Deep Storm

A Dark Secret Under the Sea

I adore Lincoln Child novels. They are so satisfying. Deep Storm is no exception. From the first glimpse of the oil rig in the dark Atlantic Ocean to the rapidly unfolding, otherworldly plot, I was hooked.

A mysterious discovery at the bottom of a massive drilling rig causes it to be shut down and turned into a quasi-military research facility.

However, there's more than research going on, much more. I was fascinated by the author's masterful weaving of several plot lines, building the suspense to a fever pitch.

My favorite part of the book is the end, without spoiling anything, the author's resolve all of the storylines. Or do they? You'll have to read it to find out for yourself.

Enjoyable thriller that takes place on an oil rig. I've read the Gideon Crew series, and I've started the Pendergast series, so I was already familiar with Child's work with Preston. I was expecting Logan to make more of an appearance here, so that felt a bit off. Otherwise, there were likeable characters and plenty of action.

It isn't often that scientists are the good guys. Usually they are the bad guys or at least facilitate things going horribly wrong or they are socially inept losers. This time it is the military trying to ruin the planet.... I suppose you can't do away with every cliche.

Lincoln Child of the widely successful Preston and Child writing duo, wrote this stand-alone novel, Deep Storm. Dr Peter Crane is a medical scientist recruited the help discover what is ailing a military and scientific team operating in a top secret deep water facility. The team have discovered something deep in the North Atlantic and are trying to uncover what it is, where it came from, and what scientific marvels it will unveil. If only people would stop going crazy show more and if they had left the saboteur behind.

I'm a huge fan of Lincoln Child and Douglas Preston's work. I've previously read Preston's stand-alone novels Impact and Blasphemy, the latter being one of my 5 star reviews, but until now I hadn't read a stand-alone from Child. Deep Storm is definitely not as strong as either of Preston's stand-alones, nor as good as most of their joint novels I've read. This novel had a lot of elements I liked about it, including the fairly well thought out plot. Normally techno-thrillers get bogged down in details (e.g. Crichton's Timeline) or get the science wrong (e.g. Crichton's State of Fear), but Child managed to balance accuracy with pacing.

The main reason I think this isn't as strong a novel as the others in the Preston and Child oeuvre is that Deep Storm feels like a "by the numbers" thriller. Blasphemy had some interesting things to say about humans and beliefs. The Pendergast novels are underpinned by one of the more interesting central characters in the thriller genre. Which is why this book, whilst entertaining, felt lacking in comparison. This was still a tense, fast paced, engaging read and definitely worth a read for Preston and Child or techno-thriller fans. show less

Unputdownable thriller!

Deep Storm is one of the best thrillers I've ever read. It has flawless pacing, an incredibly interesting story, an excellent sense of place, non-stop action, and just the right amount of character development. It has a tantalizing touch of the paranormal, a mysterious historical event that keeps surprising and unfolding, along with a great setting. The setting of an offshore oil rig and deepsea lab offers an intimacy of place, exotic to the everyday person, that envelops the reader. It should come with a warning that says "Contents Under Pressure" - you feel the deadly pressure of the ocean you are taken deep into, along with ever-mounting action and the relentless unveiling of fascinating mystery after mystery. show more The story stays tight to the protagonist's point of view, so you feel you are walking the halls, seeing and experiencing everything right along with him. There were many times where I felt like I was looking characters in the eye and feeling the mounting tension all around. Action and reactions were always believable. You are never separated from the central action and purpose of the story. I was riveted.

I've read a lot of thrillers and after reading Deep Storm I came to better appreciate the solid pacing that keeps the reader turning pages, balanced with just the right amount of description of environment and action so that you can picture and imagine everything, but not get bogged down in endless showy descriptions that sometimes can seem like author showmanship and slow the story down. This never happens here, though it is superbly researched. Deep Storm is just excellent storytelling, with a perfect blend of action and intrigue. The only thing I could say might have been improved upon was that I wish the explanation at the end could have been developed a little further. There's so much build up to it, it's such a cool concept, that I would have liked to stay with it just a little longer and explore it a bit more. Having said that, it is sufficient and I can understand why it was done the way it was.

I honestly could not put this book down, the story grabs you from page one and never lets go. It's a 5-star read all the way. Every day I looked so forward to diving back into the story and eagerly did so. I think this is the fastest I've read any book. Lincoln Child has the gift for penning thrillers, no doubt. Highly recommended!

~Rai Aren, co-author of Secret of the Sands show less

I always enjoy this author rather he writes alone or with his co-author Douglas Preston. There was a lot of science in the book...however Lincoln Child did an excellent job of explaining it and giving it to us a little at a time. Dr. Crane was our protagonist. I felt rather sorry for him. I think that he found his role in the project confusing at times...and he didn't always have the final say which was strange for a man that was supposed to be in charge of something this big. The story remained exciting until the very end. The reader just has to find out what this project was actually about and it really was more mystery than science fiction. There are numerous things at play in the book producing a steady feeling of suspense and show more paranoia. Anyone that has read the books that Lincoln Child has written with Douglas Preston will like this offering. show less

The first half of the book is essentially an extended introduction. We are fed information in small dribs and drabs, while the tension slowly builds. While somewhat interesting, there is little character development, and the action is interrupted by lengthy sections as dry as a reading Linux technical manual. Also, several times simple questions are answered with "there's no time to explain now" or "you don't have the security clearance" to prolong the mystery, even in cases where such a response makes no sense.

There are also a couple of subplots that further drag things out, and rather than integrate seamlessly into the larger story feel tacked on as an afterthought. The premise is good and the conclusion is chilling, but in between show more the execution is pretty dreadful. The author clearly had a message to deliver, but got so caught up in the technicalities and plot devices that he never really developed it to any meaningful extent. It's clumsy and amateurish, bumbling, boring, and frustrating, because it could have been a great story. show less

Peter Crane is summoned to a remote oil rig in the North Atlantic Ocean. A formal naval doctor, he’s not quite sure what he’s being summoned to. He assumes some workers are suffering from complicated cases of “the bends.” But when he arrives, the oil rig has obviously been converted to a different operation. The onsite scientists and military are tight-lipped but they do hint that the drilling team found an artifact of unimaginable importance. Many of the staff report a maddening variety of symptoms, from malaise to nausea to headaches to complete personality changes. Can Dr. Crane get to the root of the problem?

This book really wasn’t for me for a lot of reasons that might not bother other readers.

The first thing to really show more irritate me was the mansplaining. A female doctor is already onboard. Instead of treating her as a valued colleague who holds important background information, Crane marches in, assumes she doesn’t know anything about rarer diseases, and completely runs over her. Then he wonders why she seems to resent him. It was maddening.

There was also just too much going on. I won’t say more because of spoilers, but the more I think back on this, the more disparate plotlines I identify.

I liked Scott Brick’s voice, but his narration was just too dramatic all the time. It exhausted me. Think something along the lines of Bones from the original Star Trek series in his best “Dammit, Jim, I’m a doctor not an [insert something implausible here]!” voice.

I honestly don’t know why GoodReads lists this as the first in the Jeremy Logan series. Logan does make an appearance but in a very tangential scene that lasted maybe five minutes.

If your priority is thrill and intrigue and you think you can overlook the issues that bothered me, you’ll probably enjoy this. If your tastes tend to align with mine, give it a pass. show less