This was an incredible, addictive thriller book that surpassed all my expectations. It had everything — intriguing and real characters, a creepy atmospheric setting, engaging writing and a story full of secrets and twists and turns. Thanks to Netgalley, the publisher and author for a chance to review this fantastic book.

Our main character, Rob Nash, is haunted by the events from a year ago, losing her wife and their unborn child… now he is only part of who he was, with no energy or happiness. He takes the dubious job to dive in a Papua cave to make his friend ‘Uncle’ Frank Douglas happy. The mission will not be as they expect and they will be risking their lives since the first moment, the people that contracted them have a very dangerous mission in their minds… who will win?

A thriller which, if you don't like water, is seriously going to give you creepy vibes. A lot of fun I thought as it starts slow but builds and there's quite a few twists just to make you a bit queasy if you aren't already. Darkness is blinding and all encompassing and this novel plays that fear to perfection.

I was very excited to read Cave Diver. The idea of a cave diver being trapped underwater, trying to conserve their oxygen seemed like an adrenalin-filled read. The book itself states that the writer won a Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize, so I was really looking forward to this.

However, this just wasn't for me. For a “fast-paced thriller”, I felt it wasn't particularly fast, and it was low on thrills. None of the characters seemed to have any depth – there was the brutish villain, the beautiful scheming villain, the beautiful woman with no flaws, the hero with one big flaw etc.

I completely understand that I may be in the minority. The concept of Cave Diver is good, and lots of readers will probably love this. It just wasn't for me.

Thank you to Bonnier Books UK and Netgalley for an eARC of this book to read and review.

Cave Diver by Jake Avila

An exciting, action-packed thriller but humourless and with poor female characterisation. Nevertheless, there are some great sequences, especially with the cave diving scenes, which are truly claustrophobic. The sense of danger is strong and it doesn't just come from the baddies - there are some rivers you just don't want to go swimming in. There is a lot packed in - evil billionaire fathers, rabid muscle men, explosions, bits of bodies, angst, mud, witchcraft, gold and even Nazis. It rattles along at quite a pace and I read it quickly. But there are problems with the way in which women are depicted and used as plot devices. Mia is particularly unbelievable. It also take itself too seriously and there were times when I longed for Dirk Pitt to come strolling in to lead a dive. 2.5 stars rounded up

Cave Diver is an award-winning action-adventure thriller set against the exotic backdrop of Papua New Guinea. After controversially losing his wife in a cave diving accident, acclaimed explorer Rob Nash has developed a secret terror of confined spaces. Dumped by sponsors and shunned by friends, the quest to locate a World War II Japanese treasure submarine laden with gold in a bottomless Papuan cavern offers the very opportunity to resurrect a once glittering and stellar career in cave diving exploration. But as the salvage expedition winds its way upriver, greed and ideology fracture alliances and the situation becomes increasingly fraught. Nash soon learns the price of redemption will consume every last molecule of his last reserves of self-belief. Not only must he battle his demons in the murky darkness below, but he must also vanquish fanatical terrorists hell-bent on unleashing a monstrous weapon lost in the depths for over seventy years.

Alliances disintegrate and Nash quickly realises not everyone is who they seem. Will Nash and his Uncle Frank manage to complete the mission and film a documentary on this particular cave diving expedition? This is an enthralling and compulsively readable underwater adventure featuring a troubled protagonist, Rob, and his attempt to get his career and life back on track. The story is a slow-burner with rich descriptions of the jungles and nature of Papua New Guinea that bring the destination vividly to life. There are a plethora of twists and turns that keep you guessing and feverishly turning the pages and the action never let’s up throughout. Avila has clearly done his research on this topic giving a sense of authenticity to proceedings and it's very well written. It is a debut novel with an absorbing cinematic quality to it, set against the searing heat of Papua New Guinea, this contemporary thriller is full of peril and oozing with unexpected surprises. Highly recommended.

Australian, Rob Nash is a broken man. Once an acclaimed cave diving explorer, Rob's last great underwater adventure led to the death of his pregnant wife Natalie, and he has been unable to drag himself from a pit of despair ever since. He spends his nights longing for death while flirting with danger, surfing colossal waves, and his days hidden away in the house he used to share with Natalie, avoiding the TV news crews who are desperate to goad him into admitting culpability for her death - even though the inquest deemed the incident an accident.

Then, a twist of fate offers him a chance to try to regain something of his former life when his 'Uncle' Frank Douglas contacts him about an offer from an Indonesian businessman to lead a cave diving expedition in the jungles of Papua. This might be just what he needs - if he can overcome his own demons enough to regain the passion for cave diving that used to drive him.

But things are not as they appear to be. The Indonesian business man backing the expedition is after more than an artfully shot documentary about the Hoosenbeck Gorge. An old WWII Japanese submarine, rumoured to be packed with treasure, lies hidden in a cavern somewhere in the cave system, and our ruthless tycoon is desperate to lay claim to these riches to fund his political ambitions. To achieve his aim, he is willing to send Sura, his own daughter, into enemy territory with a band of unscrupulous mercenaries masquerading as a film crew - unaware that she wants the gold for herself, and is not afraid to double cross darling daddy with a few dastardly plans of her own.

Rob and Douglas start to become suspicious of the motives of their employer, but it is not until they are joined by an unexpected team member in US medic, Dr Mia Carter, on her way to a remote mission hospital - whose medical director is somehow linked to the mystery of the Japanese gold - that the expedition takes a menacing turn. The three are in big trouble and about to get caught in the all too real crossfire between rival parties. Will they survive their adventure, or become collateral damage in the greedy schemes of some very dangerous villains?

What a cracking adventure story! It starts with the slow-burn threads of a broken man with no reason to live, who takes the chance to pull himself from the blackest of of depressions with an offer too good to refuse, and an ambitious young Indonesian woman desperate to escape her suffocating life as the daughter of a controlling father, who sees the chance to use his own greed against him - two very different people looking for a lifeline.

As the mystery of how the treasure came to be hidden in the depths of a jungle cave system unfolds, and Rob and Douglas' fates become tied to the schemes of Sura and her violent crew, the pace of the story ups by notches - especially when Dr Carter becomes involved in the murky goings on and romance blossoms between her and Rob - and the tension increases exponentially until I found myself sitting on the edge of my seat with my heart on my mouth for almost the whole of the final third of the book.

There are so many delicious elements here; an exotic landscape filled with dangers of the animal, human and environmental kinds; a compelling mystery story; the baddest of baddies who you long to see come to a very sticky end; and engaging protagonists who work their way into your heart and add a lovely human interest side to the story. There are more thrilling scenes that you can poke a stick at too, with enough bangs, crashes and explosions to give you everything you need to make the kind of adventure story that pays out in glorious technicolour in your imagination. Think action on the scale of Indiana Jones, with a fascinating cave diving twist!

Incidentally, the cave diving dimension of this tale is brilliant. It is clear that Jake Avila has done his homework here, based on the detailed technical knowledge he divulges about the underwater world of Rob Nash. As someone with an innate fear of the scrapes and claustrophobic spaces he seems to find himself in time and time again, this added a really chilling undertow to the whole piece for me, which was rather entertaining in a weirdly terrifying way.

It's easy to see how this debut has won the accolades of the 2019 Adventure Writer's Competition Clive Cussler Grandmaster Award, and the Wilbur Smith Adventure Writing Prize for 2020. It's proper grown-up adventure story telling and promises great things from the pen of this new author. There is scope for a sequel here that I would love to read, so I really look forward to seeing what Jake Avila has up his sleeve next!

I think all my life I’ve been fascinated by the sea and all the secrets that are hidden in the depth of the ocean… also the beautiful creatures and dangerous perils that you’ll never expect. That’s what attracted me of this story, a non-stop thriller about the sea and the humanity’s greed.
Our main character, Rob Nash, is hunted by the events from a year ago, losing her wife and their unborn child… now he is only part of who he was, with no energy or happiness. He takes the dubious job to dive in a Papua cave to make his friend ‘Uncle’ Frank Douglas happy. The mission will not be as they expect and they will be risking their lives since the first moment, the people that contracted them have a very dangerous mission in their minds… who will win?
This is an action packed story, full of adrenaline and dangerous situations, it will not be difficult to fell transported to the story and almost see the bullets around you!
Since the first page you can feel that the story will be dangerous and that not all the characters will survive, but that’s what happens when you mix with dangerous people, because Suna, the evilness of this story is quite dangerous and with only one thing in her mind; win against her father.
I would have loved to know a little bit more of Suna and her past, we only know her need for money and to escape from her father, but we don’t really know how dangerous is him… Maybe in another adventure we’ll see more? Fingers crossed! If you are looking for an exciting adventure that will be impossible to put down, this is your read, believe me! 😉
Are you ready for the “Cave Diver”?

I love books that take you on a journey and this book did exactly that.

It's a sad read which sees Rob blame himself for the loss of his wife but then he is offered an adventure. Its fast paced and jam packed full of action.
Its wonderfully descriptive and you really feel like you are underwater with him and are a part of the story.
⭐⭐⭐⭐