THE ARMCHAIR REVIEWER
Allen J. Hubin


DOUG HORNIG – Deep Dive. Mysterious Press, hardcover, 1988. Popular Library, paperback, March 1989.

   Doug Hornig brings back Charlottesville private eye Loren Swift for a fourth time in Deep Dive. Loren and his occasional bedmate Patricia Ryan have taken up scuba diving, and while practicing in a flooded quarry they happen upon a deceased diver.

   Accidental drowning is the verdict. In due course, the dead man’s sister, having other ideas, asks Loren to investigate. Her brother, it develops, was wealthy, an experienced diver, not a particularly nice person. The quarry is on the grounds of the Jordan Institute, which does psychic research, and soon Loren is having the oddest of experiences…

   Pleasant enough, though the plot takes an extra bit of believing and the ultimate solution comes out of left field.

— Reprinted from The MYSTERY FANcier,
       Vol. 11, No. 1, Winter 1989.


Bibliographic Notes:

       The Loren Swift series —

1. Foul Shot (1984)    [Nominated for an Edgar.]
2. Hardball (1985)    [Nominated for a Shamus award.]
3. The Dark Side (1986)

DOUG HORNIG

4. Deep Dive (1988)

   Deep Dive was the final appearance of PI Loren Swift. Hornig also wrote two thriller novels with Steve Kirk as the leading character, but about him I know nothing more.