Customer Reviews

Tiger Reef

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is great summer read. The commercial diver hero, Ben Gannon, gets tangled up with Indonesian pirates, crime lords, and tiger-poaching mercenaries over in the Java Sea. Hot action and some really twisted characters keep the surprises popping up, and there are some very well-drawn technical diving scenes. The female lead, Gannon's girl Sass, is very appealing: sexy and down-to-earth. And author McKinna has a really entertaining writing style--his "turn of phrase" is often funny in a dry sort of way. And he keeps things moving fast. Fun to read, loads of thrills and laughs. Nothing not to like in this book, the second in a series that started last summer with Crash Dive, which was also very good. Highly recommended.

Now heres a helluva good read! This is a real fast adventure that ocurs in the Java Sea involving modern pirates and the illegal killing and selling of protected tigers to make Asian medicines. Second diving novel from the ex-commercial diver (John McKinna) who did "Crash Dive" last year. This series looks like a real winner. The guy has a first rate imagination, and a lot of technical knowledge about the sea to go with it. Characters are great and really funny, or really sick and scary too! "Tiger Reef" is one of those can't-put-her-down books, and Ben Gannon's second adventure is like visiting with an old friend. Dang it, now I'm going to have to by all of this series, too. Don't matter. Money well spent. When McKinna writes, it's entertaining on every page. Love the action and the humor!

Got this book for Christmas and read it in one shot. An updated old-fashioned adventure story on and in the South Seas, complete with AK-toting Sumatran pirates, killer squid, and really BAAAAD guys. Author McKinna keeps things moving quickly, the action fast and furious, not to mention funny. Like dark humor? This has it in spades. Good deep diving scenes too. You can tell the writer's a former pro. Now I gotta get the first book in the series, Crash Dive. This stuff would make a GREAT movie! Maybe Russell Crowe or George Clooney as Ben Gannon (the working class hero). This book is a real winner. Loved it.

I was given "Tiger Reef" by a friend recently, and was very impressed by John McKinna's way with an adventure story. Some very intriguing information about the East Asian trade in illegal tiger parts, Indonesian piracy, and of course diving, diving, diving. This is high-grade thriller fiction, with sharp characterization and a shrewd, dry sense of humor throughout. I'm hooked: I ordered the first book in the series, "Crash Dive", yesterday.

I'm back with another Ben Gannon review 'cause I like the author's style. I'm reviewing Tiger Reef as I read it (can you do that? I'm doing it.) So far so good. Another very appealing high adventure read, with intriguing characters and a big role for my favorite tough chick, Sass. That's heroic tough guy diver Ben Gannon's lady, in case you don't know. This book looks like it would be a good vehicle for a strong Demi Moore kind of actress. Warning: a particularly digusting bad guy in this novel. Just gross. No kissing desired. But the book's a winner. I recommend it.

I really should have given this riveting read a 5 star but I just want to hold out because this new author is just getting better. CRASH DIVE was a really great, fun read - but TIGER REEF in some ways was better. For one reason is that Sasha was in this one more, and she is a cool character, beautiful but one tough cookie! I like that in a woman. Ben Gannon and her have a real good relationship and really help balance out the storylines. The story begins with them on a long voyage taking off right where it left off in CRASH DIVE. But its not long when they run into trouble with pirates and poachers, and the story just explodes off the page with this wonderful new writers charisma for storytelling that just is never slow or boring. Each chapter just builds up characters good and bad, and the action and adventure never stops. This is not a man's book either, women would love the love, action, adventure, and exotic locales which all blend together beautifully in this great series. My wife usually does not care to read this type of book but even she loved it. This is the kind of stuff that hollywood movies should be made of. Does anybody out there in movieland here me - this guys got sequels! A must read, and take it from me, a man who has read just about all genres for over 30 years, and a writer myself, this McKinna guy is great. His best is yet to come, watch out for him, I know I will.

Most genre fiction is fairly predictable. This author, who at one time was a professional oilfield diver, apparently, does a creditable job of both surprising the reader and creating some memorable (and occasionally over-the-top!) characters, working on a high-seas adventure/deep-sea diving theme. TIGER REEF clicks because the hero (Ben Gannon, a commercial diver) and heroine (Sass Wojeck, a kind of tomboy with sex appeal)are quite likeable, the villains (Anton Jaeger, Malcolm Durant--tiger body-part smugglers) are absoutely despicable, and the supporting characters surprisingly sympathetic and well-portrayed (in particular, an old Chinese steward, Chang, and his sort-of alter-ego, Yorushi Kurosawa, an aging, half-sane Japanese soldier from WWII). Author McKinna is quite deft at walking the line of racial (racist?) tension between characters, all the while keeping his subtext firmly humanitarian. A pretty good juggling act, for this type of novel. And actionwise, a number of scenes (particularly those involving a horde of immense predatory squid)are really riveting. Part of a diving-themed series from this author, TIGER REEF is a fine summer adventure novel, one to take to the beach and then keep on the bookshelf. It's good.

A worthy followup to last year's Crash Dive. Ben Gannon and Sass have to deal with some South Pacific nasties this time. Super summer adventure read for those who like diving adventure. Highly recommended.

A must read for divers. I definitely want more dive adventures written by this author.

The title above describes well Mckinna's writing style. Some authors are known for innovative or flashy writing styles that are as much a part of the story as the characters inhabiting the pages. But not here. Here Mckinna cuts to the chase, shoots from the hip, I could probaby think of a couple more cliches to describe his "to the point" style of narration. I guess you could say his lack of style is a style unto itself. It also lends itself to telling a story that needs no embellishment. He wisely lets the story drive itself along, and it does...without question. Instead, Mckinna spends his time developing characters which either endear themselves to you, or repluse you. As far as action adventure stories go, he does well putting characters you like, Ben and Sass, into a set of events that hook and drag you along. And the villian, he was as disgusting a character I've ever encountered in a novel and was fascinating as much as he was repulsive. Mckinna gets an A plus for character development here. The fact that he seems to know well what he is writing about, mainly the diving aspect, keeps you interested as well. I imagine many people picked up the book the first time for the same reason I did, and that was the dive related story line. I imagine a lot of Cussler fans read this one. Though not as much an international espionage story as Crash Dive, actually it wasn't at all, it stands up well as a character driven adventure. One word of caution, if you are squeemish, don't give this one a try. Mckinna plays hard ball, and pulls no punches when it comes to his villian. Ok, two more cliches there. The followup book Shark Lake was more in the same line as this, more character driven than plot jumbled. Which is good. Though it is a good effort to immitate Clancy's work, I believe the character centered stories that the series has developed into, will keep a loyal group of readers returning to the book isle at wal-mart, looking for the next installment in the series.