Something's Alive on the Titanic by Robert Serling

Well that was certainly better than I thought it might be.  I wasn’t sure what to expect with such a title but right from the beginning I was pleasantly surprised.  This novel is broken into two parts, the first taking place in 1975 when a somewhat amateurish crew discovers the wreck of the Titanic (the actual discovery took place in 1985) based on some decrypted evidence of gold bullion on board.  The second half of the novel takes place in 1995 where an almost entirely different set of characters takes advantage of new technology and techniques to once again go after the rumored crates full of gold bullion on board the wreckage.

The title certainly suggests this to be a horror novel but most of the book is better classified as scientific adventure.  I found the science of deep-sea diving and salvage operations in both eras to be quite interesting, and the build-up of suspense on what the characters might find within the hull of the doomed ocean liner was well done.  Lots of historical tidbits were included as well. Once the wreckage was reached, there were horror elements introduced which began to drive the plot but even these supernatural reveals were also discussed among the two separate crews in a rather scientific manner…and quite plausibly.  The horror, for the most part, was fairly subtle but had huge impacts on the plot.  It struck a nice balance that included some moral lessons about greed and guilt.

Interestingly, this novel was written and published only a couple of years before James Cameron’s “Titanic” burst on the movie scene, so at the time of publication I think a reader might have been a bit more intrigued by the wonder and mystery that surrounded the Titanic’s sinking.  Today it is hard not to picture scenes from the movie when reading this novel.  Nevertheless, I was happy to take a chance on this one and I enjoyed it quite a bit.  This author intrigues me so I may just have to seek out more of his work.