I have a weakness for disaster movies. The more outlandish and improbable, the better, which may seem incongruous since I have an advanced science degree. But the surest way to get me into a movie theater is to say the word “cataclysmic”! So when a story about terrorists using a volcanologist’s research to trigger mega-tsunamis and wreak havoc crossed my desk, I couldn’t say no. Former-science-teacher-and-literary-agent-turned-debut-author N.R. Rhodes, you had me at “mega-tsunami”. Several days after finishing DEEP RISING, which kicks off Ms. Rhodes’s Outside the Lines series of romantic suspense novels featuring a team of elite CIA & military operatives, I’m still figuring out how to best articulate my opinion of it. There were parts that worked for me and parts that didn't, but overall I found it an action-packed, solid debut effort with an unusual premise that had science at the forefront without being distractingly technical—but a couple of issues kept it from being something I simply could not put down.
The book starts off with a bang—after a prologue illustrating the devastation of a tsunami on Capri, we are introduced to heroine Svetlana (Lana) Orskya, volcanologist extraordinaire, dangling from a frayed rope in a crater in Guatemala. A scientist through and through, nearly falling into a pit of lava is no excuse not to get the sulfur dioxide reading she was going for—which made her totally kickass and woman after my own heart! [Being a female scientist myself, I have a soft spot for highly intelligent, but not stereotypically nerdy, romance heroines]. Her doctoral dissertation was a study of regions of seismic instability where activity could trigger mega-tsunamis that would obliterate any number of major cities… a series of doomsday scenarios that terrorists seem to be making a reality, making her the government’s #1 suspect/enabler. Enter jaded CIA operative Jared Caldwell, a government-sanctioned hit man with counterintelligence & explosives expertise who just wants out so he can help his mother raise his late sister’s kids. Read that again: a man who wants to trade the shadowy spy life and ending lives to keep his country safe for raising his nieces and nephews and helping his mum out on the family ranch. Inevitable romance hero physical hotness aside, that’s solid book boyfriend material right there.
Jared is tasked with determining whether Lana is in league with the terrorists or an innocent victim, something made much more complicated by the immediate and scorching attraction he feels for her. Talk about emotional conflict: trying to do your job and preserve national security (which may entail neutralizing your target) whilst being consumed by increasingly carnal thoughts about someone who could be a terrorist! I thought Ms. Rhodes did a great job portraying that conflict and keeping the emotional tension taut, but thought she made Jared blow a bit too hot and cold for my tastes. The way he was all tender and solicitous one second and all hardass-operative-who-could-kill-you-with-a-paperclip the next was a bit jarring, and some of the tests he put Lana through in the name of the job made him a bit of a wanker. But he’s really a good man and a true hero who does what’s necessary to keep the world safe—even if it eats at him sometimes—and has a protective streak a mile wide, so I can forgive his asshattery.
Lana I had more mixed feelings about. At the beginning, I found her to be strong and capable and kickass (and in possession of some fabulous snark). But when Jared takes her along on his quest to neutralize the terrorists, it’s like she misplaces her spine until the final showdown(s). Yeah, she can still be kickass, but it’s tempered by many moments of clinginess—which isn’t surprising given that she’s thrown into a completely foreign world of espionage and mayhem and makes her more realistic, but it still made me want to occasionally tell her to grow a pair. Overall, however, both Jared and Lana were great characters, and I enjoyed their fabulous banter and developing relationship.
There were a couple of things that didn’t quite work for me. The first is that the plot was a bit too dense, with too much going on at times. Non-stop action that keeps a reader turning the pages is a great thing for romantic suspense, but DEEP RISING went just a hair overboard. A deranged terrorist hell-bent on revenge, weapons trafficking, a high-level government leak, assassins, emotional conflict, hot sexytimes, and more all seem to happen at the same time, which made me feel like I had to put the book down every so often to process what was happening. I suspect that this will be less of an issue as Ms. Rhodes’s voice develops, but it did detract from my enjoyment this time around. The second is that the story felt somewhat fractured, as if it had two parts. Initially, the focus is very much on the who and where of triggering the manmade mega-tsunami. As I read and saw this resolving (and the relationship cementing) without having reached the halfway point (page-wise) of the book, I wondered what was in store for the next ~200 pages. The answer is a bit of a lull for Lana and Jared to explore their relationship before diving into more intrigue and drama. While the second half of the book eventually proved equally action-packed, I wasn’t a big fan of those long moments of wondering how the book could go on for another 200 pages. The final thing is that, while I enjoyed Ms. Rhodes’s writing style and voice and appreciated the lack of errors in the ARC, I found that there was a bit more telling than showing. This is a common pitfall of romantic suspense and romantic thrillers where the action and romance get near-equal billing, but I think that this too will be less of an issue as Ms. Rhodes matures as an author.
Overall, DEEP RISING was an enjoyable read with an intriguing premise and a memorable cast of characters. I think the series has a lot of potential, and being the series ‘ho that I am, I look forward to reading more Outside the Lines books (especially if they continue with the cataclysmic world-ending plotlines!) and watching Ms. Rhodes grow and develop as an author.
**ARC provided by Publisher**
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