Special thriller section: 'Silent Thunder'

By Verna Noel Jones, Special to the Rocky

Published July 10, 2008 at 7 p.m.

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* Fiction. By Iris Johansen and Roy Johansen. St. Martin's, 403 pages, $24.95. Grade: B+

Plot in a nutshell: In this first-time collaboration between best-selling suspense writer Iris Johansen and her Edgar-award-winning son, Roy, expert marine architect Hannah Bryson and her brother, Conner, have been hired by the Maritime Museum in Boston. Their mission is to check for hazards on a nuclear submarine just purchased for public exhibit. The recently acquired Russian sub, Silent Thunder, was found hidden in a bay in Finland.

As the siblings begin running a schematic on the sub, they soon discover that it has been hiding metal plates etched with mysterious symbols. Before they have time to sort out what they are, an intruder storms the ship, taking the plates as well as Conner's life.

Shocked and puzzled, Hannah works diligently to uncover the murderer, but soon finds herself dangerously entangled in a spy-vs.-spy scenario between the CIA and a determined, bloodthirsty Russian.

Sample of prose: "She stared into the foyer at the dead man lying gazing blindly up at the ceiling. Blood drained from the four tightly clustered bullet wounds in his torso. His twitching right hand still clutched the .38 handgun he'd pulled on her after she'd opened the door for his supposed delivery. She hadn't expected to be this shaken at killing a man. The years away from the KGB must have taken their toll. She was softer now. And she liked being softer, dammit. She liked her life, and she liked not having to put down pigs like that man in the foyer."

Pros: Readers will gain a wealth of knowledge about submarines as they work to unravel the secrets being guarded within.

Cons: The book's pacing is somewhat slow for the first several chapters as the authors draw out their main characters, their relationship and the details of their work on the submarine.

Final word: Stick with this thriller and you'll be rewarded with a bumpy roller-coaster ride as you try to separate the good guys from the bad.

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