A BLANKET OF STEEL

In Johnston’s SF novel, one in a series, an aquatic separatist is targeted for revenge.

In the year is 2131, due mostly to environmental factors, much of the human population now lives in colonies on the ocean floor. Truman McClusky is the mayor of one such colony, called Trieste City. He and the leaders of 14 other colonies declare independence from any of the surface countries like the United States or China. This collection of 15 declares itself a nation called Oceania. McClusky and the others know this act will spark conflict, and they have made preparations. A Russian captain named Ivan Arkady Ventinov has it out for McClusky: after the loss of a mighty Russian sub known as the Drakon in an earlier book in this series, Ventinov is hungry for revenge. He hires a mysterious assassin known as the Steel Shiv; no one knows who the Steel Shiv is, though McClusky gets clued in that this “master of disguise” is after him. McClusky and his close associates respond to trouble with action that ranges from close range combat to torpedo-fueled attacks. The result is a thriller that keeps moving from confrontation to confrontation. Technological details, such as an explanation on the importance and history of graphene, emerge from the story to help make this world seem possible. Though such worldbuilding (the book includes occasional schematics of vessels and structures) is welcome, some of the political aspects of the narrative can prove lackluster; McClusky’s independence speech does not make for particularly inspiring oratory with statements like “We have the fastest armed seacars in the oceans.” Still, with constant danger and the vast depths of the ocean as a setting, there is always reason to keep reading.

While the political intrigue is lacking, the narrative propels at an appealing pace.