T.R. Cotwell’s An Ocean Life is an exciting and action-packed deep-sea adventure set against the backdrop of the Pacific Ocean. A well-crafted multifaceted tale, it intertwines science fiction, a transformative journey, and the drama of a family’s courage and resilience. Mark Forster is an engineer and cofounder of a startup company with his friend Ben. The company designs submersible probes. Mark takes a long-awaited and well-deserved vacation in Hawaii with his wife Cecilia, and their daughters Sarah, 13, and Amelia, 12. Mark is passionate about deep-sea diving. One morning, he goes deep-sea diving with a guide and other divers off the shores of Lanai. The dive suddenly turns terrifying when a great white shark attacks Mark. He blacks out and, when he regains consciousness, he finds himself inexplicably adrift in the Pacific Ocean, at a considerable distance from the Hawaiian Islands. He realizes he is on his own, and is likely presumed to be dead. He longs desperately to be with his family again and is determined to find his way home eastwards across the vast Pacific to California.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading T.R. Cotwell’s riveting and immersive An Ocean Life for its remarkable character Mark Forster, and its unforgettable multifaceted storyline of an extraordinary journey across the Pacific. I liked Mark’s character development. He reaches deep within himself and comes to terms with a perilous journey, fraught with uncertainty, facing unpredictable challenges of the marine environment so different from his life on land. The story gained great depth through specific settings and challenges at sea, how Mark uses his knowledge of the sea, Pacific marine life, and the ocean currents, using the sun by day and the stars by night to navigate and keep himself oriented on a west-to-east journey. Mark’s courage, inner resourcefulness, and determination to live sprang vividly to life through the well-thought-out details of Mark's near-death experiences. Mark’s inner journey, emotions, and love for his family were expressed very well through memories of his family and his life on land. I was profoundly moved by the family dynamics that emerged, particularly that of Mark’s wife Cecilia as she dealt with grief and loss, not really knowing Mark’s fate. The twists and turns continued to the end, and I was moved by the poignancy of the ending. Finally, I loved the descriptions of the enormous variety of marine life, the sea storms, coral reefs, and seamounts. Some of the most captivating parts were when I was caught up in the surreal and dream-like world of the deep sea. An Ocean Life is a terrific story, a suspenseful tale of human resilience and hope.

An Ocean Life is a thrilling sci-fi adventure drama by T.R. Cotwell. For the past five years, Mark Foster has worked hard to secure funding for his latest startup alongside his partner, Ben. But now that the company is finally ready to launch, he wants a break with his family. Mark takes his family to Maui for a long-due vacation. But when he is attacked by an apex predator during a sea diving operation, he inexplicably wakes up to find himself inhabiting the body of a great white shark in the ocean. Left with no other option, Mark slowly learns to hunt and survive as a shark, eventually embarking on a treacherous journey to the West Coast. Soon, he realizes that he must somehow make contact with humans to get himself out of his predicament.

Part survival drama, part sci-fi mystery, An Ocean Life takes the reader on an adventurous ride unlike any other. T.R. Cotwell masterfully captures the beauty, wonder, and scale of the Pacific with vivid descriptions of the ocean and everything it entails. Cotwell's narrative is absorbing, drawing you in with a fascinating mystery and keeping you glued to the pages with a character-driven drama that is delicious to consume. Most of the book has Mark as the only character chewing up the scenery. He is a likable protagonist that readers can sympathize with. I liked how he evolved as a person throughout his time in the ocean and thoroughly enjoyed his unique kinship with Marci. I heartily recommend this book to readers of survival dramas and sci-fi mysteries.