Deep Empire

Once an idyllic chain of inlets running from Key Largo to Key West, the Florida Keys have become an isolated universe of grotesquely mutated wildlife and bizarre submarine malformations. Blind seventy-foot sea snakes lurk among the reefs around underwater volcanoes, while typhoons and pirates turn the crystal waters above into a death zone. But Ryan Cawdor and his band of warrior-survivalists find a slice of heaven in this ocean hell at a marine research center created to further the amazing promise of the dolphins. Here, a brilliant scientist offers the perfect vacation of sun, fishing and fun. Until Ryan discovers this post-holocaust aquatic paradise is a hoax—and gentle dolphins are being mutated into killers. Welcome to the Deathlands, and the future nobody planned for.