This sequel to Canadian Watts's well-received debut novel, Starfish
(1999), delivers more of the same exciting hard SF adventure and imaginative plot. A killer tidal wave created by an explosion at an underwater geo-thermal power station has left the West Coast a shambles. No one knows what caused the explosion, not even the survivors, cyborg deep-sea divers Ken Lubin and Lenie Clarke. Lenie returns to land with only one thing on her mind: revenge for all the ills done to her in the past, especially the sexual abuse suffered at the hands of her father. In her misguided ramblings ashore, however, she unwittingly becomes a symbol to the refugees from the quake, a catalyst for protest and change. In the meantime, Achilles Desjardins, an agent of the Complex Systems Instability Response Agency (CSIRA), discovers that an insidious new soil microbe called Behemoth is poised to take over the planet. After tracing its origins to a geothermal generating station nearly 4,000 feet down at Channer Vent—the same station where Lenie worked—Desjardins finds that Lenie's route parallels Behemoth's expansion. And somehow Maelstrom, the multilayered innerspace once called the Net, has a hand in the movements of both. How Lenie and Behemoth are connected, and what each will become, is a long and tangled story full of intrigue, lies and high-tech diversions. Watts has a deft touch with the complex storyline, full of unique characters, both human and non-human, trapped in an all-too-possible future. (Oct. 25)
