Abyss by David Hagberg

Kirk McGarvey is 18 months post assassination of his wife, daughter, and son-in-law and now trains newbies for the nuclear emergency response team. On a routine day of training in Miami, a nuclear power plant in Florida is hit by a highly trained operative, with inside help, who is attempting to start a meltdown. McGarvey and the local security manage to minimize the damage, but lives are lost nonetheless.

Eve Larson, a Princeton climatologist, has an idea. Sort of turn a windmill upside down, sink it in the Gulf Stream and let the currents spin the turbine and generate electricity. Can't miss - free energy with zero emissions that might even stabilize ocean temps thereby minimizing violent storms. She was there the day the terrorist tried to destroy the power station. If the damn thing works, oil, and all the people who speculate on future prices, are in for a big surprise. So the Saudis and the Venezuelans quietly back, through a number of back doors, a contract to make sure Dr. Larson's project never works out.

The US gov't can't overtly support her lest OPEC screw 'em, but they lean on an oil company who just happens to have an oil platform, due to be mothballed, to donate it to Dr. Larsen, tow it from the Gulf of Mexico around to the NE coast of Florida, rig it up to accept her impellers so that she can replace the power lost when the nuke plant went down. The terrorist prepares his team with plans to send the rig to the bottom of the gulf.

All the while a evangelical nutcase, who fancies himself running for President, takes on Big Nuclear Power as his calling, getting his flock to demonstrate against Dr. Larson and her project. Claims she is messing with God's plan. Multiple attempts are made on Dr. Larson, she has a mole on her staff, and McGarvey is there each time to keep the bad guys at bay.

I am wondering if I'm cooling on Hagberg and McGarvey. This was a long book, nearly 500 pages and there just seemed to be one too many implausible leaps of logic, at least to me. I think I'll have to really rethink whether I return.

This may be a first . . . an author dropping off my power rotation. Guess it was bound to happen sometime.