Deepcore

Deepcore is the kind of submarine technothriller that the post-Tom Clancy market produced in volume for about a decade. James B. Adair handles the form competently: a US fast-attack submarine, a Russian counterpart, a piece of contested intelligence at the bottom of the Arctic Ocean, and an extended cat-and-mouse pursuit that takes up about half the novel.

Adair's strengths are the tactical detail and the submarine-crew dynamics. The Arctic-environment material is well-researched. The political backdrop is sketched competently. The dialogue is the kind that the form has always relied on.

Three stars. Recommended to fans of submarine thrillers. Not the entry point for the genre but a confident piece of writing in the form.