Words

"The Floating Zombie," is the name of a D.F. Jones novel I recently plucked out of a stack of sci fi paperbacks for a quick read, following two straight non-fiction works on the Crusades.
It was libeled as sci fi, but the fantastic element plays only a slim role in the story, which is about a first-of-its-kind super high tech oil tanker designed to run automatically with a security crew of only four humans on board.
Of course, just like the Titanic proved sinkable after all, the fullproof plans of the ship's builders fall prey to human intervention.
Ruthless bad guys target the ship for hijacking and it's up to the small security crew, three robust, manly men and one woman who is in charge of the cooking and cleaning -- to make things right.
Written in the 1970s in the style of a mens mgazine feature, "The Floating Zombie" is standard action stuff of the era -- fast moving, violent and embarrassingly chauvinistic.
Author D.F. Jones was a commander in the Royal Navy during WW 2, and his knowledge of ships and ocean transport is solid. But that hardly makes up for the lack of any real imagination or zest.
"The Floating Zombie" is not exactly a snoozefest, but it won't keep you up nights either.