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3.71 AVERAGE
3.71 AVERAGE
A tale of lost pirate treasure in the vein of films such as Indiana Jones and National Treasure. While it started a bit slow, building the history of the water pit and the tragedy that struck all that tried to uncover its treasure, including Malin Hatch's family, it came to a rip-roaring crescendo -- action, adventure, romance, tempests, pirate treasure, double crosses -- it had it all. It also had a great line of dialogue in the closing chapter, which I am not spoiling anything by revealing without context: "head or tail."
Update: I am subtracting a star because author Douglas Preston seems to be a pretty big douchebag.
Update: I am subtracting a star because author Douglas Preston seems to be a pretty big douchebag.
Originally published on the book blog Creature From the Book Lagoon.
Preston and Child, together and separately, are 2 authors I have read almost everything they have put out. Some I absolutely love, some I’m…… not so fond of. Riptide falls into the rare MID category. Middle ground. Even. Didn’t love it but didn’t hate it either.
I enjoyed the main plot a lot. It starts a little slow but the mystery is good. Pirate treasure is a fun item to look for and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t super curious about it, especially the rumored sword at the center of the treasure horde!
Preston and Child, together and separately, are 2 authors I have read almost everything they have put out. Some I absolutely love, some I’m…… not so fond of. Riptide falls into the rare MID category. Middle ground. Even. Didn’t love it but didn’t hate it either.
I enjoyed the main plot a lot. It starts a little slow but the mystery is good. Pirate treasure is a fun item to look for and I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t super curious about it, especially the rumored sword at the center of the treasure horde!
adventurous
fast-paced
What was otherwise a 4-star story deteriorated into a corny, disappointing ending.
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
A seventeenth century pirate,the ruthless Red Ned Eaton, had been very successful plundering the Spanish treasure ships,as a result his ships were too heavy laden with booty and he wanted somewhere to hide his treasure. He kidnaps one of the top architects of the day, a specialist in ecclesiastical architecture to design for him a place to store his hoard, with traps and for which he alone would have a key. The architect designs a “Water Pit”, and the pirate’s crew build it on an island off the Maine Coast, this is no ordinary pit for storing treasure, the pit is filled with ingenious traps worthy of a Egyptian Pyramid…the key to the pit is in a cryptic message, which will allow only Red Ned to recover his treasure, but he dies before he can return to Ragged Island.
After several unsuccessful attempts to retrieve the treasure over the centuries, resulting in deaths and bankruptcies, a heavily backed high tech team led by the obsessed Captain Niedelman, prepare to find the pirate’s hoard estimated to be worth $2 billion. The team has specialists in geology, cryptography, archaeology, and lack nothing in equipment… surely they can defeat the seventeenth century traps. One of the team, Dr Malin Hatch whose brother died looking for the treasure, isn’t so sure.
This book is a real page turner, if you like writers like Michael Crichton or Peter Benchley you’ll probably enjoy this. I did. The captain is as obsessed by the treasure as Captain Ahab is by the white whale in Moby Dick. The main protagonist Dr Malin Hatch is the typical mid thirties hero of these kind of books, clever, fit and with access to most of the information. It is a book with a lot of action and a smattering of psychology. A boy’s adventure for adults.
After several unsuccessful attempts to retrieve the treasure over the centuries, resulting in deaths and bankruptcies, a heavily backed high tech team led by the obsessed Captain Niedelman, prepare to find the pirate’s hoard estimated to be worth $2 billion. The team has specialists in geology, cryptography, archaeology, and lack nothing in equipment… surely they can defeat the seventeenth century traps. One of the team, Dr Malin Hatch whose brother died looking for the treasure, isn’t so sure.
This book is a real page turner, if you like writers like Michael Crichton or Peter Benchley you’ll probably enjoy this. I did. The captain is as obsessed by the treasure as Captain Ahab is by the white whale in Moby Dick. The main protagonist Dr Malin Hatch is the typical mid thirties hero of these kind of books, clever, fit and with access to most of the information. It is a book with a lot of action and a smattering of psychology. A boy’s adventure for adults.
adventurous
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
adventurous
funny
hopeful
informative
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No