Product Description

Twelve-thousand feet beneath the Atlantic Ocean . . .
scientists are excavating the most extraordinary undersea discovery ever made. But is it the greatest archaeological find in history—or the most terrifying?

Former naval doctor Peter Crane is urgently summoned to a remote oil platform in the North Atlantic to help diagnose a bizarre medical condition spreading through the rig. But when he arrives, Crane learns that the real trouble lies far below—on “Deep Storm,” a stunningly advanced science research facility built two miles beneath the surface on the ocean floor. The topsecret structure has been designed for one purpose: to excavate a recently discovered undersea site that may hold the answers to a mystery steeped in centuries of myth and speculation.

Sworn to secrecy, Dr. Crane descends to Deep Storm. A year earlier, he is told, routine drilling uncovered the remains of mankind’s most sophisticated ancient civilization: the legendary Atlantis. But now that the site is being excavated, a series of disturbing illnesses has begun to affect the operation. Scientists and technicians are experiencing a bizarre array of symptoms—from simple fatigue to violent psychotic episodes. As Crane is indoctrinated into the strange world of Deep Storm and commences his investigation, he begins to suspect that the covert facility conceals something more complicated than a medical mystery.The discovery of Atlantis might, in fact, be a cover for something far more sinister . . . and deadly.

Like Lincoln Child’s spectacular bestsellers coauthored with Douglas Preston (The Book of the Dead, Relic), Deep Storm melds scientific detail and gripping adventure in a superbly imagined, chillingly real journey into unknown territory. Child is a master of suspense, and Deep Storm is his most ambitious novel to date.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #200559 in Books
• Published on: 2007-01-30
• Released on: 2007-01-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 384 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Best known as the coauthor (with Douglas Preston) of such bestselling thrillers as Dance of Death, Child delivers a well-crafted and literate science fiction thriller, his third solo effort (after 2004's Death Match). Peter Crane, a former naval doctor, faces the challenge of his career when he investigates a mysterious illness that has broken out on a North Atlantic oil rig. Sworn to secrecy, Crane is transported from the rig to an amazing undersea habitat run by the military that's apparently pursuing evidence that Atlantis exists. Psychotic episodes among the scientific staff as well as the activities of a saboteur that threatens the project's safety keep Crane busy, even as some of the staff members confront him with concerns that exploring the Earth's core could be fatal to all life on earth. Crisp writing energizes a familiar plot, which builds to an unsettling climax with echoes of Child and Preston's The Ice Limit.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From AudioFile
Scott Brick brings this tense mystery to life as scientists in a sea-bottom research facility work to identify the cause of a rash of injuries and diseases that are occurring while they study an archaeological site beneath the earths crust. When Peter Crane, a former naval doctor, is called in to investigate the injuries, he stumbles upon the key to the sites deadly contents. Secrecy is intense, and a rogue military presence at the station also creates an undercurrent of threat. Brick narrates flawlessly, portraying characters who passionately seek the truth or steadfastly discount what they see deep beneath the earth. Danger lurks below, and Crane seems to be the only one heeding the warnings. M.B.K. © AudioFile 2007, Portland, Maine-- Copyright © AudioFile, Portland, Maine

From Booklist
Peter Crane, a naval physician, flies out to an oil rig to investigate what appears to be the first appearance of an incredibly virulent disease. But when he gets there, he discovers that the problem is even worse than he was led to believe. The disease is attacking the residents of a deep-water research facility, not the oil workers, and it could be linked to the facility's excavations of an ancient site that might hold the key to the fate of the lost city of Atlantis. Child, whose stand-alone novels generally are not quite as good as the series novels he cowrites with Douglas Preston, turns the tables here, setting his hook in the first couple of pages and slowly reeling the reader in. The prose may be a tad rough, but the story is imaginative and filled with wonder. Lovers of deep-sea adventure (and in particular fans of the James Cameron movie The Abyss or Michael Crichton's novel Sphere, 1987) will want to plunge into this one. David Pitt
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Customer Reviews

Well-written and engaging...but not enough depth
Dr. Peter Crane has been rushed to a top secret military installation located two miles below the ocean's surface. His job? To determine what is causing the men and women aboard the Deep Storm station to slowly go insane. As he struggles to diagnose the problem (and find a cure), Crane begins to uncover a conspiracy within the station: the research and excavation going on has the potential to change the world...if it doesn't kill everyone aboard Deep Storm first...

"Deep Storm" is an engaging thriller; I was turning pages left and right. Lincoln Child is a fine author (though I still think his best stuff is written with co-writer Douglas Preston--the same can be said of Preston himself, btw), and puts a unique spin on a tired genre; the last hundred pages are an astounding blend of revelations (you won't see it coming, I promise) and suspenseful encounters. However, that doesn't completely save "Deep Storm." It almost feels like a rip-off of Crichton's "Sphere" in spots (though Child is, arguably, a stronger writer/storyteller). And the characters aren't fleshed out enough: it's the good, politically naive scientists battling the evil, all-powerful military officers who, for men of their rank and experience, have surprisingly little common sense. Plus there are several plot holes that just cause you to scratch your head: a character survives both a contained, severe fire AND instant decompression, simply so he can utter a key word right before he finally dies. There is even an important character who completely disappears from the story--and another who is built up as a great mystery, but is never explained.

Such characterization and plot flat-lining is confusing; Child is much better than that. His works with Preston are among the best and smartest contemporary fiction being written; his first solo outing, "Utopia," was almost brilliant. This leaves "Deep Storm" feeling somewhat shallow and disappointing. It's certainly a nice read--suspensful, clever in spots, always engaging--but, unlike Child's other works, it doesn't stay with you afterwards. It's something to read, and then put away. And coming from an author as talented as Lincoln Child, that's a major disappointment.

Classic thriller action ride
Lincoln Child books are always a good escape reading. This one is no different. Suspense, action and a high technology environment. If you enjoyed previous novels like "Utopia", you'll have a great time with this one.

This time action happens in an underwater facility, with a certain "Abyss" touch.

Great summer/weekend read. Not as good as the Pendergast novels he writes together with Douglas Preston, but good anyway.

The Scientific Discovery of all time?

Storm King Drilling Platform - off the coast of Scotland

During a routine cleaning of the pipes leading down to the oil field more than two miles below the storm-driven surface of the North Sea, Storm King's crew encounters a magnetic anomaly of such significance that all drilling stops and a top secret investigation, which includes the creation of a huge underwater city, begins. But all is not well. Workers become ill, no two have the same symptoms, and Doctor Peter Crane, expert in the diagnosis and treatment of pressure-related illness, is summoned to investigate.

After being forced to sign three seperate non-disclosure statements and an official secrets act affidavit, Crane is permitted to descend to the upper levels of the submerged station, where he is told an archaeological dig is taking place that may lead to, "the scientific discovery of all time."

As Crane begins to investigate the mysterious illnesses, he slowly learns he hasn't been told the whole truth. Wading through layers of lies, deceipt, suspicion, and fanaticism, he arrives at a stunning question: Could an alien species have used earth as a dumping ground for toxic waste?

Struggling to uncover the truth, he finds his way down to the actual drilling operation, but will there be time? A ruthless military man will stop at nothing to claim the discovery for America, and a hidden assasin has put in place a plan to destroy the facility and everyone in it.

Deep Storm is as credible as any work that supposes the co-existence of alien beings, and more so than a great many others. Although the characterizations are thin and somewhat typed, and some of the interplay feels contrived, making it hard to identify with the hero, I found the concept fresh and the read enjoyable.

Recommended for those who like extreme adventure.

Art Tirrell is the author of 2007'sThe Secret Ever Keeps
"Simply put, the best underwater scenes I've ever read." Reviewer Meg W.