Titanic's Last Secrets

The Further Adventures of Shadow Divers John Chatterton and Richie Kohler

By: Brad Matsen

Narrated by: Henry Leyva

After rewriting history with their discovery of a Nazi U-boat off the coast of New Jersey, legendary divers John Chatterton and Richie Kohler decided to investigate the great enduring mystery of history's most notorious shipwreck: Why did Titanic sink as quickly as it did?

To answer the question, Chatterton and Kohler assemble a team of experts to explore Titanic, study its engineering, and dive to the wreck of its sister ship, Brittanic, where Titanic's last secrets may be revealed.

Titanic's Last Secrets is a rollercoaster ride through the shipbuilding history, the transatlantic luxury liner business, and shipwreck forensics. Chatterton and Kohler weave their way through a labyrinth of clues to discover that Titanic was not the strong, heroic ship the world thought she was and that the men who built her covered up her flaws when disaster struck. If Titanic had remained afloat for just two hours longer than she did, more than two thousand people would have lived instead of died, and the myth of the great ship would be one of rescue instead of tragedy.

Titanic's Last Secrets is the never-before-told story of the Ship of Dreams, a contemporary adventure that solves a historical mystery.©2008 Hachette Audio; (P)2008 Brad Matsen

Only one secret that I could find

I think the audiobook was good, and the reader did a great job, but I was let down by the actual book content. Forget secrets, I only heard one secret (though it may be worth it to you to find out what it is) and the rest of the book seemed to be a speculative and imagined journey (though based on some interesting hard facts) through the building, boarding, and sinking of the Titanic and the trials that followed. I guess this just wasn't what I expected. I can find plenty of books that try to paint a picture of the Titanic's last journey. I was hoping to find more substantive information about the discoveries made by the authors. But truth be told they could have written an article about their find and been done with it. They don't have much, so they had to add a lot more fluff so they could sell a book and make up for the costs accrued in their expensive wreck diving.

Interesting

Interesting take on the Titanic disaster. I did enjoy the author’s way of engaging readers

Interesting new information

I loved it, but I’m fascinated by the Titanic story, so I guess I’m a bit biased.

Loved It

I was almost afraid of listening to this book.

I didn't want to be disappointed after listening to "Shadow Divers", which is another Chatterton, Kohler story, which is one of my all time favorite audiobooks.

I was pleasantly surprised. The book intertwines the story of the Titanic from plans to sinking along with the current day story of diving to explore its mysteries.

The reader is the only detraction in this audiobook. He reads it like a "B" Actor in a bad movie (and a poor B-actor at that). This wasn't enough; however, to downgrade the rating.

A definitive recommendation!

Riveting, pun intended.

I found all the mechanical engineering storied fascinating. Kohlers diving stories are always worth the listen.