“This thrilling true-life adventure involves two men, two caves, and enough terrifying hazards to capture any reader! Tabor takes that old adage that what goes up must come down and turns it over -- what goes down does not necessarily always come back up. A mesmerizing and compelling read that is best taken on only in well lit and airy surroundings.”

INDIEBOUND.ORG

AMAZON Best Book of the Month June 2010

BOSTON PHOENIX: "Full of creep-out goodies about “places that would quickly drive most people slobbering, bug-eyed crazy."

BOING BOING

FAILUREMAG.COM: "To the Supercave"

NPR's "ALL THINGS CONSIDERED"

SAN FRANCISCO CHRONICLE: "Thrilling summer read."

WASHINGTON POST: "...like Perfect Storm or Shadow Divers."

DALLAS MORNING NEWS: "Perfect adventure read for armchair or beach."

NEW! AUDIOBOOK PREVIEW

In 2004, two great scientist-explorers are locked in a heated race to make the last great terrestrial discovery: the Mt. Everest of caves...

The world has seen nothing like it since Scott and Amundsen's epochal race to the South Pole in 1911-12. The victor of the great cave race will take his place in the explorer's pantheon alongside the likes of Cook, Peary, Amundsen, and Hillary. With unprecedented access to logs, journals, photos, and video footage, award-winning author James M. Tabor shares the thrilling stories of these two men whose pursuit of the ultimate discovery brings triumphs--and tragedies--beyond anything either could have imagined.

(For tour events and media inquiries, please contact Karen Fink at the Random House Publishing Group: kfink@randomhouse.com)

SCROLL DOWN THIS PAGE FOR IMAGES FROM BOTH EXPEDITIONS
For still more remarkable images, click on the book cover to visit Random House's Flickr page.

Alexander Klimchouk, Ph.D., Krubera Exploration Leader (Krubera images courtesy Alexander Klimchouk and Call of the Abyss Project)

Ekaterina Medvedeva about to drop the 500-ft. Grand Cascade in Krubera

Ferrying supplies halfway down the 500-ft. Grand Cascade

Abandon all hope... another Krubera siphon

Ukrainian superdiver Gennadiy Samokhin a mile deep in Krubera

BLIND DESCENT

"A big, thumping, man-book like "The Perfect Storm" or "Shadow Divers."--WASHINGTON POST "Tabor's writing is electric and terrifying."--CNBC

FOR SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS, CONTACT MS. CAROL SCHNEIDER, Agent Director, Random House Speakers Bureau cschneider@​randomhouse.com 212/​572-2245

"The book has only been in stores for two weeks and is already being compared to classics like Jon Krakauer's "Into Thin Air" and Robert Kurson's "Shadow Divers." Jeff Baker, The Oregonian, June 26

QUICK LINKS

JON STEWART, The Daily Show: "Phenomenal story of exploration and science. Stunningly fascinating."

In 2004, two great scientist-explorers are locked in a heated race to make the last great terrestrial discovery: the Mt. Everest of caves...

FOR SPEAKING ENGAGEMENTS, CONTACT MS. CAROL SCHNEIDER, Agent Director, Random House Speakers Bureau cschneider@randomhouse.com 212/572-2245

"The book has only been in stores for two weeks and is already being compared to classics like Jon Krakauer's "Into Thin Air" and Robert Kurson's "Shadow Divers."
Jeff Baker, The Oregonian, June 26