Down

Deep-sea chills abound in this well-built futuristic horror novel from romance and suspense author Blue (Hell’s End), but the romantic plot surprisingly fizzles. In 2137, an undersea mining operation finds an anomalous object that defies attempts at scanning. The discovery launches a multitracked mystery involving an earlier doomed expedition and a newly discovered life-form. Maximo “Mo” Rees, a seasoned veteran of undersea exploration, guides the BathyTech Corporation’s science team, headed by haunted but hunky Armin Savage-Hall, to find and recover the object, which immediately has disturbing effects on the crew. Mo and Armin have their first, off-screen tryst within moments of meeting, effectively hobbling any sexual tension, and their romance is squished into stolen moments between the markedly more galvanizing action and suspense as the crew develop hallucinations, psychosis, and inexplic­able and terrifying physical alterations. Blue’s sure-handed plotting animates the desperate struggle by a large and precisely composed cast to unravel the mystery in a rivetingly evoked deteriorating environment. While romance fans may be let down, and some elements feel derivative of classics like The Abyss and Sphere, undersea-suspense enthusiasts will be well rewarded. (Apr.)