Customer Reviews

Surface Tension

5 star:		(11)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

How well does mystery writer Christine Kling know South Florida? Just as Raymond Chandler exposed the soft underbelly of Los Angeles in a way that readers can never forget, Kling offers readers a tour of a dark, gritty Fort Lauterdale that the tourists never see. Sam Spade would love Seychelle Sullivan, the heroine of Kling's new novel, Surface Tension. Sullivan is determined, resourceful and honorable in a world where many men have no honor at all.

As the novel begins, Sullivan is the captain of a salvage ship responding to a distress call from a multi-million dollar yacht. She is determined to rescue the yacht's captain, a man she once loved. It is a bitter irony that Sullivan's desire to save a live soon threatens to destroy her own. She is forced to confront a world of greed, corruption and cruelty that would have frightened Dante himself.

Kling is such a gifted writer that the reader imagines that she is perched at his elbow, telling the story to him alone. Readers should be warned that this book is impossible to put down. Sleep is less important than finding out what happens to Seychelle Sullivan.

Kling has spent twenty years of her life on or around boats and her experience shows. She writes about the world of boating, fishing and skin diving with an authority that is one of the pleasures of this fast-paced thriller. If I could send Ms. Kling a message via ESP, it would be: "When is the sequel coming out?"

Seychelle Sullivan is the captain of a salvage boat in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. One morning, she receives a Mayday call from a yacht at sea. The yacht is a vessel Sey is very much familiar with in that her old boyfriend, Neil, is the pilot. The call is made from a desperate sounding woman. Sey locates the boat and discovers the bloody body of a young woman. Neil is nowhere to be found. Things get worse when Sey finds herself the primary suspect of the police. She must discover, on her own, what happened aboard the ship and locate Neil. She soon finds her life in danger.
Christine Kling proves in her first outing that she is a writer to be reckoned with. Not only does she have an apparent natural talent at storytelling, but can create memorable, yet, realistic characterizations. SURFACE TENSION is a character driven regional mystery in the same vein as the hard-boiled female protagonists of Marcia Muller, Sue Grafton or Sara Paretsky. It is obvious Ms. Kling knows about boats in that they are major players in this book. The southern Florida locale very much plays a part in this work and is utilized quite effectively. Pacing is brisk and the plot carefully constructed. Florida mystery writers are among the best in the genre. I predict Christine Kling will prove to be no exception to that statement. An impressive debut.

For her first novel, I thought this was a great read. I lived in Florida for almost 20 years and found Ms. Kling was extremely accurate in her diescriptions of the various places in and around Ft. Lauderdale. The novel held my interest and was suspensful, her characters believable. I am looking forward to more books from Ms. Kling

Christine Kling creates a cadre of believable characters with outstanding personalities who fit together as tightly as a person wearing a skin diver's suit. From page one, the reader is drawn to Seychelle Sullivan, a 30 year old, female tugboat captain who is repairing the flusher on her vessel. It should have been fixed by B.J., her handsome shipmate of Samoan descent, who often accompanies her on towing jobs. Seychelle is interrupted by a May day call on the VHF channel ... which grabs the reader's attention and holds the suspense to the very last page.

This book is a totally satisfying reading experience. The author's obvious familiarity with nautical terms, which she liberally sprinkles throughout the book, enlivens the mysterious new environment into which the reader enters. The heroine is even more engaging because she works in a "man's world", in a unique occupation that is nearly extinct due to modernization. Little by little, we learn that Seychelle and her two brothers inherited the tugboat named, Gorda, from her dad who died three years ago of cancer. Right from the start, the reader identifies with Seychelle as she struggles to attain towing jobs in a very competitive industry. Seychelle is the first responder to the distress call ... she discovers an unmanned yacht out in the water, one which her former boyfriend had captained ... worse than that, she discovers a pool of blood and the body of a young lady who was stabbed to death

Seychelle's mind works over-time, fearing the worst - that her former boyfriend, Neal Garrett may have committed the murder. She follows protocol and reports the event through proper channels. The Coast Guard and Fort Lauderdale detectives enter the scene, after which she is thoroughly grilled by Detective Collazo. It gradually dawns on her that she is the "prime suspect" in this gruesome murder. As anyone would do, she takes great risks to follow every hunch and clue, to collect evidence, any information ... to clear her good name and discover the truth.

As a first novel, the book is astonishing in its depth, breadth, and superb detail - holding the reader's attention from beginning to end. As other reviewers stated, "I could not put it down" which is the highest compliment one can give any book.

Erika Borsos (erikab93)

I enjoyed this story set in Florida very much. Miss Kling writes about a very likable female character who is capable of getting out of some tough spots. I learned a lot about salvaging boats and Fort Lauderdale...for me this was a plus since I've never been to Florida. It's a different way of life that was interesting to read about. I've already purchased the next in the series I enjoyed this one so much.

I haver lived in South Florida for ocver two decades but somehow missed Christine Kling. Glad AMAZON directed me to her. SURFACE TENSION is the first book in the series about Seychelle Sullivan savage boat captain out of Ft Lauderdale. I enjoyed it throughly and expect to go on to book two, CROSS CURRENT. Sullivan is a tough cookie and a great character. She gets involed in a muder mystery and lots of deceit. A very fine first book. Kling knows a lot about south Florida and boats and it makes the book very real to me. HIGHLY RECOMMENDED

Seychelle is an odd name, but that's what you get when your parents name you and your siblings for exotic islands. And the dog, too,she's Abaco, another island. Surface Tension moves along as well as any of my beloved novels set on Travis' Busted Flush. It's a great read and breaks out of the tradition with a female protagonist who is smart, sexy, sexual, tough and cunning (when she needs to be), and yet has moments of fragility. She is altogether believable as is the arc of the story.

Can't wait for the movie!

A smart, tough, believable female protagonist, a tugboat captain running a salvage business in Fort Lauderdale, that sounds like my kind character. The story wasted no time diving right into the action and I was immediately hooked. Seychelle comes to life on the pages as both capable and likable, intelligent and take-charge, and Kling does a superb job of presenting scenes in vivid detail, both visually and emotionally, without slowing the story for one second. Without question, Kling knows her territory, both regionally and with boats, and this knowledge made this story all the more enjoyable. Her writing flows in a smooth, un-distracting way that draws the reader right in there with her characters, which is perfect as this is a highly-character driven story. The characters themselves, from Seychelle to her friends, foes and beyond, are all well-fleshed out and multi-dimensional. The dialog is natural and believable, with a subtle range that distinguishes each of the various characters quite nicely. The plot is well paced; it unfolds in layers that weave together in a way that kept me guessing, and though I had my suspicions there were a few surprises that did a nice job of sneaking up on me. And the end wraps everything up in a very satisfying way - there's no question I'll be reading more from Christine Kling!

I've just discovered Christine Kling's marine suspense series, set in Ft. Lauderdale...reminiscient of John MacDonald only from a contemporary (and autonomous) woman's perspective...just finishing her most recent Wrecker's Key now/reading leisurely because I know its the last for now...and I know I will be waiting for the next tale in Seychelle's (her central character) narrative. Very well done.

I'm glad to have a new series to fill in my waiting for Randy Wayne White and James W Hall outings- a year is a long time to wait between installments when you really like a series, and after reading Christine Kling's Surface Tension, I'm looking forward to more Seychelle Sullivan.
--Seychelle Sullivan is a strong, believable female lead based in a South Florida waterfront, operating her own marine salvage operation offers great possibilities for future adventures.
--The story could have been set in Seattle, Long Beach, Chicago, Baltimore, or Boston, -almost any busy urban waterfront, but Kling uses South Florida Megayacht wealth contrasted with working stiff realities in the warm water, semi-tropical clime to her advantage.
--I found satisfaction in the author's obvious depth of familiarity with the Fort Lauderdale/South Florida setting and the whole boating/marine scene. Kling's experience based knowledge of her characters' world lends a smooth, authoritive tone to the writing. Strong writing, brisk story movement with character development in a unique setting not mined out by other authors -that's what I'm liking in this book.