Riptide
Warner Books 1998
ISBN 0-446-60717-7
Monika says:
Ragged Island is a small island off the east coast of the US. Legend
has it that 17th century pirates hid their enormous treasure in
the island’s natural system of tunnels and locked them up with a number
of traps. For centuries treasure hunters have tried to find and recover
the riches, which not only cost them all their possessions, but often
their lives. In the early seventies 13 year old Johnny Hatch died
tragically in the tunnels when he visited the island with his younger
brother Malin in spite of the strict order of their parents not to do
that. His body was never found.
Almost thirty years later Malin is approached by the representative of
a company specializing in the recovery of historical treasures. They want
to unveil the secret of Ragged Island with modern technology and are
especially eager to find the legendary sword of St. Michael, allegedly the
most valuable piece of the lot.
If you are familiar with the other books of Douglas Preston and Lincoln
Child you have probably guessed that this one, too, starts out quite
"normal" and then tends to drift into the realm of the
fantastic. A treasure hunt on the brink of the 21st century
doesn’t seem so much of an adventure anymore since modern technology
makes locating and recovering artifacts much easier. But something is
wrong on the island. Computer and measuring instruments act oddly and
there are a number of smaller and bigger incidents. The plot drifts toward
a big showdown, which is probably predictable if you pay attention to what’s
happening and try to piece the puzzle together. Other than RELIC,
RIPTIDE never loses touch with reality, until the very end everything is
within the bounds of possibility.
The characters are not particularly memorable, only Malin Hatch is a
bit more fleshed out. All the others are interchangeable, but that doesn’t
hurt the plot. RIPTIDE has everything Hollywood likes about a book,
including the mandatory love story. Given a good script this could be an
interesting movie. The book is perfect for the holidays or a long train
ride when you don’t feel like heavier fare. Unfortunately the authors
didn’t quite manage to recreate the tense atmosphere of RELIC in any
of her other books. |
Any comments? Write us:
Monika Hübner
Christina Gross
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