Attack of the Seawolf

In the near future posited by this convincing techno-thriller, China has collapsed into civil war. The U.S. nuclear sub Tampa , sent into the Gulf of Chilhi to collect intelligence, is discovered and captured by the communists. The Navy's newest submarine, the Sea wolf , embarks with a crack SEAL team for a rescue mission captained by Michael Pacino, who lost his last ship in last year's Voyage of the Devilfish . Now Pacino takes the Seawolf on a high-tech cutting-out expedition in the best tradition of 18th-century naval warfare. DiMercurio's characters are generally one-dimensional and his plot development owes a good deal to the presence of bad guys obliging enough to make the right mistakes at the right time. But his account of the Tampa 's recapture by a SEAL boarding party enlivens the novel's middle section, and he offers nail-biting excitement in the climactic scene of the Seawolf , alone, taking on Red China's entire northern fleet. The author knows how to provide the necessary descriptions of modern submarine technology without obstructing his story line. A summer must for techno-thriller fans. ( June )