Sail ,
by James Patterson and Howard Roughan (Read by Dylan Baker
and Jennifer Van Dyck)
This is the third book by Patterson and
Roughan in recent years, and it looks to match their
previous collaborative successes with Honeymoon
and You've Been Warned. In this melodramatic
adventure, a dysfunctional family consisting of a driven
heart surgeon and her three children embark on a sailing
trip in a bid to draw the family closer together. Anne's
husband Stuart stays at home, and her brother-in-law
Jeff serves as the captain and crew of this 65-foot
sailing vessel.
Less than an hour into the trip, things
start go awry. The teenage boy, who is addicted to drugs,
discovers a serious leak in the cabin when he goes below
deck hoping to get a quick hit of marijuana. We also
learn that the teenage daughter is suicidal and ten-year-old
Ernie suffers from a neurological disorder. The would-be
captain discovers that a water coolant line to the engine
has been cut and is the source of the leak. The family
begins to bail water and sends a distress call to the
Coast Guard. Unfortunately, unbeknownst to the family,
the GPS equipment on the sail boat has been sabotaged
and the Coast Guard is unable to find them. Within a
short period of time, the situation becomes even more
desperate when the boat explodes and Jeff is killed.
It turns out that Stuart may have some
culpability in this disaster and has a good reason to
ensure that his family is never found alive. Toward
the end of the book he is the recipient of classic Patterson-style
justice. Dylan Baker and Jennifer Van Dyck do an excellent
job of capturing the terror and confusion of being lost
at sea, and there are several intriguing plot twists
in this novel. I would give this 6 points out of 10
based upon the plot intricacies and the production value
of the presentation.
John
Mormon
6/20/08
|
