The Sonar Syndrome: An Ethan West Eco-Crime Novel by Ben Mitchell is the story of a marine science professor who must uncover crimes both above and below the sea in order to save everyone! Ethan West lives on a quiet, stunning island in the Caribbean. He is simply enjoying his life working with the animals he loves and a pretty officer who fills his heart with love. His blissful existence is interrupted when dead dolphins, whales, and all sorts of marine animals and a dead man are washed ashore. Ethan must find out why these animals and this man were washed ashore and what is killing them. The dead animals are deformed, and there is something disturbing the ecosystem of the ocean. On the opposite side of the world, a Wall Street mortgage trader is found murdered. There is a connection between the two incidents, but what is it? Can Ethan solve the mystery? Or is it too dangerous for him?

I am completely obsessed with the ocean and marine animals, especially dolphins. So this novel had my absolute attention from the get go. And as I am a romance nut, this novel was a must-read for me. This is a seriously powerful novel with amazing character development and a solid storyline. It is so hard to find a really well developed and structured mystery novel these days. Nevertheless, The Sonar Syndrome is one to keep because it also has a heavy dose of reality in it. I am very glad that Ben Mitchell is planning on making it a trilogy because this series can grab a lot of attention. I really enjoyed this novel!

The Sonar Syndrome by Ben Mitchell has a multi-layered plot that primarily follows marine scientist Ethan West as he seeks to discover who is behind the increasing number of marine life wash ups. He finds himself unwillingly partnered with the US Navy, but increasingly happy with the representative of that partnership, Petty Officer Gabriella. The plot secondarily follows Freddie Dykstra, a shrewd Wall Street guru who is somehow connected to the events happening on the other side of the world under the sea. It culminates in a high-risk, thrilling puzzle that Ethan and Gabby must piece together before either of them are taken out for having too many pieces in hand.

This is a very well-written story with compelling characters and a very complex plot. There was a lot of seemingly unrelated backstory for a large portion of the book that finally wrapped up in the last pages. It was bit hedonistic for my personal tastes and the explicit nature of the backstory could have been left out without having lost the impact on just how villainous the villains were. The romantic plot line was fine, as was the scientific element. This was a very graphic, visual novel, but an interesting story to say the least. This novel is not just an entertaining read, but explores darker, heavier ideas of ethics, judgement, government control and enterprise, and just how far a person will go out of selfish ambition. Very, very well done.