by Joseph Rosenberger
1981 Pinnacle Books
To lure out the Nazi organization ODESSA, the Death Merchant Richard Camellion, along with US and West German intelligence agencies, send out a diving expedition to the bottom of Lake Toplitz, where a legendary stash of Nazi documents may have been buried at the end of the war.
I've read reviews about the ridiculous, over the top violence of the Death Merchant series, but maybe I've just had bad luck. This particular installment had two small action scenes, neither especially memorable or graphic. What we had instead were lengthy planning sequences, pissing contests over which intelligence agency was more gay, and more planning. And dive tables. Because nothing says action like discussing what ratio of oxygen to nitrogen is needed for diving at varying depths for varying length of time.
I know Rosenberger went to all the trouble of going to the library to get these tables, so damn it, he's going to use them. But nobody cares. I'm sure actual divers care when they go diving, but it doesn't make for interesting reading. You're the Death Merchant. You kill people for a living. Memorizing dive tables doesn't make you any cooler.
Paperback from AbeBooks
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