Pressure by Brian Keene

Published by Thomas Dunne Books on June 21, 2016

The seabed around Mauritius is collapsing. The island may need to be evacuated. Attempts to investigate the phenomenon have been hampered by electrical malfunctions. Diver Carrie Anderson nearly dies because of equipment failure, but she sees something during her dive that makes her want to return.

Pressure is a denizen of the deep novel. Creepy creatures lurking in the ocean are common residents of thriller/horror novels. “There’s something down there” is followed by attempts to figure out whether the “something” is an alien, a prehistoric fish monster, an experiment gone awry, or a predator of some other origin. In addition to messing up their electronics, this one instills hallucinations in divers who get too close.

In an apparent effort to accumulate as many near-death experiences as possible, Carrie and her friend Paolo continue to investigate the monster. I find it hard to care about people who care so little for their own lives, so I began to cheer for the monster.

The monster’s nature, once revealed, turns out to be a tired and unimaginative science fiction construct. That flaw cannot be overcome by a story that is surprisingly dull given the action upon it relies to generate excitement.

On the other hand, the quality of Brian Keene’s prose is fine and the key characters are drawn in greater detail than is common for an action-thriller. I particularly like a crusty old skipper whose cantankerous nature adds humor to the story. Not all of the characters are who or what they appear to be, which adds moderate interest to a lackluster plot.

Sadly, the story never becomes surprising. It churns along to a predictable finish that is even duller than the story that precedes it. Even by the relatively low standards of denizen of the deep novels, Pressure isn’t sufficiently suspenseful to merit reading.

NOT RECOMMENDED