WINNER, 2018 Clive Cussler “Grandmaster” Adventure Writers Competition
For fans of Clive Cussler and Michael Crichton, a thrilling tale of an underground expedition to the deep . . . and the ultimate struggle for survival.Milo Luttrell never expected to step inside the mouth of an ancient cave in rural Tanzania. After all, he’s a historian–not an archaeologist. Summoned under the guise of a … historian–not an archaeologist. Summoned under the guise of a mysterious life-changing opportunity, Milo suddenly finds himself in the midst of an expedition into the largest underground system in Africa, helmed by a brash billionaire-turned-exploration guru and his elite team of cavers. It’s a once-in-a-lifetime chance to finally solve a century-old disappearance of the famed explorer Lord Riley DeWar, an enigmatic figure who both made–and nearly ruined–Milo’s fledgling career.
Determined to make the most of his second chance, Milo joins the team and begins a harrowing descent into one of Earth’s last secrets: a dangerous, pitch-black realm of twisting passages and ancient fossils nearly two thousand feet underground. But when a storm hits the surface base camp, stranding the cavers and washing away supplies, all communication to the outside world is lost. As the remaining resources dwindle and members of the team begin to exhibit strange and terrifying abilities, Milo must brave the encroaching darkness to unearth the truth behind DeWar’s fascination with the deep–and why he never left.
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Having enjoyed a bit of caving in my high school years, I have always appreciated a good thriller set in an underground environment. The Maw is that and more. Milo is an historian who has all but killed his career by pushing a theory about how explorer Lord Riley DeWar met his end and getting involved in a romantic relationship with one of his students. Now he has a bizarre chance to fix both of these errors by joining a top secret expedition exploring a super cave in Tanzania. The expedition’s billionaire funder has a theory that, contrary to popular belief, DeWar met his end in this cave. More important to Milo, the student he had the relationship, now a well-respect physician, is also going on the expedition.
So Milo, with no experience in caving, joins a trip that is figuratively going to the center of the earth and everything goes wrong right from the beginning. The billionaire has not shared all of his information with his team. Another expedition between DeWar’s and their own has found the cave and tried to seal it with explosives. There is also evidence that native peoples with stone-age level technology have impossibly found their way thousands of feet beneath the earth’s surface millennia before the current expedition. Something unusual exists in this cave and it is changing the explorers in ways that are both exciting and terrifying. Cut off from the surface both by a hemorrhagic disease infecting the camp and a huge storm, the explorers find themselves seeking to understand a mystery that dates back to the beginning of the human species while surviving tremendous challenges thousands of feet below the surface in utter darkness.
This sort of novel usually promises more than it can provide, but not in this case. Zajonc has put together a remarkable mystery that truly does explain why humans are different than all the other species on this planet. And he accomplishes this while conveying the claustrophobic terror of trying to survive without support deep in the bowels of the earth. It’s a truly remarkable accomplishment.
Action read! Good characters
Mediocre
poor plot. not well writen
Good for a lazy relaxing read. Interesting story, but lacking in depth at some points.
Disappointed.
Never knew what was going to happen until the very end.
Well written but a dubious premise. This author is very much in love with the romance of caving. And caving seems to be the goal of the story.
Once I started reading, it was hard to put down. Constant action.
What a thrilling ride this was! To be honest, I was expecting something different (for some reason, I thought it would be some sort of “creature” thriller) but I’m actually glad that the plot evolved in a way that it did; it definitely kept me in suspense all the way through and I couldn’t guess for the life of me what was going to happen next. I love it when novels unravel in this manner, so “The Maw” was just a perfect choice for me.
The setting deserves a special mention as it was definitely meticulously researched and presented in such a vivid way that I could easily picture myself inside the ancient cave, exploring it along with our heroes and getting lost (and discovering the most unimaginable things) along with them as well. The cave fever, the inevitable accidents, the deadly virus and the researches’ obsession to which not just one person succumbed – all this made “The Maw” a truly thrilling ride, of which I couldn’t get enough. If you enjoy well-researched, unique thrillers/suspense, this one is definitely for you. Five stars!
I found the concept of caving very interesting! Wonderful book!
I felt that I was taken on adventure with the characters, although I would never have been as brave as they were. The book was exciting and definitely a page turner. I really enjoyed it
Predictable.
The first 3/4 of the book was gripping and I couldn’t put it down; however the last 1/4 of the book lost me when the philosophy of the beginnings of life over powered the previous storyline. It seemed there were gaps in time when the characters were in one place and quickly at another with no explanation and the ending was less than satisfactory.
Though the author has a penchant for repeating things I found this book to be extremely interesting. Gives an alternate theory of creation that I haven’t heard before.
very good first effort
I enjoyed this book(though it made me claustrophobic!)and found it it to be great adventure with an ending I had resigned myself could never happen!
Much more fun than I excpectef
It was quite original with many twists of story. It evoked wonderment one minute to tragedy the next. I’m still trying to totally understand the ending. It definitely makes you think. I liked it.
Liked it. Ending was a little bit ok f a letdown, but overall very good.