1942. Seaman Schiller is the only survivor of U-198, a U-boat that went down somewhere off the coast of Coquina, an island in the Caribbean. Thirty years later, he finds that the long-forgotten sub has been found by hotel owner and salvage diver David Moore. When a young native disregards warnings and opens the wreck to look for valubles, he unleashes a wave of terror that reaches out from the dead past. Boniface, a one-time voodoo witch doctor, has brought the mummified crew back to life, hungry for flesh, thirsty for blood. Now only he can break the spell...
If you like zombie stories, this one is right up your street, containing enough blood, rotting flesh, and intestine munching to satisfy the most rabid horror fan. But what raises it above the mundane are the two main characters; Moore, wracked with guilt at the deaths at sea of his wife and daughter, and Kip, the local law-enforcement officer who once could have been a witch doctor himself. Two men faced with a nightmare neither can comprehend and do not know how to resolve. I almost yawned when that hoary old cliche - the sexy lady scientist - cropped up, but thankfully it did not ruin the story. McCammon plays clever games with our expectations; his prose is clipped and colourful, highly descriptive and atmospheric. The prologue detailing the sinking of the U-boat is good enough to serve as a short story all of its own.
