Denver is Missing

I really enjoyed the story-line of "Denver is Missing". It starts with a deep sea oil rig drilling for oil. The oil bit shatters unexpectedly, halting drilling. Several hours later, bubbles are observed breaking the surface of the water. The scientists on board realize that the bit must have been blown up from hitting a gas pocket. Not knowing what kind of gas (and shocked by the force of it destroying the bit), they draw the ship back. The next morning, what had been just bubbles has now become a visible gasious water spout - shooting upwards into the sky. The sheer pressure of the gas to push through tons of seawater and maintain a solid column means the gas pocket is HUGE. Turns out the gas is inert - but becomes a massive cloud which starts to cirle the earth. Where ever it crosses, oxygen is diluted and all living begin to suffocate. Denver - the mile high city - is the first city where this disaster occurs (but not the last). After weeks of the gas spout activity, the enormous ocean pocket left by the displaced gas collapses - causing multiple Tidal waves which span the globe. This story is told from the viewpoint of a handful of characters who try to escape via an ocean going sailboat. How they manage to survive through these disasters (especially the Tidal waves) is well told. We see how the world changes through their eyes, up to the new world order which is established in the wake of the ongoing menace of the gas cloud. The only drawback to this story is that the characters are dated (1950s), with the unfortunate sterotypical thinking of those times. A little tweaking into a modern screenplay would make this an action movie with great visuals. A delight for the imaginative (and what bookworm isn't?).