Sinkhole

by Deborah Jackson

Can the Lords of Death be fooled? "Zotz was a bat, but not just any bat," said Megan. "He was a vampire bat like those we saw in the cave above. In Mayan legend, he played a part in the story of two brothers who upset the Lords of Death and were forced to travel to the Underworld-called Xibalba. There they had to pass several death-defying tests. They hid in the house of Zotz, but when one of them peered out, Zotz swooped down and tore off his head." "Lovely," said Kat. "Most of the Mayan legends are similarly gruesome. But in the story, the other brother managed to reattach the head. In the end, they fooled the Lords of Death . . ." Kat Delaney is a world class caver and microbiologist. While investigating one of the deepest caves on Earth, she becomes trapped, along with her team of fellow cavers and scientists. Far below the ruins of a Mayan city, they struggle to escape this mysterious cave, reportedly cursed and haunted by the Lords of Death. Kat's husband, Mark, a doctor and pioneer of nanotechnology with a deep-rooted fear of caves, must try to rescue her. He enlists the help of a Mayan guide, who turns out to have revolutionary ambitions. Kat must keep her unravelling team together when they discover that something as threatening as the Lords of Death lurks within the cave. Mark must choose between trusting a guide who is patently untrustworthy, or leaving Kat to die. Will they escape? Will science be the solution? Or will it simply affirm their sentence as the Lords of Death win once again?

364 pages, Paperback

First published November 29, 2012

About the author

Deborah Jackson grew up in the Toronto region, received her undergraduate degree from the University of Ottawa and worked for many years in the healthcare field before beginning her writing career. She is the author of several science fiction and historical fiction novels. Deborah is a member of the Society of Children's Book Writers and Illustrators and Speculative Fiction Canada. Articles about Deborah and reviews of her books have appeared in the Ottawa Citizen, MORE Magazine, the RT Bookclub Magazine, Canadian Teacher Magazine, SF Site, Neo-opsis Science Fiction Magazine and many more.

Reviews

[Monie · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sinkhole is a book that I can easily see turned into a movie. It has action, suspense, drama and real characters. Each one of the characters in the story had their own reasons for putting themselves in danger by exploring the caves. Their backstories are written with enough detail that you become engaged with them, even the "bad guys", but not so much as to go over-the-top.

The plot is very well done but I do have to say that the reason Mark goes after Kat is just a little to far fetched. That is the only reason why I didn't give the book 5 stars. It seems to me that Mark could have found someone to search for Kat if he would have kept looking but he took it upon himself to search for her even though he is deathly afraid of caves. It just seems to me that with his money and resources it would have been easy to send a search team in.

Overall I enjoyed Sinkhole as much as Ice Tomb and look forward to reading more by Jackson. I recommend this one for anyone who loves suspense thrillers with a sprinkling of sci-fi.

[Tweedledum · Rating 5 out of 5]

I discovered this story thanks to the forum that posts daily kindle freebies. I was attracted to the notion of a caving adventure having had a brother who was pot-holing crazy and my guess is he would have loved this tale involving as it does much diving through sumps and squeezing through narrow fissures.

The story takes the reader deep into the cavers' world and their arcana but it was so much more than a tale of courage and grit underground. Deborah Jackson has the reader on the edge of their seat as the team having become trapped face new and unexpected dangers.

[Connie Renard · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent read!!!

Initially I wasn't sure how I'd like this book but it didn't take long for me to get caught up in it. The suspense and storyline are fantastic. I know for sure that I never want to go caving!

[Mythros · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was an exciting read with dangerous cave diving adventure. It has all the excitement of accidents, each team member depending on each other.
The romance is between a married couple both deeply ingaged in there professorial pursuits which causes lengthy seperations straining their relationship.

[Amanda · Rating 3 out of 5]

Caving scares me, I think it's the combination of enclosed spaces and an over active imagination. Unfortunately this book did not gave the same effect.

I really liked the story, and especially the back stories behind the characters. But I just didn't like or care about what happened to the characters, so I didn't feel fully invested in the story.

Not a bad read, but just didn't light me up!

[Kenny · Rating 5 out of 5]

What a great story teller. I really enjoy this type of book and the author did a great job. Couldn't put it down.