The inspiration for Into the Darkness Beyond came from a series of cave diving rescues that occurred in the early 2010s. A local diver happened to be available several times when cave divers were in distress inside local underwater caves. He was able to assist those divers out of the caves alive and well. He was also recognized by different organizations for his actions. That’s where the similarities end. The story is fictional. The events only provided the inspiration for it.
When I came up with the idea for this story, I asked myself the question – What if those weren’t real rescues? What if they happened to be occurrences in which the rescuer simply took advantage of a particular situation and exaggerated it to be more than it really was?
That was how the idea for this book was born. I have taken details from a some of the actual rescues that occurred and used them in the book to add a sense of reality to the story. The use of these details in no way is meant to disparage or implicate anyone in any wrongdoing. They are simply a part of the inspiration I had.
I’ve also used several accounts of real occurrences throughout the book. Many cave divers should be familiar with these occurrences. This book was a bit of a stroll through memory lane for me as I was told about these occurrences by cave divers who were around during them. I’ve also witnessed some of these occurrences firsthand.
I hope you enjoy reading this book as much as I enjoyed writing it.