Deep Storm: A Novel (Random House Large Print) [Large Print] [Hardcover]

Lincoln Child (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 30, 2007 | Series: Random House Large Print

Twelve-thousand feet beneath the Atlantic Ocean . . .
scientists are excavating the most extraordinary undersea discovery ever made. But is it the greatest archaeological find in history—or the most terrifying?


Former naval doctor Peter Crane is urgently summoned to a remote oil platform in the North Atlantic to help diagnose a bizarre medical condition spreading through the rig. But when he arrives, Crane learns that the real trouble lies far below—on “Deep Storm,” a stunningly advanced science research facility built two miles beneath the surface on the ocean floor. The topsecret structure has been designed for one purpose: to excavate a recently discovered undersea site that may hold the answers to a mystery steeped in centuries of myth and speculation.

Sworn to secrecy, Dr. Crane descends to Deep Storm. A year earlier, he is told, routine drilling uncovered the remains of mankind’s most sophisticated ancient civilization: the legendary Atlantis. But now that the site is being excavated, a series of disturbing illnesses has begun to affect the operation. Scientists and technicians are experiencing a bizarre array of symptoms—from simple fatigue to violent psychotic episodes. As Crane is indoctrinated into the strange world of Deep Storm and commences his investigation, he begins to suspect that the covert facility conceals something more complicated than a medical mystery.The discovery of Atlantis might, in fact, be a cover for something far more sinister . . . and deadly.

Like Lincoln Child’s spectacular bestsellers coauthored with Douglas Preston (The Book of the Dead, Relic), Deep Storm melds scientific detail and gripping adventure in a superbly imagined, chillingly real journey into unknown territory. Child is a master of suspense, and Deep Storm is his most ambitious novel to date.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Best known as the coauthor (with Douglas Preston) of such bestselling thrillers as Dance of Death, Child delivers a well-crafted and literate science fiction thriller, his third solo effort (after 2004's Death Match). Peter Crane, a former naval doctor, faces the challenge of his career when he investigates a mysterious illness that has broken out on a North Atlantic oil rig. Sworn to secrecy, Crane is transported from the rig to an amazing undersea habitat run by the military that's apparently pursuing evidence that Atlantis exists. Psychotic episodes among the scientific staff as well as the activities of a saboteur that threatens the project's safety keep Crane busy, even as some of the staff members confront him with concerns that exploring the Earth's core could be fatal to all life on earth. Crisp writing energizes a familiar plot, which builds to an unsettling climax with echoes of Child and Preston's The Ice Limit.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

Peter Crane, a naval physician, flies out to an oil rig to investigate what appears to be the first appearance of an incredibly virulent disease. But when he gets there, he discovers that the problem is even worse than he was led to believe. The disease is attacking the residents of a deep-water research facility, not the oil workers, and it could be linked to the facility's excavations of an ancient site that might hold the key to the fate of the lost city of Atlantis. Child, whose stand-alone novels generally are not quite as good as the series novels he cowrites with Douglas Preston, turns the tables here, setting his hook in the first couple of pages and slowly reeling the reader in. The prose may be a tad rough, but the story is imaginative and filled with wonder. Lovers of deep-sea adventure (and in particular fans of the James Cameron movie The Abyss or Michael Crichton's novel Sphere, 1987) will want to plunge into this one. David Pitt
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to an alternate Hardcover edition.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 560 pages
• Publisher: Random House Large Print; Large Print edition (January 30, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0739326392
• ISBN-13: 978-0739326398
• Product Dimensions: 6.6 x 1.3 x 9.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (179 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,432,040 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Lincoln Child is the co-author, with Douglas Preston, of a number of bestselling thrillers including Relic, Riptide and The Ice Limit. Utopia is Lincoln Child's first solo novel: he is currently at work on his second. He lives with his wife and daughter in Morristown, New Jersey.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

65 of 68 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My favorite of the Preston and Child 'solo' books, August 9, 2007

By 

Matthew Schiariti (new jersey) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Deep Storm: A Novel (Hardcover)

I've been a fan of Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child for quite some time now and I've read everything they've ever written. At times I've found their solo efforts to be hit or miss. I didn't care for Utopia, but I thougth Death Match, Tyranosaur Canyon and the Codex were all fine books.

This is my favorite. I don't know if it was the setting or the underlying plot of the whole book, the characters, not knowing who was the good guy or the bad guy or not knowing exactly what was going on till the very end that made this book so good. Perhaps a combination of all those things.

The setting is the bottom of the ocean. Peter Crane is brought into a secret research facility to investigate and find a solution to a series of mysterious illnesses. Once he's down there things get stranger and stranger. The pacing of this book is really excellent, the chapters just fly by, even when there's not any action (which there's plenty of) and as each chapter goes by, Child reveals a little bit more about what's really happening miles beneath the water's surface.

Highly recommended for any Preston and Child fan or people who just love a good, intriguing and smart read!

31 of 33 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars once this story starts going, its a lot of fun, August 5, 2007

By 

clifford "akitonmyers" (Portland, OR, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Deep Storm: A Novel (Hardcover)

I have enjoyed following the books of Child and Preston. From Relic onwards they have skirted the supernatural and sleuth genres with a panache and joy that is very appealing. Together Child and Preston have the ability to create engaging premises for story lines and characters with at least a minimal outline. However, I have noticed while reading the authors solo efforts that neither is as strong alone as they are together. Working in tandem, they have the ability to fill in the short comings of one another.

Deep Storm might be the best of the solo efforts by Child and Preston. I kept thinking of correlations between this story and a couple of 'B' movies... the 'Poseidon Adventure' and 'Abyss'. Once events start to fall into place and this story takes off, Child gives us pretty much a non-stop action adventure.

The major fault of this book in my opinion, is the very under-developed characters. Child barely sketches out protagonists and supporting characters. If you hold up this book in one hand and a story that is character driven like Russo's 'Nobodies Fool', its almost like looking at an empty post modern wasteland when you scour 'Deep Storm'. Not only that, but the story here is very 'science fiction'. As an admirer of the sci-fi genre before it died out a couple of decades ago, its hard to take any premise of this story seriously. Its so simple-minded. Basically all of this is an excuse for Child to write an action thriller. So lastly, and perhaps most akin, if you were to look at one of Ludlum's better efforts like the 'Bourne Conspiracy', a story composed for non-stop action purposes with little character development, its hard to say that Deep Storm comes close to Ludlum's prowess as a writer.

Hey, if you have not read the early Child/Preston books, you are in for a treat. Start with the first books in the series. They are the best. I would skip this one unless you are like myself and have read everything these writers have done and are curious as to what they are currently working on.

24 of 27 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Lincoln Child's best solo novel so far!, February 1, 2007

By 

IncidentalNadine - See all my reviews

This review is from: Deep Storm: A Novel (Hardcover)

This book is highly recommended for thriller fans, and may appeal to sci-fi fans as well. Wildly imaginative, it'll take you by complete surprise more than once - with an ending that hits you and leaves you thinking! The setting lays the foundation for an atmosphere of unease, and it just gets better from there. As usual, Child's engaging prose draws you in immediately, and his expertly-crafted chapters will keep you turning the pages late into the night. If you think you can predict what's going to happen - you'll probably be wrong! Make sure you're well-rested before you start reading - you won't want to put it down once you begin.