"A Ship Possessed" by Alton Gansky

Alton Gansky gets some serious respect for his creativity: a demon-possessed nazi in a raft gets picked up by an American submarine in World War II, then the sub disappears... over half a century later, the sub shows up at a San Diego beach. It's (supposedly) empty, but how did it get there?

A retired Navy officer is called back to investigate this mystery. But his assistant, a young female officer, is trying her best (unsuccessfully) to hide her paralyzing fear of the sub. What is it about the sub that is causing her terror?

Brilliantly weaving the two stories (the WWII story, and the investigation by the retired officer), Gansky did a great job of creating a "spooky" feeling that adds the thrills to the books that are supposed to be "thrillers." Some authors are not able to achieve this. Not only that, but Gansky also includes very vivid descriptions of the spiritual realm that help to visualize what the demon-possessed people are experiencing during a possession.

I'm personally not an expert on demons or demon possession. And I have no idea what the spiritual realm would look or feel like to a demon-possessed person. But, taking it from a purely literary standpoint, Gansky's version is quite terrifying. (Although I'm sure real demon possession is much worse)

I enjoyed the book (not as much as "Certain Jeopardy", co-written with Jeff Struecker). I especially liked the parts describing Navy and Coast Guard procedures, terminology, etc. Submarines have always fascinated me. How do those guys not go crazy in there for so long? Anyway, there are two other books in this series, so I hope to get to those soon.