Deep Storm: A Surprisingly Great Thriller About Trouble Under the Sea

Yes. Its another book review. This one is another freebie from a book give away. I knew next to nothing about the title when I got it. I just knew it was called Deep Storm and it was about a doctor looking for a contagion on a oil rig. And I was looking for something new. So I gave it a try. So here’s my review on Deep Storm by Lincoln Child.

So what is it about? To be honest, the write up on the book which was pretty similar to what I stated already, and only scratches the surface because the book is about so much more than that. It focuses on a ex military doctor Peter Crane who is hired to find a contagion on Storm King, an oil rig. As soon as he signs the contract, he finds the medical problems are not on the Storm King but two miles below in a underwater government facility Deep Storm. There is a secret operation that only the bottom floors knows about and Crane has no access to. So much like many of the other workers on the upper floors, who are forbidden to know what is really happening, they do their jobs and get their pay. The patients are suffering from mental illnesses and as he investigates he digs a little deeper into what the military is drilling for. The cover story that he is given, is that it is discovery of Atlantis, but that is so incredibly far from the truth. I will stop there before I spoil anything. There are many twists and turns in this tale.

So the good? It is a well written page turner. Having never heard of this author before I was surprised as to how engaging it was, and it was one of the best thrillers, I read in a while. The twists and turns were clever and smart making it so unpredictable that you wanted to know what would happen next. It is a science fiction surprisingly enough with an author who actually spent time to explain the science. He didn’t do it a lot or in full, but he put enough there to make it believable and I like that. It might just be me, but if a new invention pops up in a book, I like to know how it works. So yes, it lives up to many of the best thriller books out there echoing that of Micheal Crichton’s Sphere.

The bad? There wasn’t much. There was a scene with an emergency escape pod hatch that lacked detail which I found odd because everything else was done so brilliantly. So I’m quite baffled as to why that turned out that way. Also the characters were somewhat bland. Dr. Bishop was a doctor. Peter Crane was a very straight forward average stand in. Hui Pang was the stereotypical Asian computer expert. They were all so much of a cardboard cut out it was hard to really get into the character, personality wise. They just were very bland.

Overall, the complaints are manor, this is a pretty darn good book. And if you like Crichton’s work or other science fiction close to that, then this is exactly what you’re looking for. And if you’re not one then fans, then read this book anyways. It’s a great thriller with plenty of twists and turns to keep you reading. I recommend this to everyone.

4 smoothies out of four.

Overall Rating: A Surprisingly Great Thriller About Trouble Under the Sea