Trapped Under the Sea

One Engineering Marvel, Five Men, and a Disaster Ten Miles Into the Darkness

By: Neil Swidey

Narrated by: David H. Lawrence XVII

The harrowing story of five men who were sent into a dark, airless, miles-long tunnel, hundreds of feet below the ocean, to do a nearly impossible job—with deadly results

A quarter-century ago, Boston had the dirtiest harbor in America. The city had been dumping sewage into it for generations, coating the seafloor with a layer of “black mayonnaise.” Fisheries collapsed, wildlife fled, and locals referred to floating tampon applicators as “beach whistles.”

In the 1990s, work began on a state-of-the-art treatment plant and a 10-mile-long tunnel—its endpoint stretching farther from civilization than the earth’s deepest ocean trench—to carry waste out of the harbor. With this impressive feat of engineering, Boston was poised to show the country how to rebound from environmental ruin. But when bad decisions and clashing corporations endangered the project, a team of commercial divers was sent on a perilous mission to rescue the stymied cleanup effort. Five divers went in; not all of them came out alive.

Drawing on hundreds of interviews and thousands of documents collected over five years of reporting, award-winning writer Neil Swidey takes us deep into the lives of the divers, engineers, politicians, lawyers, and investigators involved in the tragedy and its aftermath, creating a taut, action-packed narrative. The climax comes just after the hard-partying DJ Gillis and his friend Billy Juse trade assignments as they head into the tunnel, sentencing one of them to death.

An intimate portrait of the wreckage left in the wake of lives lost, the book—which Dennis Lehane calls "extraordinary" and compares with The Perfect Storm—is also a morality tale. What is the true cost of these large-scale construction projects, as designers and builders, emboldened by new technology and pressured to address a growing population’s rapacious needs, push the limits of the possible? This is a story about human risk—how it is calculated, discounted, and transferred—and the institutional failures that can lead to catastrophe.

Suspenseful yet humane, Trapped Under the Sea reminds us that behind every bridge, tower, and tunnel—behind the infrastructure that makes modern life possible—lies unsung bravery and extraordinary sacrifice.

Rivitting 16 hours flew by

I am a history fan. This was well researched and written. I am local to the story but lived away while this occurred. Very interesting. The end really pulls at the heartstrings.

Phenomenal story

This book was recommended to me by a friend and fellow SCUBA diver. His description was "unable to put it down" I tend to agree with his assessment. As a former law enforcement officer, it pains me to see blatant carelessness and gross negligence go unanswered. This book does a fantastic job of outlining the events and adding the "personal view" of the players involved. Great read!!!

An Engineer's Prospective

I am a professional Civil Engineer for over 40 years. I had not been aware of the Deer Island incident described in this book. I found the detailed narrative about the characters and the agencies involved fascinating if not truly sad.

Wow! This is unbelievably good audiobook.

I have a long list of finished books that I haven't reviewed. Despite the this backup, I had to stop everything to write about this book.

This true story is compelling beyond anything Ive read recently. Maybe it isn't the best book ever written, but it is one of the most addictive and fascinating true stories. It will stick with me for a long time to come. Well written and VERY WELL READ!! I didn't know what to expect when I got this, but the intensity of story and of the delivery by the narrator had me hooked withing the first few minutes. I also learned a great deal about commercial deep sea diving. It's unbelievable what these guys do!
The story is intense, tragic, but hopeful in the end.
I highly recommend this to anyone who likes climbing or other survival/expedition type books. I recommend it to anyone really.

There are a few silly metaphors that made me cringe a few times, so I can't say this author is going to win any great literary awards. But he has a fine style of writing that kept me on the edge of my seat and wanting to know more. It was very well written for the action, suspense and intensity. I didn't want it to end!!

Also for this particular story, there is no one better fit as narrator. I'm wasn't familiar with David Lawrence. But he gave an excellent performance!! I'll keep my eye out for both author and narrator in the future!

Fascinating Story-Compelling Characters

Enjoyed the many facets of this story. Like watching a train about to crash with the aftermath of how it could happen and the suffering of all parties.