J.M. Ledgard's Submergence

I finished my 2013 reading with a strong novel, J.M. Ledgard's Submergence. It is a tightly told double-helix of a British intelligence officer in east Africa and a biomathemetician who works on ultra-deep sea research. They meet on a brief vacation & fall in love, an emotion which is unusual for both of them. James More is then kidnapped in Somalia by Jihadists and begins a long period of brutal captivity. Danielle Flinders prepares for and begins a dive in a submersible to the abyssal deep of the Greenland Sea. They have both been loners in their worlds of espionage and advanced mathematics. In their journeys in the story they are both quite alone again. This gives Ledgard a platform for their reflections on many global issues, from Jihad to long-term ecological concerns. Ledgard has been a foreign correspondent for The Economist in Africa since 1995. 

This is definately not a spy novel.  There is very little time spent describing More's life in intelligence before the kidnapping. His treatment during the rest of the book is not remotely martini-glamorous. Ledgard's insights into the men and boys who are fighting the Jihad are subtly made, when he could have been heavy handed, a nice touch. His observations and speculations about the nearly-alien life forms in the deepest seas are thought provoking. Submergence is a short ride that will stay with you for some time to come.