cover image Dragon Sea: A True Tale of Treasure, Archeology, and Greed Off the Coast of Vietnam

Dragon Sea: A True Tale of Treasure, Archeology, and Greed Off the Coast of Vietnam

Frank Pope. Tantor Media, $34.99 (0pp) ISBN 978-1-4001-0356-0

The wreck of the Hoi An lay on the bottom of the Dragon Sea off the coast of present-day Vietnam for centuries, containing within it a hoard of 15th-century porcelain. In the late '90s, Pope managed a salvage mission, led by Oxford archeologist Mensun Bound, which would result in the rescue of a fortune in ancient Vietnamese ceramics. Bound's moniker, ""Indiana Jones of the Deep,"" sums up this audiobook's appeal pretty well. This is a can't miss for fans of that intrepid archeologist and/or aquatic exploration. Audie Award-winner Heller's pleasant alto voice is engaging throughout, and he does a fine job dramatizing scenes and adding accents to dialogue. The book's structure, however, is not particularly well-suited to the audio format. The narrative's chronology jumps around as Pope introduces the listener to the major players in the project with a lot of background information, making it a bit hard to follow at times. Heller is in top form with this performance, and first-time author Pope will leave readers looking forward to accounts of new adventures. Simultaneous release with the Harcourt hardcover (Reviews, Oct. 23).