Pressure Point

First novelist Couch sets this contemporary techno-thriller in Seattle, where Palestinian terrorists hijack a Puget Sound ferry, then use it to capture and tow away a Trident missile submarine from the Navy yard. Their demands are stark: either Israel surrenders the occupied territories, or they will destroy the sub, with Chernobyl-like results for the entire Pacific Northwest. The U.S. sends the cream of its special operations units, Delta Force and the Navy's SEALS, to deal wth the threat, but at the showdown, ferry captain Ross Peck and mate Janey McClure have something to say about the fate of their ship and its passengers. The author, himself a former SEAL, provides a state-of-the-art depiction of modern antiterrorist tactics. He also individualizes the terrorists and gives them believable motives in a swift-moving story whose credible plot development overcomes the shaky premise of extremely lax security at a major nuclear base. Taut writing and crisp dialogue further enhance the appeal of one of the year's better adventure novels. (July)