Beyond the Grate by Rob Neto

In 2010, a diver named Ben McDaniel was seen diving Vortex Spring in Ponce de Leon, Florida. Someone noticed his truck parked one the property, but Ben hadn't been seen in two days. Rob Neto was one of the divers called out to go into the cave at Vortex Spring to look for Ben's body and bring it out to his family. Rob went to the back of the cave where it gets too small for a person to fit. He checked the two small offshoot tunnels. He didn't find the body. Several other divers looked over the next few weeks. Ben's body was never found. More than fourteen years later, we still don't know what happened to Ben McDaniel. In 1991, a metal grate was placed about 300 feet inside the cave after 13 divers had died in there. It was placed there to prevent divers from going into the smaller, deeper part of the cave. After Ben's disappearance, we learned he had been manipulating the grate and going into the cave beyond it. Someone even admitted to knowing Ben was doing this. The owner of the springs was facing charges of aggravated assault for beating an employee with a baseball bat. Later, he died under mysterious circumstances. Did Ben die in that cave in August 2010? Did someone find his body, remove it, and dispose of it to avoid bad publicity? This is where the truth ends, and the story begins. Beyond the Grate is a thriller that explores one possible explanation for the disappearance of Ben McDaniel. Could this story be true? Winner of the 2023 Silver Global Book Award in Thrillers and Suspense! * * * Far inside a dark underwater cave someone placed a grate to keep divers out of the reaches beyond. But the grate doesn’t keep everyone out. Joey Simmons had only recently gotten scuba certified. But he was already doing dives far more advanced than his skill level - cave diving, decompression diving, deep diving in the Gulf of Mexico in the middle of the night. Part of this was out of his own carelessness. Part of it was because he was being manipulated. Read what happens when Joey makes an unexpected discovery and naively tells someone he thinks he can trust, only to find himself in a position where he is forced to lie to his parents, lie to the police, and lie to the woman he has fallen in love with. All while also having to protect her from the same evil man that is controlling Joey. Inspired by true events.

Adult • Mystery, Thriller, and Suspense/Suspense • Mystery, Thriller, and Suspense