ONE MINUTE 'beautiful, feisty and independent' Rene is throwing a wobbly because a pick-up boat is a few minutes late and she has to swim into the blue. The next, she is carrying out deep submarine penetrations to help dive-magazine writer Jim Lawrie get his story.
Solomon Quest is another diving thriller written with a hopeful eye on a Hollywood contract. There have been a slew of these recently, ranging from the you've-got-to-be-kidding (Cayman Cowboys) to the distinctly promising (Double Cross).
This one is such a slow-burner that it barely ignites at all. Little exciting happens for the first 300 pages or so, and the plot has all the tension of a sock.
Andrew Whitehead's descriptions of liveaboard life in the Solomon Islands are over-detailed, and while his knowledge of diving and Japanese military history is fully commendable, villains who utter lines such as: 'We meet at last, Mr Whitaker' deserve everything they are so clearly going to get.
Steve Weinman

(Melrose Books, ISBN 1905226659). Softback, 334pp, £12.99