The Blue Deep

Set during the last days of French rule in Vietnam, before the country was divided into northern and southern portions, this military thriller by a former helicopter pilot ( CW2 ) offers skillfully researched material and military minutiae that convey authenticity but that often slow the narrative. A U.S. squad arrives in Hanoi, purportedly sent to aid the French by training helicopter pilots for emergency evacuations. But the detail's honest major, Marsh McCall, has also been ordered to look into any gunrunning or other black-market corruption in the weapons supply chain. As McCall uncovers evidence of massive provisioning of the enemy, his line is suddenly cut. The mounting tension that Heath's use of detail could have provided in a terser context does not develop, however; the covert investigation slows the pace of what is otherwise an account of a suicide mission. Several mysterious subplots inject spurts of energy: they involve a young helicopter pilot, a native-born Eurasian nurse, the madame d'affaires of the Cafe Ho Tay and McCall's shadowed past in Korea. The inevitable bloody ending is the best part of the book; its unflinching honesty is wrenching. Major ad/promo; author tour. (Mar.)