Search - Dark Fathom (Beck Easton)

Morrisey's fans will be riveted by this fast-paced Christian thriller, a prequel to his novel Deep Blue. Beck Easton works as a software architect, but also serves undercover with the National Security Agency. When his NSA supervisors ask him to track Ahmed bin Saleen, a young man from Saudi Arabia whom they believe may play a key role in al-Qaeda, Beck traces the suspected terrorist to Germany, where he has been living disguised as an observant Jew. Clues in bin Saleen's recently abandoned apartment there lead Beck to Rochester, N.Y.—where he uncovers the corpse of a man bin Saleen has murdered—and then to Bermuda, where bin Saleen is busy trying to steal an underwater "dirty bomb." Meanwhile, Beck, a confirmed bachelor, finds himself smitten with the lovely Angela, a preacher's daughter from Wheaton, Ill. She's definitely taken with Beck, too, but knows she shouldn't get romantically involved with a non-Christian and is confused by the secrecy and deceit Beck's undercover work requires of him. The book's main flaw is Angela's paper-thin characterization; she is so utterly two-dimensional that it's hard to understand why Beck falls for her. Still, the brisk plot will keep readers engrossed.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY REVIEW

This is the second book I've read featuring Beck Easton (the first was this book's sequel) and it is an improvement in the diving/technical categories. Here, Easton contemplates leaving government service (he's an NSA agent) for good, but is drawn back in when intelligence reports reveal that an al-Qaeda operative is on U.S. soil and possibly planning an attack with a dirty bomb from World War II.

There is a lot of technical diving information as well as WWII history here, and the author clearly has done his research. The only parts of the book that dragged involved the romantic subplot between Easton and Angela Brower, a Christian. Angela attempts to convert Beck but fails.

What bothered me was the romantic subplot. Christians aren't supposed to entertain the idea of dating nonbelievers, and Angela's actions reflect this. Yet, somehow, she dates him and marries him anyway. Come on. If you're going to write an ostensibly Christian novel, at least have the Christians stick to biblical principles and not follow their hormones all the time.

I finished the book in a day. It's not exactly a light read, but it's quite engrossing and its sequel is also very good.