A very enjoyable adventure/mystery read. This is my first time reading this author. The main storyline is interesting. Matthew is a law professor and his best friend and father figure, Archeology Professor Barry Holmes, is found dead in his office. The police say suicide, but for Matt, also a former Air-Force investigator, the scene doesn't seem right and he is determined to find who murdered his friend.
The journey takes us into unexpected places, the clues lead Matthew into the cross hairs of an old voodoo curse, the history of the Ashanti people's struggle against slavery in Jamaica, some of the history of the Aztec people in Mexico and ultimately, back to an answer much closer to Professor Holmes archeology associates than any of the more exotic trails.
All the history was very intriguing, but my favorite part was the side story found in the journal pages Matt reads, of a young Welsh sailor Dylan, who becomes one of the crew for his more famous countryman Captain Henry Morgan. Dylan's first hand account of some of the famous privateer's exploits on the Spanish Main were breath taking.

Thank you to Netgalley and
Oceanview Publishing for the opportunity to enjoy this riveting adventure e-ARC.

Shocked by the news that his beloved professor and mentor has died of a possible suicide, Matthew Shane a law professor at the University sets out to find the truth behind his death. Matthew believes he was murdered. The Professor was a member of a group of archeologist who called themselves, the Monkey's Paw, who were trying to find a fabled treasure. Each member had been give a clue to be opened in order by the five together which would lead them to the treasure.The treasure is linked to a story about the famous pirate Henry Morgan. Matthew is led on a wild journey around the world as he follows the clues to the treasure these men had died for.
The book is a rewarding puzzle thrill ride and I thoroughly enjoyed reading it.

I just could not get interested in this book. I did not like the plot. Characters were fine. I have not read this author before b

The way this book started, I thought it was going to be fairly basic plot-wise, but boy was I wrong. The plot wound it's way beautifully around you, pulling you in under at some points, and releasing you at others. We travel and meet a whole host of interesting characters, which built the plot and atmosphere even more.

Well worth picking up and having a read, it's a thrill ride.

Reminded me of a modern day Indiana Jones. Fast read and enjoyable story. Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book

So after much contemplation I am giving Deadly Depths three stars, but I want to start by saying that overall I enjoyed the story, and Dobbyn is a very skilled writer (though he is overly fond of using "lusty" to describe voices lol). If this were released 100 years ago, Dobbyn and his book would likely be a smash.

At its heart, this is an Indiana Jones adventure story set in present day with a law professor in place of a history professor. However, Matthew Shane is no Indiana Jones. Shane is one of the most pretentious main characters I've ever encountered and it honestly made reading this book difficult. Dobbyn's third person narrative was great, but when it came to dialogue it was all out of a Fitzgerald novel. I never one felt like any of the characters were real, modern people. They all spoke in the same outdated, overly formal way. Then Shane himself is extra posh, throwing money around, eating mostly fine dining, and just overall trying to behave like James Bond. He's just the best and the coolest, and it's all awkward and uncomfortable. If he were a real person at least one of his acquaintances would've have called him out for constantly sounding so pretentious and, at times, unintentionally patronizing.

I actively disliked Dobbyn's protagonist. He even insisted on being called Matthew at one point. I have nothing against going by your full name (I frequently do, though I certainly don't request it), it was just the cherry on the overly formal cake at that point and I'm fairly certain I actually rolled my eyes in real life.

My favorite part was the middle section, when the story suddenly becomes Treasure Island and throws you into the past of a young Welsh pirate who enlists with Captain Morgan in Jamaica and goes raiding Spanish colonies. That part was great! And great fun! Quite tropey, but I like my pirates tropey!

Then, it's like Dobbyn realized he was half-way through his story and the adventure finally kicked up. Lots of puzzles and exploration and unforseen danger. A good time! And then, out of nowhere, Matthew "Bond, James Bond" Shane is suddenly in love?? With a character who was just introduced and had all of like five lines. He spends two weeks with her and her dad and suddenly they're all family. It was so flipping goofy, and this insta-love is something I am not a fan of in ANY book (even a romance!). Dobbyn could have given her at least a couple pages to build both her and her relationship with Shane.

But this leads me into my final, big issue with the book - the women in it are all furniture, essentially. Wives, moms, love interests, and the one magical black woman in charge of all the black people in Jamaica? They almost don't exist. The woman he falls in love with, who he'd basically just met, is at one point threatened with kidnapping, then bombing, and then they fall in love the next week. I fully expected her to be fridged at the end of the novel for the sake of Shane and her dad have more "character growth" but this was luckily avoided. She also, though she helps her father with his business, bemoans the fact she's not the son her dad always wanted and Shane comforts her. She's given no character traits or agency, and then at the end Shane basically shows he's not actually compassionate towards her feelings of inadequacy because he says he will now be the son her dad wanted!! What?!

Sorry for the rant. I am just disappointed that this fun adventure had terrible characters lol I recommend that if Dobbyn wants to write a sequel that he read some modern books, and maybe a few by women and about women as well.

Matthew Shane is the new Indiana Jones. A very enjoyable history lesson brought to the current day, with the retrieval of an ancient Aztec artifact. I would like to see more Matthew Shane adventures. I received an ARC from NetGalley and the opinions expressed are my own.

A blend of NCIS, Indiana Jones, National Treasure, Pirates of the Caribbean and Jaws will keep readers engrossed to the very end. Matthew Shane's mentor and pseudo grandfather at the University is found dead of apparent suicide in his office. Matthew knows better and uses his years as a military investigator to solve who murdered his friend and why. We travel from the bayous of Louisiana to Marsielle to the Caribbean as well as to the bottom of the ocean to piece together six clues that were given years ago to the six members of the Monkey's Paws archaeology group. What treasure do they seek, does it really exist, where is it now and who does it belong to are just some of the questions that will cause members of the group to lose their lives in pursuit of an impossibly valuable artifact. Each member of the group is given a distinct personality and when motives are revealed, readers will understand how the Monkey's Paws got to where they are now -dead or alive. The character of Matthew Shane is well drawn although more of his background could have been included. From a publisher's note at the end of the book, there are apparently other titles which feature Matthew Shane which may fill in the gaps experienced here. A quick read that will keep you turning the pages.

I loved all the adventures and all the action packed Drama that this book had. This book was so good. Days later I'm still thinking about it.
I just reviewed Deadly Depths by John F. Dobbyn. #DeadlyDepths #NetGalley
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secret-society, archaeology, action-adventure, treasure, greed, pirates, murder, slavery, Obeah, relics, Aztec, friends, friendship, historical-places-events, historical-research, history-and-culture, tense, suspense, danger, curse, unputdownable, legend, world-travel*****

The archeologists became treasure hunters. Until they became corpses.
Matthew Shane is a law professor in Salem, Massachusetts, a former USAF investigator, and a former practicing attorney. With the discovery that his friend and mentor has died in a manner set up to look like a suicide, his widow charges Matt to find out more about the secret society that was most probably behind the event. So he does, indeed travel to The Bayou then Canada, and more, always a step behind more murders and the clue of Obeah magic. The plot is tight and the suspense is ongoing to the end. The characters are so believable and the descriptions right on target. It is very obvious that there has been much research into the history of the practice of Obeah and also of the slave trade and pirates. A riveting tale from a dedicated and imaginative storyteller. I loved it!
I requested and received an EARC from Oceanview Publishing via NetGalley. Thank you!

Deadly Depths by John F. Dobbyn
This is a mystery with lost treasure, pirates, murder, sharks, secret societies, Maroons, Corsican thugs, Aztecs, and archeologists. Matt Shane’s pseudo-father is found dead of an apparent suicide. Matt doesn’t accept that his friend would commit suicide, and there the mystery begins.
Matt discovers that Professor Holmes was a member of a secret group on a quest. The quest led the group to Jamaica where death starts tracking the group.
The author’s description of Captain Morgan’s trek across Panama, resonated with me as I’m intimately familiar with the rugged geography and the dangers of that area.
Dobbyn successfully tied a wealth of topics and locations together into an action-laden tale that was a delight to read. I recommend the book.

Deadly Depths has all the ingredients of a great read. It has vivid, well-developed characters, twists and turns you might not see coming and great pacing. It is rooted in a dark history that has lived in the shadows.

The author, John F. Dobbyn has the right credentials and mystery writing experience to expertly ground the story in the time of English and Spanish colonization, pirates, and the devastation of the cultures found here in the Americas. That may be background, but it drives the thriller forward.

As the book opens, law professor Matthew Shane learns his friend, mentor, and surrogate father, Barrington Holmes, is dead. The police rule it a suicide but once the devastated Matthew sees the crime scene, he knows his friend was murdered. He promises Holmes’ wife that he will find who did it.
Thus, the beginning of a mystery that takes the reader on a great ride.

Matthew learns that Holmes was part of a group of five archeologists called Monkey Paws. They were in search of an object of great historical and, of course, financial significance. At a card game, a mysterious character shows up for a hand and gives each archeologist a partial clue to discover where and what the object is. Unexpected events prevent the archeologists from meeting again to put together their clues and begin their quest.

This puzzle takes Matthew to Montreal, New Orleans, Marseilles, and Jamaica to find the artifact. Each location brings its own travails. Most interesting was the history and culture of the Maroons, the native people of Jamaica.

Although a book within a book is not something I usually enjoy, the memoir included within the story of a young Welsh boy, Dylan, is riveting. The boy, rescued by the notorious pirate, Captain Henry Morgan, tells an enthralling story from the pirates’ point of view and its perfect in moving the story forward.

The only minor criticism I have is that it is a bit overwritten. Sometimes less is more. And Matthew, our hero, is a prince of men. He is devoted, smart, experienced in every way that enables him to push through the many obstacles, is immediately trustworthy in a world of lies and double meanings. His integrity unassailable. A couple of missteps might or misjudgments might have been interesting!

Overall, it was a terrific read. An action packed adventure with a fascinating peek into a history we might not have known about. I highly recommend.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Oceanview Publishing for providing me with this pre-publication copy.

There is nothing that makes sense in this novel. The characters are not believable, the circumstances of death - for those who die - even less so. The relationships between them are built on thin ice and the events only make sense in the world of action movies, the ones where everyone knows that whatever they see has the sole purpose of demonstrating the prowess of the special effects people.
It is a pity that this is a book and that suspension of disbelief in a reader is much more difficult to achieve than dealing with a passive viewer of images. And it is also a pity because the author can write, he could use this talent for something better.

What's not to like in this story: good adventure story; intrigue; good plot development; great characters? This novel seems to have it all. The story is pretty simple; a law professor Matthew Shane, is good friends with a former professor, Barrington Holmes, who has become like a surrogate father. Holmes is a renowned archeologist.

Holmes turns up dead from an apparent suicide and thus the story begins. Matt is not sure his friend and mentor was suicidal. In trying to uncover the truth, there is high and wide-ranging adventures taking the former military investigator now lawyer across the globe.

In his quest, Matt discovers a group of fellow archeologists called the "Monkey's Paw." These men, Matt believes can help; when they also start turning up dead there is something larger going on. The story ranges from voodoo activities in Louisiana to the Caribbean islands where former captives escaped and on to Marseilles and Montreal.

There is some connection with the former pirate Henry Morgan, a Welsh privateer with marque from the King of England to harass the Spanish ships coming from Central and South America and plunder their stolen gold and silver. There is a riddle to be solved involving Morgan and this riddle leads Shane on a wild chase across the globe.

A really good story that is so much fun to read and try to solve the riddle/enigma before Matt Shane can do so. Along the way Shane finds what may be love -- but this side story is also potentially devastating. To find out how this turns out, I definitely recommend it to the reader.

Deadly Depths is a fast paced novel that will keep the reader engaged until the end. A group of people each hold a vital clue to finding a fabled golden statue. It'book.s an entertaining

A fast paced novel! A secret society of archaeologists, each with a clue, all jn search of an Aztec treasure. Great storyline
I definitely recommend this one!

A secret society of five archaeologists on a quest to find an Aztec relic. Each of the five is given an obscure clue that must be combined with the others in a set order to reach the location of the treasure. Each member brings not only their clue but a special skill to the game. This treasure hunt is more than an intellectual evaluation of clues, it is an arduous effort of physical challenges and journeys around the globe, Matthew Shane is pulled into this society when his friend is killed, the murder disguised as a suicide, and the clues lead to this society. Shane knows nothing and no one, and the more he learns, the less he can trust those around him. This is a fast-paced adventure with danger, discovery and real history - I highly recommend this book!

320 pages

5 stars

Brilliant!

This book was a joy to read. It has a low grade tension, spiked with action and drama here and there. A law professor who was very close to an aging archeology professor named Barrington Holmes learns of his sudden death. He is very quick to learn that it was murder. He is also good friends with the investigating police detective and so he advances the search for the murder suspect.

This begins Professor Matthew Shane’s search for the killer. He has promised the law professor’s wife Mary that he will find the killer. Matthew’s search begins in New Orleans. It seems the professor was involved with a group of like minded archeologists who were searching for a treasure.

From New Orleans, Matthew hops the globe investigating and meeting some really interesting people. And getting in some very tight spots.

I especially liked the part of the story about Captain Henry Morgan and his two Welsh subordinates. I guess I have a thing for “pirates.” (Even though Captain Morgan had letters of marque from the British government to capture and search Spanish ships, he was still considered a pirate.)

I truly enjoyed this novel. I kept reading long past the time when I should have been in bed. I learned a great deal. I like my novels to teach me something. The writing was excellent. The level of tension was well crafted and the increase in pressure came at the right times. The dialogue was good; no wasted words.

I want to thank NetGalley and Oceanview Publishing for forwarding to me a copy of this most excellent book for me to read, enjoy and review. The opinions expressed in this review are solely my own.