Ship Of The Damned [Paperback]

James F. David (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: Forge (2000)
• ASIN: B000OTQ812
• Average Customer Review: 3.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (17 customer reviews)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars One of the Summer's Top Action Titles, August 10, 2000

By 

George M. Sullivan (Dania Beach, FL United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ship of the Damned (Hardcover)

For those who crave crisp plotting, engaging characters (including the bad guys), and above all, originality, I commend all three of Mr. David's published novels to your attention. If he hasn't skyrocketed to well-deserved fame comparable to Cussler or Koontz, it may be because he's constantly challenging us with new ideas and fresh treatments of old themes in a way that requires some thought on the reader's part...an effort those willing to make will find amply rewarding.

I shorted David a star on this one because, for the first time, he's treading on more familiar ground...speculation concerning the Philadelphia Experiment. Using some of the cast from his previous novel "Fragments," he embroils them in a sinister government plot to murder the motley crew stranded in a pocket of space-time created when a Navy crusier was enveloped in a high-strength magnetic field in 1943. Why kill them? Because the exiled individuals have developed psychic powers of great destructive power...and are looking to break out into our defenseless world...

David's writing here is far more choppy and action-packed than his previous works, which for some will be a plus. For me this approach takes away from his proven ability to create characters we care about and gradually drive up the tension as a seemingly benign situation grows gradually more threatening.

But I quibble. The bottom line is I recommend this book highly. Even when not at the top of his game, David's unique mix of SF/horror/technothriller is as good as your likely to find until his next book.

6 of 7 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A chilling thriller, August 22, 2000

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Ship of the Damned (Hardcover)

In 1943, the government considered the experiment a major success since they teleported the Navy's USS Norfolk. However, a cover-up was deemed necessary because of the impact on the crew. Several immediately died and many acquired a deadly disease. However, the nightmare part included the forging of humans with the ship's bulkhead as if their subatomic particles merged. Five decades later the cover-up remains airtight due to the actions of a top-secret agency not found in any of the authorization or appropriation bills.

Dr. Wes Martin and social worker Elizabeth Foxworth are working with seven people sharing the same nightmare involving a multidimensional ship. As the two researchers work together on this plane and in dreamland, the survivors of the Norfolk snatch a nuclear-armed carrier. The Feds send to the other side their deadliest agents to confront the crew of the Norfolk at any cost including the lives of Wes and Elizabeth who are on the same plane. If the Feds fail nuclear disaster is imminent.

SHIP OF THE DAMNED stars the Philadelphia Experiment with the expectation that Mulder and Scully will appear any moment. The story line is loaded with non-stop action as the numerous and complex subplots blend together into an awesome climax. The characters are secondary to the action, which leaves readers wanting more insight into those survivors living on the other side. Fans of total action thrillers with conspiracies, technology, and potential nuclear disaster in a science fiction climate will devour James F. David's latest tale.

Harriet Klausner

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Better Left Unread, January 30, 2003

By 

"tlcyrol" - See all my reviews

This review is from: Ship of the Damned (Hardcover)

To be perfectly honest, I have no clue WHY I picked up a copy of this book considering I was not a huge fan of the prequel. I guess it was just curiousity in the end, and we all know what that did to the cat...

Taking up a little after the point where FRAGMENTS left off, SHIP OF THE DAMN follows the same group of characters in another bizarre, out-of-this world adventure. Once again, all of the characters are something less than one-dimensional and only the villians seem to have any real depth (and that ain't saying a whole lot either). The plot, which tries to pass off as a possible alternative to the Philadelphia Experiment, runs pretty bland with random spurts of action that always seem to finish just as they get interesting. And, yet again, the author's writing style is like the Hardy Boys meets Oliver Stone's NATURAL BORN KILLERS: a mix of junior high school dialgue mixed (unsuccessfully) with gritty violence. In fact, it was so amateurish that I stopped mid-way through the book, leaving to collect dust until I find someone to purchase my slightly used copy.