I picked up this book while browsing my mums bookshelves, when I visited my parents last week. I really love how she has a selection of books I wouldn't normally buy so I get to experience different genres and stories. She recommended I try, The Island by Peter Benchley and to my surprise, I really enjoyed it. Genre: Fiction, Mystery, Thriller
Year Published: 1979
Publisher: Doubleday & Co
Rating: 3/5
In the Caribbean, 610 seagoing boats and 2,000 innocent people have simply vanished, apparently lost forever; how could it happen? why does no one know, or care to know? Blair Maynard becomes obsessed with finding out what's going on and pursues the story to a remote archipelago southeast of the Bahamas; there he and his son sail into as sinister a drama as has ever been played out on the sea.
Blair Maynard, a journalist for Today magazine, is sick of writing stories about fashion shows and celebrities. When he hears about the boats disappearing in the Caribbean, he decides this is a hard-hitting story that he needs to write. So he sets out to Miami, with his twelve-year-old son, to speak to an ex-member of the coast guard who had been silenced on this issue. Not learning much from him, but fueling his curiosity, Maynard then jumps on a plane to Turks and Caicos to see if he can find out more.
When he arrives he is faced with more people who just don't want to talk about what may be happening to these boats. Giving up, Maynard decides to take his son on a fishing trip so their holiday doesn't go to waste, it is only then that he is confronted with the terrifying truth.
When he arrives he is faced with more people who just don't want to talk about what may be happening to these boats. Giving up, Maynard decides to take his son on a fishing trip so their holiday doesn't go to waste, it is only then that he is confronted with the terrifying truth.
This novel, like any good mystery/thriller, is action-packed, full of surprises and keeps you guessing. It is written in a way that plays out like a movie. Jumping from the story of Blair Maynard to chapters which deal with current disappearances of people sailing in the Caribbean.
I don't want to say too much more about this story as I do not want to spoil the mystery for anyone. It is only about half way through the book that you find out what is happening to these boats, but then the story takes a new turn as Maynard and his son fight for their lives!
I recommend this book to anyone who loves a good thriller!
