andrea Doria. I really enjoyed this book. Having recently gained my first scuba certification, I am just beginning to explore the underwater world. When I can't be in the water, I can still be learning and gaining precious knowledge that may one day save my life or the life of a fellow diver. I recommend this book to anyone with an interest in scuba, or to anyone who likes to read stories about those who take risks doing what they love. The greatest risk takers don't always survive, but it's better to lose your life doing what you love then to never have really lived at all.
Rating:
Summary: Chowdhury scores with "Last Dive"
Review: Frankly, the Last Dive was probably the best book I've read, ever.I recently got my introductory PADI scuba license. I'd heard some about tech diving, but hadn't really payed attention. Anyway, I picked up the hard-backed copy of Last Dive recently given to me by my girl friend, and I couldn't put it down. I read the whole book in maybe three days. The Last Dive gave me a clear picture of hard core deep and cave diving on the east coast. Chowdury is one of the few authours that I know that can write a non-ficttion story, but have it read like a novel. Last Dive also has several sub-plots in it, not just diving U-869(if you like U-boats, read Operation Drumbeat by Micheal Gannon) or the Andrea Doria(Deep Descent by Kevin f. McMurry), but also the history of scuba diving and deco research, and the pioneers of deep and cave diving, such as the late Sheck Exely. After reading this book, I was bitten by the deep, cave, and ice diving bug(no not sea wasps) and I am currently pooling money for the thousands of dollars worth of gear that will someday lead me to the silent steel superstructure of U-869,the Northern Pacifac, the Andrea Doria, and the Empress of Ireland. To put it simply, Last Dive was a great summer read, and a must read for any deep or cave diver, aspiring or otherwise.
Rating:
Summary: Inevitable
Review: This true story of a father and son dive team is well written and throughly researched. I enjoyed reading about the pair's interest in recreational diving and subsequent interest in technical diving. However, the book clearly portrays them as pushing the envelope ever further, even past the limits to which their friends and mentors were comfortable with. Their experiences on the Andrea Dorea only served to bolster their confidence, which I believe, led to their ultimate demise on the "U-Who". As a certified diver, I enjoyed the book. However, it was similar to the movie The Perfect Storm in that these men are portrayed as heroes or martyrs when in fact they died by their own hand, as a result of taking unnecessary risks.
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