Some of the major decision makers on Deep Storm, notably Admiral Spartan and Commander Korolis, appear to be as concerned with being part of a team that will garner kudos and respect from the whole world as producing a major scientific breakthrough..

Crane’s part in this operation is to determine what is causing a wide variety of strange medical conditions among the residents of Deep Storm. From psychological changes to physical illnesses of many different types, there seems to be no commonality among those individuals afflicted. Crane is inhibited in his quest to find the cause of all these bizarre conditions by a plethora of security measures which deny him access to records and areas of the facility. In addition, the medical staff already in place seems to resent his presence in their territory and is providing as little information to him as they can get away with.

As the medical anomalies continue to increase, the researchers and the military heads begin to disagree about Crane’s role in the facility. Most researchers and some military staff finally agree that the medical situation has reached a critical point and in order to deal with the emergency, Crane should be given additional clearance which will tell him the purpose of the mission as well as additional medical history on his patients. Crane learns that artifacts extracted in the drilling process are emitting a strange code that researchers have as yet been unable to break. Perhaps the key to the medical mystery is somehow related to this code, but the most knowledgeable person on code breaking is killed in a totally bizarre accident before he can communicate to others what appears to be an “aha moment.”

Deep Storm is a crossover book in that there are clearly elements of science fiction as well as mystery. The science fiction aspect of the novel requires a healthy dosage of “willing suspension of disbelief” at least from my perspective. The mystery is only thinly veiled, and is revealed very early in the novel. Those characters responsible for following their own agenda rather than that of the mission are fingered by the author long before the reader is likely to wonder about their motives.

There are, however, several aspects of the book which are well done and deserve to be cited. Part of the plot hangs on the retrieval of information from a seemingly compromised computer from which information had been erased. The steps which could be taken to retrieve this lost information were informative and given in simple enough terms that a reader with minimal computer literacy could understand. Another intriguing bit was a discussion of binary codes, their meaning, and why they might be a useful means of communication.

As in many novels marketed as thrillers, Deep Storm is not heavy on character development. Action takes precedence over deep conversations in which individuals characteristics are revealed. The action tends to be dramatic. People lose their lives in explosive and terrifying ways. Although the author does not dwell on descriptive passages of these deaths, people do not die quietly. This story could easily grab a screenwriter’s attention.

Though I have read several books coauthored by Lincoln Child with Douglas Preston, this was the first novel I have read written by Child alone. While Mr. Preston’s contribution strengthens their novels together, those readers who are confirmed thriller readers will probably deem this effort an acceptable one.

--Andy Plonka