The Pacific Depths
KIRKUS REVIEWA billionaire's attempts to make profound changes to counter global problems such as climate change are met with severe resistance from the U.S. president in Stephenson's debut thriller.New Zealander Charles Langham, at a United Nations meeting, implores the U.N. to take more active roles in combating famine and the deforestation of rain forests and promoting alternative fuels. This plea includes a vague warning, giving the U.N. a week to comply or Charles will take action. It seems that U.S. President Mike Read, who views Charles as a threat to the American economy, may be the billionaire's biggest adversary. President Read sends a U.S. ship after Charles' superyacht, Sundancer, presumably to attack, and Charles responds by disabling the vessel with an electromagnetic pulse fired from one of his subs. Charles then makes a statement to the public that he plans to use a device to create two tsunamis (designed to inflict only "minor damage")to hit the U.S., but Read soon sends a covert team to eliminate Charles. The novel embraces its climate change message by directly addressing the issue, and its suggested solution--Charles sends specialists to countries to help the people become self-reliant--is both practical and feasible within the novel's context. America initially is the villain, but as the story progresses, it's clear that the true antagonist is President Read, who gradually loses the support of other nations and even his own advisers. The bulk of the novel is essentially a showdown between Read and Charles, who seemingly has enough money and employees to be a viable opponent for a man who leads a country. There's very little suspense, however, as Charles is never in any real danger; he's protected by boats, submarines, "extremely well paid" security teams and a deep-sea HQ. He supplements his story by moving beyond the U.S. situation, including Charles' team making a strike against a drug cartel in Brazil, and spotlighting strong characters--although the book is nearly stolen by Abbey, Charles' border collie, who has more personality than his children, Cathy and Chris.Charles isn't terribly charismatic, but his integrity and seemingly endless resources make for a great read.