Twenty Fathoms Down

Written by L. Ron Hubbard

Narrated by R.F. Daley and Jim Meskimen

Daring and defiant, there's no stopping diver Hawk Ridley as he takes the plunge into an ocean of untold riches and danger. Fighting off ruthless rivals in search of gold is nothing new to Hawk... but fighting off a beautiful woman is a different story. Is she an innocent stowaway or a seductive saboteur? The answer comes Twenty Fathoms Down — as Hawk makes a discovery that will blow you out of the water. Dive deep into the action and intrigue, as the audio version of Twenty Fathoms Down plunges you into an adventure as stirring as the sea itself.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Galaxy Audio
• Release date: Apr 29, 2024
• ISBN: 9781592125395

L. Ron Hubbard

With 19 New York Times bestsellers and more than 350 million copies of his works in circulation, L. Ron Hubbard is among the most acclaimed and widely read authors of our time. As a leading light of American Pulp Fiction through the 1930s and '40s, he is further among the most influential authors of the modern age. Indeed, from Ray Bradbury to Stephen King, there is scarcely a master of imaginative tales who has not paid tribute to L. Ron Hubbard.

Reviews for Twenty Fathoms Down

[tpmcnulty · Rating: 5 out of 5 stars]

Twenty Fathoms Down is another reminder that our vast cultural history should be preserved for future generations. This nifty pulp tale was published in 1934 in Five Novels magazine. In many ways it is typical of the pulp era; a short novelette with a romantic angle and a stalwart hero; but it also features some fine writing by L. Ron Hubbard whose work is receiving positive attention from scholars and pulp fans alike. These reprints of Hubbard’s work by Galaxy Press are themselves collectors items. In the recent batch of releases (The Devil-With Wings, Gunman’s Tally, Red Death Over China) I think this one is my favorite. Deep sea diver Hawk Ridley (I love that masculine, hardboiled name) has discovered a sunken Spanish galleon bearing millions in gold. But just before diving on the wreck Ridley and his crew discover a stowaway is aboard – Vick Stanton, daughter of his rival. Ridley isn’t convinced the girl’s sudden appearance isn’t part of a set-up to foil their plans, and the situation becomes deadly as they lose a crew member under mysterious circumstances. And the discovery of some rare emeralds suddenly turns this adventure into a deadly cat and mouse game with everything at stake. Hubbard’s natural talent as a writer is evident in the prose; and the flourishes he adds are a delight. For example, Both Ridley and Vick enjoy deep sea diving because it opens up another world; a world of mystery and beauty. “It’s the kick you get out of it.” Hawk tells Vick. “You know what I mean. It’s rather grand.” And Vick understands her man perfectly. “I know. It gets you.” She tells him. But the sea is also dangerous, and this is, after all, an adventure story. Peril awaits Hawk Ridley at every turn: “It was a strange world of blackness, where trees waved slowly and gently and unsuspected hillsides rose up and fell away with appalling suddenness.” Twenty Fathoms Down is a fine piece of adventure writing by L. Ron Hubbard. Galaxy Press is at about the halfway mark in this landmark reprint series and Twenty Fathoms Down is all the evidence I need to continue reading.

[punchout_1 · Rating: 2 out of 5 stars]

I received this book in audio format on two cd's from the publisher to provide them with a review. I want to start by pointing out the wonderful way this audio book is packaged, brilliant artwork on the cover, and nice author background info was also included, very very nice.As far as the story goes, well, to put it as nice as I can, I didn't like it. This audio book is only two hours long, so I actually listened to it twice. The first time I thought it was horrid and barely was able to make it to the end. The story is so very old school and I believe I wasnt ready for that. So the second time I listened to it I approached it as such, a short story written in 1934. This approach did improve the experience. The main issue I had with the book was character background, there isn't any. Even if this book is a series and I missed the previous versions, some character background should be provided that would make the story more interesting. Also, I believe in the 1940's this story could have been a nice addition to a magazine or such, but in my opinion it's days have passed it by. Its just hard to listen to a story where the author is writing about a 1940's submarine as a state of the art piece of machine. My suggestion is to turn this into a gradeschool read, young children would enjoy the story if it were made age appropriate.Overall, it should be named "Two Thumbs Down".

[mrsbaty · Rating: 4 out of 5 stars]

I received this from Goodreads giveaways. Thanks to Goodreads and the author for letting me listen to this for free!

This is a very reminiscent of Old Time Radio broadcasts which I happen to love! The story is a interesting but pretty tame. Since this came from the Golden Age of Sci-fi, the blood and gore are almost non-existant which is fine with me.

It's just an interesting story about salvaging treasure from the bottom of the sea done by good voice actors. If you're a fan of the modern sci-fi genre, this will be far too tame for you. If you're a fan of Old Time Radio type sci-fi, this should be right up your alley!