Typhoon

This richly satisfying techno-thriller couldn't be more timely, with its premise of an attempt by disgruntled members of the Soviet military--the Navy, in this case--to ``save'' the U.S.S.R. from reform. Vice-Admiral Stefan Zenko, designer of an Arctic-based flotilla of giant submarines with worldwide nuclear capabilities, is ordered by his superiors to participate in Operation White Star, a naval contingency plan they are using as a pretext to foment civil war. Instead, Zenko slips off course in Taifun (the original giant sub) and enters the White Sea in search of a Typhoon-class submarine dispatched by the naval plotters to level the city of Tbilisi. When the U.S. Navy gets wind of unusual activity in the White Sea, the U.S.S. Reno , an American nuclear sub on routine patrol, is dispatched to investigate, and skipper Jack Gunner finds himself and his crew caught in a lethal battle of wits. Joseph ( To Kill the Potemkin ) knows his stuff: technology, seamanship, characterizations and descriptions of nature--ice and sea are major presences--all ring superbly true in this crackerjack yarn. BOMC featured alternate. ( Nov. )