Some spoilers ahead.

The Zero Meter Diving Team was an interesting read. I had to google some Russian words / phrases I was not familiar with but I always like learning new things. This story is about three brothers caught in the Chernobyl disaster that happened in the 1980’s.

I found myself relating to the narrator who happened to be the eldest brother. His reaction to the disaster and it’s after math is astonishing. A lot of things needed to be said by the brothers that was not said. I believe this was written to explore the relationships of siblings and the Chernobyl disaster was used as a back drop of some sorts.

The story felt genuine and true, as if I was reading a diary into the thoughts of an ordinary man with family problems. The author was able to capture the horrific scene of the Chernobyl disaster and put it into his short story without missing a beat. You would think a disaster of this size required more pages but it did not, Shepard made it work flawlessly. ( )