White Death

Kurt Austin and his partner, Joe Zavala, of the National Underwater and Marine Agency, receive a frantic call about a crew trapped inside a sunken ship off the Faroe Islands. Using cutting-edge technology, they pull off the rescue with a new submersible, only to find themselves involved with members of an environmental group and, at the same time, up against the mysterious Oceanus Corporation. After several attempts by Austin at industrial espionage to gain information about Oceanus, he and Zavala, other members of NUMA, and select individuals from the environmental group unite in their attempts to prevent the corporation from unleashing hundreds of genetically altered, large white fish into the oceans. Starting with historical background, the authors smoothly move the story into the contemporary plot. The information about genetically altered fish provides enough detail for understanding events without overwhelming readers. Myriad secondary plots supplement the main one, and lots of action keeps the story moving at a swift pace. Cussler and Kemprecos have a gift for fitting history, science, and action into an interesting story, and this book is an example of their best efforts.