Much of Ing's fiction includes detailed, practical descriptions of techniques and methods which would be useful in an individual or group survival situation, including instructions for the manufacture of tools and other implements, the recovery of stuck vehicles, and avoidance of disease and injury. Ing's short story "Devil You Don't Know" was both a Hugo Awardnominee and Nebula Award nominee in 1979.
Reviews
Kirkus Reviews called his novel Butcher Bird "Credible and entertaining, especially for fans of the previous books, and a definite improvement over The Big Lifters." Kirkus Reviews also gave a positive review to Ing's novel The Nemesis Mission, stating: "The enormous cast can be confusing, and the setup takes extraordinarily long—but the tone is light, the gimmickry supports the fun, and the chase, when it comes, is a ripsnorter." Publishers Weekly had praise for his 1995 novel Spooker, stating: "Ing's earlier novels imaginatively described the special world of experimental aircraft and weaponry. Here he enters new territory, both geographically and thematically, proving that he is a master of ground-based spy novels as well as of high-in-the-sky techno-thrillers. The high-tech touches that do appear, including an intriguing ultra-light aircraft, are pure Ing, who seems to have relished creating the peculiar world of his two monstrous villains. Tinged with a sense that life is bittersweet, this is a welcome offering from an always entertaining author." Publishers Weekly also had positive remarks for his 2000 novel Loose Cannon: "Ing takes direct aim at the reader's sense of humor—connecting more often than not—in this lighthearted thriller about a Silicon Valley engineer forced into hiding after one of his inventions attracts the interest of the wrong people....The thriller as farce is only one of Ing's modes—he also writes sci-fi-inflected suspense novels and more serious techno-thrillers—but it is his best. The witty repartee and situational humor of his latest amusement are strained at times, but Ing continues to mine a profitable side vein in a field crowded with the claims of more conventional thriller writers."
Survivalism
In addition to his fiction writing, Ing wrote nonfiction articles for the survivalist newsletter P.S. Letter, edited by Mel Tappan. Following in the footsteps of sci-fi novelist Pat Frank, Ing included a lengthy nonfiction appendix to his nuclear war survival novel Pulling Through. Robert A. Heinlein dedicated his 1985 novel The Cat Who Walks Through Walls to Ing and eight of the other members of the Citizens' Advisory Council on National Space Policy. Five years before the September 11, 2001Islamic terrorist attacks on the United States, in an interview for the July 29, 1996 issue of Medford Mail Tribune, Dean Ing made mention of the Centennial Olympic Park bombing in Atlanta. He said: "I predict more of the same," he said, "because we haven't learned anything and they have."
