Vertical Dive

I was actually quite intrigued by this novel. I had never really read anything in the genre with the things in it that everyone else seems to dislike. I normally stay away from the "terrorists steal the ship" dynamic because they seem so implausible. This version however, seemed the only logical way that it could actually happen. I plan to read more by this author.

I've read the rest of his books, and pretty much, if you liked EMERGENCY DEEP, you'll probably like VERTICAL DIVE. If you hated ED, then you probably won't like VD. If you haven't read ED, go back and read that first. That said, I'm a sucker for good sub books, so I liked this book. After buying it, I pretty much finished the book start to finish in one sitting on the same day as getting it. VERTICAL DIVE is a lot darker than Dimercurio's other books. I'm guessing some of the darkness is from the the author's feeling a bit down after his real-life divorce. Even though he claims he's still good friends with his ex-wife, of course, it's still not a great experience. Much of this mood carried over in VERTICAL DIVE. Burke Dillinger and Peter Vornado return from ED, although Vornado is pretty much a non-factor throughout the novel this time. The first part of the book (about 160 pages) is the standard intro training exercise that readers will recognize. After that, the main plot starts with a band of terrorists hijacking a French SSBN. They use extremely gruesome means, so it's definitely not for the squeamish. It kind of reminded me of the old ATTACK OF THE SEAWOLF Chinese scenes, so I really wouldn't recommend the book for younger children. The rest of the novel is standard Dimercurio with good, descriptive submarine scenes. The only odd part that seemed a little out of place was the use of Natalie as a plot device. Not only did it give away the ending a bit too early but also it sort of tells how the next novel is going to be laid out, in terms of Burke Dillinger and Rachael Vornado. These revelations seemed sad, again similar to the author's general mood. I can't really comment more without giving away massive spoilers. I found myself skimming over the technical paragraphs, such as reactor startup, explosions, etc. because I've already read them numerous times from the rest of his books. I understand the need for them because all of the books are supposed to be standalone, but they're a bit repetitive for a long-time reader. I know the review seemed like a lot of griping, but books don't have to be perfect for them to be enjoyable. Bottom line, it was still a good read. Dimercurio is always going to be a niche writer, with a very specific target audience, as opposed to more broad books, such as Harry Potter. Thus, before reading this book, you'll probably already know whether you want to buy it or not based on Dimercurio's previous works. Thanks, Michael. Keep them coming.