The Steel Shark

Joe Tesla, Book 4

By: Rebecca Cantrell

Narrated by: Jeffrey Kafer

His dog. His computer. The tunnels under New York City.

That's all Joe Tesla's agoraphobia has left him with - the inside world, the dark world - and now the black depths of the sea.

In the latest book in this award-winning thriller series, Joe Tesla ventures out into the ocean depths in an underwater scavenger hunt. The competition turns deadly when a mystery sub rams Joe's and leaves him for dead on the ocean floor.

Joe survives and his search for answers leads into a web of international intrigue and enigmatic weapons. When he shares his knowledge with the authorities, they bury his information and threaten to bury him as well. After a drone attack drives him out to sea, he realizes that he alone can discover the truth hidden in a rogue submarine...and save the city he loves from annihilation.

But can a man trapped inside by his own fears ever save the larger world above?

©2017 Rebecca Cantrell (P)2017 Rebecca Cantrell

I LOVE THIS SERIES!!

There’s suspense, a little romance and interesting characters, including the dog! Can’t wait for the next book!!

what a thrilling ride!

I couldn't wait to get to the end, wow! I was also sad to get there as there isn't another Joe Tesla to read, yet.

Outstanding non-stop action adventure!

The Steel Shark is another outstanding non-stop action adventure novel in the Joe Tesla series by Rebecca Cantrell. The series follows MIT graduate and millionaire Joe Tesla who developed agoraphobia soon after developing a surveillance program that tracks cell phones and emails for patterns to prevent terrorism. Joe suffers debilitating panic attacks whenever he goes outside or he is in crowded places. In the prior books in the series we observe the challenges Joe faces as he adapts to his life living in the tunnels under Grand Central Station in New York City with the assistance of his canine companion, Edison, and his part-time investigator/bodyguard, Vivian.

In the Steel Shark, we get to see Joe go outside his comfort zone inside a mini-submarine. The story essentially begins with Joe engaged in a rich-man’s underwater scavenger hunt for charity that soon turns deadly when he is attacked by a much larger submarine and another contestant’s submarine is torpedoed. Unfortunately none of the authorities believe that a ghost submarine attacked either of the subs, and instead they try to blame Joe with the mishap. Facing murder charges, Joe and Vivian attempt to uncover the truth behind the attack and they soon become targets themselves. What I truly appreciated about this story is that there are no easy answers as ethical issues abound while grieving sisters seek justice. Thankfully Joe’s brilliance coupled with Vivian’s savvy determination are a force to be reckoned with.

Jeffrey Kafer narrated this audiobook and he did a fantastic job. He really brought the characters to life giving each one their own distinct voice. His performance emoted the necessary urgency and tension in all the right places. Simply put, I whole-heartedly recommend this book -- and the entire series -- and I can't wait to listen to the next Joe Tesla novel!

Joe Tesla Bk #4

This is the 4th and final book in the series, maybe we will get lucky and there will be a book 5, I truly enjoyed this series. Each book caught my attention from page one until the end. I am hooked. Narrator Jeffrey did a good job. I received this audiobook free from FABC and this is my agreed upon review.

AWESOME! WAITED SO LONG FOR BOOK 4 TO COME OUT AND IT WAS WORTH THE WAIT.

Wonderful. Excellent plot and good performance of Jeffrey Kafer as always. Joe Tesla is a very interesting protagonist and his dog, Edison is clever, beautiful and so loyal. He is always there to guard his master, Joe and I love their interaction with each other. Tesla is a very courageous person and he bravely go forward to discover the truth despite obstacles placed before him. I love this series and I hope Rebecca Cantrell will continue to write more books on Tesla's adventures. Worth the credit and the waiting!

Love heros on the spectrum

Again, very likable characters, great plot, intriguing story, and a crisp plot line. So many times a great story is diminished by an artificially infused complicated plot yielding ambiguity instead of artistry. Not in this case. can't wait for the next book in the series

Please let there be more books to come.

The Steel Shark is another fabulous entry into the fantastic Joe Tesla series, featuring everyone favorite agoraphobic as he once again finds himself in incredible life and death situations. This time around we see Joe branching out a bit, via submarine (apparently despite his agoraphobia the cold darkness of the deep ocean is tolerable). It was great to jump back into the series, I listened to the previous 3 volumes a number of years ago. Joe is still an incredible character (as is his therapy dog Edison). The story was great, plenty of action and plot twists along the way. I really hope Rebecca Cantrell puts out more books in the series. I’d hate for this to be the end as Joe Tesla is one of the most unique characters out there.

The book is narrated by Jeffrey Kafer (who also narrated the previous entries in the series, I love when a series sticks with a single narrator) and as always he does a fantastic job.

Each book gets better and better.............

I keep thinking that Cantrell can't make this series any better, but she proves me wrong with each one. The Steel Shark is the fourth book in this series featuring three of the most amazing characters about whom I have ever had the privilege of reading. Joe Tesla is an intriguing man: he is a mathematical genius whose skills made him a multi-millionaire at a young age, However, on the eve of reaching this status of wealth and power, he suffered a crippling agoraphobia that has kept him under the streets of New York City for over a year. Rather than wallowing in self-pity, Tesla has made a rich and fulfilling life for himself, continued in his quest to help people with his computer skills, and had many a death defying adventure in the subway tunnel system. He is joined on these adventures by the charming, loving and fiercely protective Edison, Tesla's emotional support dog, and his sometimes bodyguard and investigator, Vivian Torres. As with Tesla, Torres is a character of great depth. After a dishonorable discharge from the army for not following what she believed were orders against her moral compass, Vivian works in personal protection, and she is one resourceful, courageous and all around kick-ass heroine.

Now that I have given you the background on these three amazing characters, the story in The Steel Shark takes a slight departure from the previous three books in that Tesla has found a way to expand his narrow existence by buying and piloting a personal-sized submarine. Edison, Tesla and Torres all scuba dive in a contest for charity, but they are almost killed while attempting the first challenge in the contest when they are attacked by another (and much larger) submarine. This begins another exciting adventure for my favorite threesome as they try to prove the existence of the mystery submarine, ferret out it's sinister purpose, and save New York City and possibly the entire world from certain destruction. As always, the team work between Tesla with his brilliance, Edison with his courage and Torres with her determination is truly beautiful to watch. Cantrell kept the action going from the first to the very last page, and I found my heart racing and my ears glued to my iPod through the entire story. I am already anxiously awaiting the next installment in this entertaining series.

Jeffrey Kafer narrates all four books in this series, and he is simply wonderful. I love his narrations, and he is the perfect choice for this exciting series. Although I don't think anything could make these books less enjoyable, Kafer's narration makes them even better. He has a deep, rich voice, his delivery is flawless, and he adds the perfect amount of emotion to every scene. I can't say enough positive about Rebecca Cantrell's writing and Kafer's narration.

I received a copy of this audiobook at my request in exchange for this honest review.

Adventures Under the Sea

Agoraphobic hero Joe Tesla and his psychiatric service dog Edison broaden the scope of their world to include the ocean. In previous books we learned that Joe is unable to go outside and is pretty much confined to the world of Grand Central Station and the tunnels that run under New York City. In The Steel Shark, Joe has discovered that he doesn't panic in the blackness under the sea so he is taking part in an underwater submarine based scavenger hunt. The book starts with he and bodyguard Vivian celebrating their attainment of the first goal, that is, until things go horribly wrong. As they always seem to do when Joe is involved. Of course, Joe has to figure out what's going on and ends up being hunted yet again.

I enjoyed this entry in the Joe Tesla series. As always, Edison stole the show. I'm a sucker for books that feature animals. It was fun to see Joe get out of the tunnels and in such a creative way too. The Lord of the Rings reference was hilarious. I am also a sucker for books that have a nerdy side and touch on fandoms. I am only sad that there aren't any more books in the series (yet?), hopefully Rebecca Cantrell will return to Joe's world someday. I imagine it must be difficult to come up with new situations for him because his medical condition is fairly limiting and if cured Joe just wouldn't be Joe.

I listened to this on Audible and the narrator was great. As always he did a fabulous job, I really like the continuity of the same narrator over all the books. Speaking of continuity, there was some confusion with the names of the companies. Wasn't Pellucid Joe's original company with the facial recognition and Lucid the new one with the brain mapping? The two names get used almost interchangeably and I thought got referenced incorrectly as first and second. Because I listened to the audio, if I'm spelling them wrong it's because I never saw them in print.

I received a free copy of this audiobook for review from the author via Audiobookboom in exchange for an honest review. I requested it because I love the concept and the characters. Sure I've reviewed the other books in the series and received some of them for free but I bought book 2 with my own money because I needed to know more.

The Steel Shark

Not my favorite from the series (I think it’s because I preferred the tunnels rather than the aquatic setting), but still a very interesting story. The change in setting did allow for a much broader range of possibilities for plot development. One addition that I did like was the inclusion of a sympathetic adversary. It adds another layer of complexity to the narrator, which I always enjoy.
I received a free Audible copy of this book and am voluntarily leaving a review.