Trident Code, by Thomas Waite

The Trident Code is the second book in the Lana Elkins series. Last years book, Lethal Code, was a thrill ride that seemed so fast paced that it might never stop. Well, the Trident Code starts much the same way. Lana Elkins our Cyber Guru is called by the NSA because of a crisis that they are facing. That crisis is a Chinese group of hackers that they want to weed out and make impotent. So, Lana is going to help.

But before they can even start their meetings on this issue a new one comes front and center. Someone has hijacked a U.S. Navy Nuclear Missile Submarine. They have released a gas into the air system that kills the entire crew, with the exception of one man who was able to get an oxygen mask on and vent the gas out of the sub and restore the normal oxygen. Is that providence or is it design?

Well, soon it seems design because this sub will be front and center for a cyber attack not just on the United States but on the world. The Cyber terrorist claim they can launch the nuclear missiles unless the world caves to their demands. When the world doesn't cave quickly enough they do launch a missile, but it is not headed towards any major city of the world, instead it is headed towards the Antarctic and the polar ice cap and glaciers. Why?

Well, here is where the story might be taking a political / Global Warming / environmental shift to do a bit of preaching while still in the thriller realm. The nuclear missile melts a major portion of a Glacier plus breaks off the ice in such a degree that it causes the oceans of the world to start rising. This is what environmentalist have said will happen with Global warming, but it would happen over a very long period of time. But with this nuclear strike it happens overnight. The coastlines of the continents are inundated with a four foot rise in sea level (with the threat that another missile will make it an eleven foot rise). To think of this makes you realize what that could actually mean to the world.

Most of New Orleans would again be under water, but it would never recede. The Netherlands would be 60% under water at 4 feet and totally under water at 11 feet. Thousands will drown, economies will be devastated, thousands more will either die of thirst or starvation because of the disruption of food deliveries and water purification.

This is huge.

The charge to Lana and her team, find out who did this, find out how to wrestle back control of the nuclear sub and prevent the launch of another missile, or for that matter the remaining twenty two missiles.

The book is fast paced and excellent reading. So, why only four stars? Well, I thought the ending was a bit to quick, to cut off. While we have had a wild ride it just abruptly is over. Maybe that is real life, but it seemed a bit to quick. I wanted a bit more closure on some topics. But all in all it is a good read.