Raise the Red Dawn: Raise the Red Dawn

Davis's ( Blind Prophet ) latest effort to cash in on the popularity of military techno-thrillers involves a Soviet submarine that becomes helplessly frozen in an arctic ice cap. Both Soviets and Americans race to recover the sub, which is carrying a revolutionary new superconductor, iriniump. 65 . This novel offers plenty of action, but the writing is unintentionally funny. It's hard to believe that an author could put these words into a character's mouth: ``I used to walk five miles to school in weather like this. . . . Used to say it was colder than a witch's left tit. Damned if I ever knew why the right one was warmer.'' Or this, when a polar bear approaches a female CIA agent on the ice cap: ``With a sinking feeling, Justine realized she was not alone.'' The characters are stereotypes straight from central casting, including the absent-minded professor, the evil Soviet sub commander and the beautiful female spy. Davis even manages to include two lovemaking scenes, which severely strain the credibility of his story. One of these scenes takes place in an empty torpedo tube while the father of the woman guards the couple's privacy. (May)