Trapped Under The Sea

Boston used to be known for having one of the dirtiest harbors in America. In the 1990's, work began on a treatment plant that would help clean up the harbor. Poor decisions and disagreements on how to proceed endangered the project. A team of five commercial divers was sent down into the dark, airless, ten mile long tunnel under the sea in an effort to save the project. Not all of them came back alive. Swidey examines how these divers died, and what the decisions were that caused their deaths.

The book begins by introducing the project, and the deaths of some of the divers. It then goes back to explain in more detail who the divers were, how the project came about, and how the divers died. Using interviews from the divers, their family, and people in charge of the project Swidey is able to give first hand accounts about the project and what happened to the divers. He also uses documents to provide details and facts to relate just how dangerous this mission was. I liked how clear the author was about where the sources for the book came from.

Trapped Under The Sea is the chilling account of corporate greed. Corners are cut, and trust is placed with those that will save the company money. Anyone that voices concern over the dangers the workers are in, is silenced. It was surprising to me to learn all the different people that knew how dangerous this project was, yet they still allowed these men to go in the tunnel. This true story is a reminder that worker safety is still a huge issue that needs to be addressed.

While reading, it seemed almost incredible that this was a real story. It tragically is. The writing was easy to understand, and quite gripping. Because of the way the events are introduced, you know how it must end. Yet, I found myself hoping the divers would somehow find a way to survive. I think it only increased the tension of the events having an idea about what was going to happen. I had not heard about this tragedy before, but I was easily able to follow the events in the book.

I read this book as an ebook on my Nook. There were no issues with reading it that way or with the diagrams that were included in the book.

I recommend reading this book.

**I received a free copy of this book from Blogging For Books to review**

*Receiving a free copy of the book does not change my review. It simply provides me with a book earlier than I would have gotten to it or would not have heard about otherwise.