Mark of the Devil

The discovery of a missing Nazi U-boat off the coast of Florida in 2001 is the catalyst for Kerr's predictable thriller, notable only for his willingness to let harm befall a major character. Soon after Matt Berkeley, of NAARPA (the North American Archeological Research and Preservation Association), stakes a claim to the sub, a cold-blooded assassin begins eliminating anyone who can prove Berkeley's claim. Aided by his private investigator wife, Berkeley begins to probe why the old wreck is of current interest, an inquiry that takes him across the Atlantic. While in Europe, he learns that the submarine was rumored to be transporting an incendiary document whose existence could still have major international ramifications. A gratuitous lesbian sex scene isn't enough to distinguish this from countless other action yarns long on violence and improbable escapes but short on psychological depth. (Feb.)