Crash Dive

Rating:
Summary: Great Book in a Great Series!
Review: As a diver, I really loved Crash Dive and the other two books in this diving adventure series, Tiger Reef and Shark Lake. These are really superior underwater thrillers, and I'd recommend them to anyone who likes diving and high adventure (I don't know what the reviewer before me is talking about--he sounds like a bitter crank who can't get his own work published to me). John McKinna is really great writer who knows how to spin a great yarn with excellent characters and action. Crash Dive is about a terrorist attack on a Gulf of Mexico oil rig, but it's also about Cuba, and a whacky drug smuggler who can't get out of his own way, and international politics, and a cool working-class hero (Ben Gannon, a commercial diver) and his 'way cool girlfriend "Sass". I think I'm in love with her. I loved McKinna's way with a story, and I've bought all his books since reading this one, including his World War Two novels under the pen name John Mannock, Iron Coffin and The Sen-Toku Raid. Do yourself a favor and check this author out, under either of his writing names, because he's very, very good. Ignore Cranky below--Crash Dive gets five very enthusiastic stars.

Rating:
Summary: Looking for more
Review: As a writer, I know how hard it is to produce a book, but I couldn't finish this one. Can anyone write about something other than terrorists and drug dealers? How about some pure adventure, no suspense, no intrigue, just a lot of diving, a little fun, maybe some romance (but not essential), and some writing that conveys an author's love of the sea and all that lives in it. Any diver knows there is enough adrenaline in simply going under water, but I guess people who read books and don't dive, they don't have a clue how fascinating and exciting being under water is. They continue to read those pie in the sky Cussler fantasies. Are there any readers who like realism?
If I buy another McKinna book, it will be a non-fiction one. I'm tired of fantasies. The real thing is just as exciting, but then I'm spoiled, because I was an oilfield diver too.

Rating:
Summary: Review of Crash Dive
Review: Crash Dive is hard to put down once you have started. The author is a master story teller. I am going to buy his other books.

Rating:
Summary: Exceptionally Good Sea Thriller
Review: I gave Crash Dive a try after seeing it advertised in the April, 2000 issue of Skin Diver Magazine. As I sport diver of over thirty years experience, I was delighted to find a novel packed full of fast action, dark humor, and technical diving detail. Author John McKinna has a rather unique style for a thriller writer--something like Carl Hiassen meets Clive Cussler--and I found his off-the-wall approach very entertaining. His own experience as a commercial diver shows on every page, but his style is wry and fast-moving. I liked this novel very much, and have already ordered a copy of the sequel, Tiger Reef, that will apparently be hitting the bookshelves in a month or so (May, 2000). I'm hoping it will be, like a Crash Dive, an exceptionally good sea thriller.

Rating:
Summary: Dive Into Adventure
Review: I hope every person with an interest in diving discovers John McKinna's excellent, realistic adventure trilogy about commercial oilfield diver Ben Gannon. This novel, "Crash Dive", is the first in the series, and the first of the 3 that I read. I was really impressed with the author's storytelling skills, his wry way of expressing himself, and his in-depth knowledge of offshore diving. Not surprising since he's a veteran commercial diver himself. "Crash Dive" is amazingly prophetic--written in 1999, it's about an Arab terrorist attack on an American oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. Fast-paced, full of black humor (like the other Ben Gannon books, "Tiger Reef" and "Shark Lake", and surprisingly heart-tugging for this type of novel...you really like the characters. In fact, along with twists, turns, and pacing, the expert characterization is what really makes John McKinna's books stand out, in my opinion. They really grab you and pull you in, and you hate it when they're over. I highly recommend "Crash Dive" and the other two Ben Gannon novels--as an adventure writer, author McKinna is definitely a cut above the rest of the pack.

Rating:
Summary: A Cut Above The Rest of the Pack.
Review: I hope every person with an interest in diving discovers John McKinna's excellent, realistic adventure trilogy about commercial oilfield diver Ben Gannon. This novel, "Crash Dive", is the first in the series, and the first of the 3 that I read. I was really impressed with the author's storytelling skills, his wry way of expressing himself, and his in-depth knowledge of offshore diving. Not surprising since he's a veteran commercial diver himself. "Crash Dive" is amazingly prophetic--written in 1999, it's about an Arab terrorist attack on an American oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. Fast-paced, full of black humor (like the other Ben Gannon books, "Tiger Reef" and "Shark Lake", and surprisingly heart-tugging for this type of novel...you really like the characters. In fact, along with twists, turns, and pacing, the expert characterization is what really makes John McKinna's books stand out, in my opinion. They really grab you and pull you in, and you hate it when they're over. I highly recommend "Crash Dive" and the other two Ben Gannon novels--as an adventure writer, author McKinna is definitely a cut above the rest of the pack.

Rating:
Summary: Fast paced detailed diving novel. As a diver, I LOVED it.
Review: I just really liked this. I'm the kind of girl who likes outdoor activities, including diving, so I really got into Crash Dive. The author clearly knows what he's talking about, and has a knack for description, 'specially underwater. Very exciting and kind of relevant since we just got hit by terrorists for real. An exciting read that makes you think. This writer has another fan.

Rating:
Summary: Great Diving Adventure!
Review: If you like diving, like I do, this book is for you. The firstin a series written by ex-commercial diver John McKinna it's packed full of great adventure far offshore in the oilfields of the Gulf of Mexico. Superior writing, odd characters, unexpected twists and turns, real diving knowledge, and a warped sense of humor make Crash Dive (and Tiger Reef) a really enjoyable reading experience. If McKinna can maintain this level of storytelling and not become boring and repetitive, like Grisham did, he'll get my money every time. Great.

Rating:
Summary: John McKinna, aka "John Mannock"...Great writer!
Review: John McKinna, who also writes WWII thrillers under the pen name "John Mannock", really produced a winner with this first novel in his seagoing thriller trilogy featuring intrepid, globe-trotting commercial diver Ben Gannon. Superior writing and a dry sense of humor are what distinguish CRASH DIVE and its two companion novels, TIGER REEF and SHARK LAKE. As a recreational diver myself, I found McKinna's technical knowledge (he was a commercial deep-sea diver himself for nearly 20 years) and characterizations (he's a genuinely gifted writer--more like Patrick O'Brian or Nicholas Monsarrat than some pulp hack) to be far better than those of, say, the ubiquitous Clive Cussler. McKinna's hero Ben Gannon is far more believable than Cussler's Dirk Pitt, who is something of a superman in skin-tight black rubber. Gannon is a regular guy with an uncommon amount of resourcefulness and adaptability, which makes him a good stand-in for the reader: you can easily imagine yourself in the dilemmas Gannon encounters, and enjoy beating the odds with him. McKinna's CRASH DIVE anticipated the terrorist attack on America by several years, the target in the novel being an offshore oil rig in the Gulf of Mexico. Prescient. The other two Gannon novels examine, with thrilling dramatic license, modern piracy in the Java Sea (TIGER REEF) and the violent dissolution of a small African country in the throes of revolution (SHARK LAKE). All are excellent reading. In addition, McKinna's IRON COFFIN (also available on Amazon), written under the pen name "John Mannock", is a superb WWII novel about a damaged German U-boat that occupied the Top Fifty Paperback Bestseller's List in the U.S. in the winter of 2004. If you want to read an excellent modern author's debut books, you can't go wrong with the Ben Gannon diving series. McKinna/"Mannock" is one of the very best.

Rating:
Summary: CRASH DIVE SOARS!
Review: Thanks to Amazon.com for even getting me interested in this book as well as all the reviewers that caught my attention. This debut book by McKinna was a treasure find! I am not a diver and did not quite understand all of the diving and sailing stuff but it was a relentless action/adventure story with some good surprises - and I like that! The characters were well written and I felt like I was kind of reading a well made action movie in the tradition of DIE HARD in the diver's seat, so to speak. I like Ben Gannon and his woman Sass, and the cajun friend Rolly was fun to follow. The bad guys were bad and colorful and Sligo was exhausting to read with his constant cocaine snorting and relentless smuggler's smack. The story and action were very fun to read and I already bought the next book - TIGER REEF, and will be reviewing that in about a week. Great debut Mr. McKinna and am looking forward to your next book. Good luck!