The Undertow [Paperback]

Tom Foote (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 25, 1998

In the stormy seas of Galway Bay, Jim Predergast and his treasured yacht Larinita are doing their best to compete in a local race. After a boating accident that kills his wife and daughter, Jim embarks on a personal quest for revenge wich leads him on a dark journey involving IRA gun-running and an international terrorist plot of major proportions aimed at destroying the peace talks once and for all. Foote's highly literate and tightly plotted debut novel heralds a new and exciting voice in thriller/suspense fiction.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Touching on such hot topics as the peace process in Northern Ireland, international terrorism and political assassination, this debut suspense thriller makes a solid read for fans of the genre. After Jim Prendergast loses his wife and child during a stormy maritime race in Ireland's Galway Bay, he realizes that the ramming of his yacht was no accident and is haunted by dreams of revenge. A career seaman whose life is now empty, he undertakes an unusual shipping assignment to the Mediterranean, unaware that it will lead him into a high-seas intrigue involving the very men responsible for his family's death. The exotic locations?Libya, Malta, Spain, Mexico and the West of Ireland?lend the story color and excitement, and the author (himself an Irishman who went to sea at a young age) handles both maritime descriptions and a tight plot with admirable dexterity.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Library Journal

In this thriller from a new Irish writer, a man whose wife and daughter drowned when their yacht was hit by a freighter running guns for the IRA goes on a quest of vengeance.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 352 pages
• Publisher: Dufour Editions (May 25, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0802313205
• ISBN-13: 978-0802313201
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #5,450,326 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fast paced and exotic page-turner!, September 1, 2000

By 

Paul Shard (Yacht Two-Step in transit Palma Mallorca) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Undertow (Paperback)

Undertow will quickly draw you in with a cast of interesting characters, wonderfully vivid exotic locations, and a fast-paced yet thought-provoking plot.

The book is set in Ireland and around the Med (with a number of other locations thrown in) and follows a yachtsman who finds himself drawn into a terrorist plot.

As a sailor myself, I have cruised to a number of the ports Tom describes in the book (and actually met Tom at one of them!?!) and find his descriptions to be accurate and vivid portrayals of the locations. The author lives on a boat, travelling to these places himself and sees them as a mariner does - not a tourist. You could not hope for a more realistic description of the exotic ports in Ireland and the Mediterranean as well as life at sea on ships and yachts.

Undertow is a great read for anyone interested in adventure and the sea - I hope he will write more for us!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars From The IE Book Review of July 1997, May 25, 1998

By A Customer

This review is from: The Undertow (Paperback)

From a personal experience of coming into close contact with a large ship while sailing in Galway Bay, first time author Tom Foote has created a fast-paced tale of arms-running intrigue, involving the IRA and Middle Eastern arms dealers, which holds the attention from start to finish. In "Undertow", the encounter with a large vessel in the bay which rams the yacht piloted by Jim Prendergast, killing his wife and daughter in the process, marks the beginning of a saga which leads from the border counties of Ireland to Malta and beyond, with much of the action also centring in Galway. The many strands of the plot draw in the British Ambassador to Ireland, MI6, northern members of the IRA, Middle Eastern arms suppliers and the evil Foster, whose shadowy figure is present from beginning to end.. While being a devotee of neither thriller nor sailing-based stories, I found "Undertow" to be a compelling narrative which does not blind with too much nautical detail. The action moves along smoothly and interest is maintained, though one needs a fairly strong stomach for some of the more violent passages.