The Steel Shark

Author’s Notes

This book took Joe Tesla out of his usual haunts and necessitated a bit of extra research. As usual, the truth was often stranger than fiction.

The submarine in the novel is based on the diesel-electric Gotland-class submarines currently in use by the Swedish navy. All the capabilities and descriptions are as accurate as I could make them, and they are capable vessels. So far as I know, none have ever gone rogue, but then again, no one would tell me if they did, would they?

Once again, Joe uses the steam tunnels under New York City to access the world above. While I don’t know if the Museum of Natural History is heated by steam, the Museum of Modern Art is, so I decided it wasn’t too much of a stretch to let Joe have underground access to the museum.

The small commercial drones Avi uses to film and snipe are real and have been modified to carry weapons.

Bowfishing, likewise, is a legitimate sport and YouTube has many videos of people in various states of sobriety shooting arrows at fish, both above water and under water. I was going to have Joe use a harpoon gun, but the quick and hilarious videos I found of people shooting harpoon guns above the water made me think better of it. My advice: don’t do it, but if you can’t resist wear safety goggles and a protective cup.

While New York has large sewage tunnels, I wasn’t able to find maps to determine whether or not they had some large enough for Joe to take out his submarine. Joe bought a modified version of this submarine, with a wet exit for diving: http://tritonsubs.com/products-services/. If he was feeling extravagant, he could have gone full Captain Nemo: http://www.migaloo-submarines.com/.

My writing group had real trouble believing that Edison could actually scuba dive, but it turns out he wouldn’t even be the first underwater dog. PADI (the Professional Association of Diving Instructors), the organization that certified me and many other divers, even offers scuba certification for dogs and cats: http://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/padi-announces-pet-diver-certification-course-200855191.html. Here’s a cute video of a diving dog and cat: http://www.animalplanet.com/tv-shows/animal-planet-presents/videos/most-outrageous-scuba-diving-pets/.