Crash Dive

In this maritime thriller, rough-and-ready commercial diver Ben Gannon and his partner, Rolly Savard, are called out to an offshore drilling station in the Gulf of Mexico for what they expect to be a routine repair job. The timing is awful: Ben had just made plans to sail to Mexico with his girlfriend, Sasha, and a tropical storm is due to hit any day. To make matters worse, unknown to Ben, this same drilling station has been targeted by a group of Arab terrorists, approaching by way of a smuggler's chartered boat. Drawing from his own experience as a commercial diver, debut author McKinna is generous with the details of his trade, which, while initially absorbing, sometimes slow the story's momentum. Not until late in the book does the plot finally coalesce. McKinna's story of man vs. sea holds enough surprises to provide entertainment, however. (June)