Customer Reviews

Fatal Tide

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(8)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(13)

 

 

I have just finished reading Fatal Tide and I still can't get over how much I loved it. My first thought wile reading the last sentence was "Wow, what a good book!!" and I was sad in a way that it was over. I fell in love with the characters, I mean those are some juicy, meaty, live breathe and jump out of the page people; Jed Kelby, Nicholas, Melis Nemid and her beloved dolphins Pete and Suzie. They took some magical grip on my eye balls and still have me enchanted for the world I just read about.

This was my first Johansen book, as I bought few more moths ago ( I'm like a hamster, I buy gazillions of books and then run my finger on the bookcase and stop at some delicious one and read whenever I please, but I always make sure I have tons and tons of unread books to choose from) and It didn't occur for me to read her earlier because I've seen some reviews that made her look like some romance novelist, and I do not read romance, but the cover and the story in the back really intrigued me, first to buy it, then to read it few weeks later.

This was a story about a woman named Melis, who lived with her dolphins Pete and Suzie on her own Caribbean Island. She was a tough cookie, strong smart but not annoying, she was wonderful to read through and I felt real connection with the character because she was simply marvelous. There are flashbacks to her tortured past, as we learn that Melis is being stalked by a very violent, evil and deadly snake of a man; Archer.

I think I had a nightmare with him in it, that's how real he was to me. He stops at nothing to get to Melis; she is the only one who knows where sunken city of Merinth lies lost in the Ocean, and only her and the dolphins can find it. With the help of Jeb Kelby, an ex SEAL she ventures out in an adventure to find the treasure, to deceive and for once get rid of Archer who is killing her friends and family and to free her soul of her black, tortured past. We find that Archer has some sick sadistic plans for her, and more of her past is revealed as he find ways to hurt her and those around him until they can beat the clock and stop him.

I adored the relationship that build between Kelby and Melis, at one point in the end I was crying, I kid you not (I wont say if it was good or bad but the ending was insane!) but no spoilers here!! : )

I loved the ending, it was solid!!! I can't wait to read everything this woman wrote, because if she created Melis and Jeb then I wonder what other delicious and marvelous characters and stories she cooked up as well!

The beginnings was a bit fast, with many characters introduced, but hang on in there, it's a very satisfying and succulent story!

Oceanographer Mellis Nemid lives an isolated life on a secluded island in the Caribbean, with two dolphins for company. After her foster father, Phil Lontana, is killed while seeking funds to aid in his endeavor to discover Marinth, a legendary city under the sea, Mellis becomes the target of Hugh Archer, a perverted madman, who believes Mellis holds information to the whereabouts of Marinth. Archer will stop at nothing to get to Mellis, including killing her good friend and psychologist, Carolyn Mulan, to learn more about Mellis's tragic childhood in hopes of using this information to force Mellis to help him.

To Mellis's rescue comes rich playboy, oceanographer Jed Kelby, who agrees to help Mellis seek vengeance against Archer for the death of Mellis's close friend and foster father, in exchange for information about Marinth. With the aid of Mellis's two dolphins, the two explore the ocean floor for signs of Marinth while developing a plan to lure Archer into their net.

As always, Johansen gives her readers plenty of what they want: suspense and romance encompassed within a thrilling novel.

I'm sorry to have to disagree with my good friend Katie about Iris Johansen's "Fatal Tide" (see Comic Book Heroine on the Printed Page, a review of this book by Captain Katie Osborne on September 11, 2003), but I've lived on a sailboat in the Caribbean too (we actually met in Trinidad) and in my opinion, Ms. Johansen is asking us to stretch our imagination a bit too much with this one. Lotana's Island, couldn't buy it, sorry. But even though the island and some of the characters were a bit over the top, I still finished the book in one sitting, still enjoyed it immensely, was still captivated by the story.

I thought our heroine's romantic interest in this book broke himself out of that jail in Iraq a little too easily in the first chapter, but I did like how the book opened with his dream sequence and how Johansen segued from the past into Melis Nemid's dream in the present. I liked Pete and Susie, though they were a tad bit more intelligent and communicative than any of the dolphins that have frolicked around my boat.

Melis is certainly a Wonder Woman Heroine, as Katie says, but her childhood was just a little too awful for me. However, I like strong female characters and Melis is certainly that. The love story was predictable, but I wouldn't have had it come out any other way. The destructive weapon, bad guy Archer is after, is straight out of James Bond, but if you bought the dolphins (and I did), you'll buy the sonic gun.

My recommendation: This is a swift read that is much more fun than anything you'll find on television. I give it four stars. You won't go wrong if you buy this book.

Reviewed by Vesta Irene

Mutilating of women and animals, white slavery, gratuitous torture and murder, the heroine a woman trying to recover from horrendous sexual abuse, and a wooden hero make this book one you would really rather miss.

In terms of entertainment I would give it minus stars if I could. The fact that the supposed hero gets sexually aroused as she tells him about her life in a child brothel in Istanbul is just revolting, and there is about as much heat and sensuality in this book as a guttering candle. This is the first book I ever read by this author, and It will most certainly be my last.

These are not characters, they are cardboard cut outs. Even the dolpins are only moderately interesting, and her foster father is too stupid and terrible to be true. A real let down for intelligent readers who want more than simple minded fluff written in words of more than one syllable.

If I could have given this effort zero stars I would have, but alas the program wouldn't let me. Imagine my excitement at finally having in my eager little hands another Iris Johansen novel. Imagine my disappointment when it was undoubtably the worst book ever written! The dialogue is completely composed of platitudes and cliches, the characters are one-dimensional, and the plot thin. I couldn't care enough about the herione to make her problems matter to me.
I do love all her other books, and her writing is usually clean, characters complex, and dialogue natural. I can't imagine what went wrong here, other than it was an earlier attempt that she stashed away for a while, then dusted off and updated without ever really rereading closely. Unless you really enjoy poorly written books, I would not waste my money on this one, save it for her next attempt.

This book is a good reading, you just can sit, relax and enjoy your reading. Don't expect too much of the main plot but is a quite good reading.

Following trips thru Split Second by Baldacci/Dark Harbor by Stuart Woods/No One To Trust by Sister Iris herself/All following Irish Cream by Andrew Greeley, I never expected to get caught into the intriguing web of dramatic mystery as compelling and powerfull as Fatal Tide!

Fleeting moments of chase by the scary villian, Archer and the vulnerable Nelis's awesome protection by Jed Kelby and Nicholas keeps one on the edge of perception of Who is Who & Who is Where +++ what comes-up next in every surprising scene. It is more than just a page-turner; but often for me needed some quiet breaks to overcome the deep terror of suspense! It's really quite a worthwhile investment of concentration and dramatic intensity! 6 Stars from Retired Chaplain Fred W Hood

I absolutely love Iris Johansen. I've read all of her last six or seven books. But this book I found to be a disappointment. It reads like a Harlequin romance novel (and for some that may be okay, but not for me). The story wasn't as deep, the characters not as intriguing, and quite simply I had to struggle to get through the book. It was a disappointment. I hope her next book will return to her intricate plots and deeper characters - and less on the silly and unrealistic sex twists that this story held.

I've read quite a bit of Johansen's work, and have generally enjoyed it up till now. This was AWFUL. The characters were flat, the dialogue was lame, the plot was silly. I'm not sure why I bothered to finish it, except that I'd been looking so forward to reading it, and I kept hoping it would get better.

I'm sorry to have to disagree with others, but I've lived on a sailboat in the Caribbean and in my opinion, Ms. Johansen is asking us to stretch our imagination a bit too much with this one. Lotana's Island, couldn't buy it, sorry. But even though the island and some of the characters were a bit over the top, I still finished the book in one sitting, still enjoyed it immensely, was still captivated by the story.

I thought our heroine's romantic interest in this book broke himself out of that jail in Iraq a little too easily in the first chapter, but I did like how the book opened with his dream sequence and how Johansen segued from the past into Melis Nemid's dream in the present. I liked Pete and Susie, though they were a tad bit more intelligent and communicative than any of the dolphins that have frolicked around my boat.

Melis is certainly a Wonder Woman Heroine, but her childhood was just a little too awful for me. However, I like strong female characters and Melis is certainly that. The love story was predictable, but I wouldn't have had it come out any other way. The destructive weapon, bad guy Archer is after, is straight out of James Bond, but if you bought the dolphins (and I did), you'll buy the sonic gun.

My recommendation: This is a swift read that is much more fun than anything you'll find on television. I give it five stars, despite the over the top stuff. You won't go wrong if you buy this book.

Reviewed by Vesta Irene