Plausibility out of control

For this reader at least, one of the most important aspects of a book is its plausibility. No matter if you're reading about vampires and werewolves, you can still believe in the story if it's well written. There aren't any vampires or werewolves in Damage Control (although there are some unusual story elements), but I found myself unable to believe in what was taking place as the story moved forward. Coincidence piles upon coincidence, there are some downright weird aspects to the story as people are out on the ice pack but ships appeared able to drive right up to the ice camp - it all just got odder and odder.

Hero Sebastian Fontenot seems an okay kind of guy if rather one-dimensional. Heroine Olivia Corrigan seems larger than life at the beginning of the story, although this calms down a bit as things progress. Some history lies between these two, and they meet again as they seek to discover what has happened to the strangely-named Noble, a man important to them both.

Unfortunately, the weird plot events - a missing submarine, a mad Russian woman, a strange Chinese artifact and more - just become too much. I put the book down for good three-quarters of the way through. By this point I'd lost belief in the whole thing and wasn't interested enough in Sebastian or Olivia to see it through. Despite some interesting action sequences, particularly at the beginning, Damage Control's initial promise is never fulfilled.