Sea Storm by Andrew Mayne – Review

Published: March 29, 2022

Publisher: Thomas & Mercer

Series: Underwater Investigation Unit #3

Genre: Thriller

Pages: 302 (Kindle)

My Rating: 4 Stars

Synopsis:
An explosive conspiracy sets the ocean roiling for a deep-diving investigator in a riveting thriller by the author of the Amazon Charts bestseller The Girl Beneath the Sea.

A distress call draws rescuers Sloan McPherson and the Underwater Investigation Unit to a cruise ship off the coast of Fort Lauderdale that’s sinking from a mysterious explosion. When it appears to be the work of an ecoterrorist and other ships are threatened, it becomes a race against time. More clues are discovered, and evidence is in danger of being washed away by a coming tropical storm. Sloan grows concerned that key details are being ignored, and a strange lack of urgency by authorities sets off alarms.

As the troubling questions compound, Sloan is determined to chase down every lead she has. Her persistence is getting her closer to the truth: that there’s something far more troubling at play than the official explanation. It’s also putting Sloan on a collision course with an enemy more powerful than she realizes, in a case so complex and deadly it may be impossible to prove. Now cracking the case is a matter of staying one step ahead of someone with every resource imaginable to bury Sloan and everything she knows.

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I’m so happy to have returned to the Underwater Investigation Unit series! I really love all of Andrew Mayne’s books for their sheer thrill factor and the UIU series is really exciting. I mean, our characters have faced off against giant alligators, serial killers, and now they’re facing off against inter-agency politics.

So, the book starts off in a rather exciting fashion, with what appears to be a terrorist attack on a cruise ship right outside of Miami. This was somewhat perturbing as I’m planning to go on a cruise soon, but all’s fun in fiction. Sloan and Scott Hughes immediately rush to their aid and rescue some trapped crew members. Something just isn’t quite right about the whole situation and they begin to think there’s more to it than simply eco-terrorism – is it to tank cruise line stocks? Is it part of a smuggling operation? Who is behind it?

What proceeds is an action packed investigation into a powerful man who throws a wrench into things at every turn. What do you do when the person you’re after has far more power and resources he can mobilize than a government agency? Well, Sloan McPherson’s answer to that is to go after the guy with bull headed tenacity and recklessness. There’s several fantastic chase scenes and even one where Hughes goes undercover as a Russian oligarch! I must say, one of my favorite aspects was George Solar’s ability to stay one step ahead of their quarry and keep Sloan and Scott Hughes in the game.

I greatly enjoyed this installment, though it veered sharply away from the gang and serial killer investigations of the first two books. This focused more on the political and bureaucratic angle, but I generally enjoy that in my books so it wasn’t an issue for me.  I was delighted by the appearance of two other well loved characters from Andrew Mayne’s other book series, so I have my fingers crossed for a big crossover event! The resolution was great and I rather impatiently dived right into the next book, Sea Castle which I’ll hopefully be reviewing soon.