A Web of Salvage [Hardcover]

Brian Callison (Author)

Product Details

• Hardcover
• Publisher: G. P. Putnam's Sons; First American Edition edition (1974)
• ASIN: B000OO67Z4
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #9,363,540 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Brian Callison is the author of 22 best-sellers published by HarperCollins, Severn House, Futura, and Ostara. His novels have been translated into over a dozen languages including Japanese, Polish, Icelandic and Finnish. They have been printed in Braille, released as audio books, issued in large print editions and are used as creative writing references by several international learning institutions.

A former Merchant Navy officer sailing in cargo liners to Australia and the Far East, Callison subsequently worked in commerce before becoming a full-time author. Following service with the 51st Highland Division Provost Company (TA), Royal Military Police, he returned to his seafaring roots to maintain an active 35-year connection with ships as a Naval Control of Shipping Officer in the Royal Naval Auxiliary Service.

More recently he completed a three-year tenure at the University of Dundee as a Fellow of The Royal Literary Fund. His latest title to be reissued in print is 'A Flock Of Ships' (Ostara Publishers 2011: also available on Amazon Kindle). On first publication of that now-classic work, Alistair McLean wrote, "The best war story I have ever read. No qualifications, no reservations, no exceptions as to type and time: it's the best. Makes 'All Quiet On The Western Front' look like one of the lesser works of Enid Blyton".

He continues to help new writers become published writers (www.writermentoring.co.uk). 'Hopefully putting something back into a trade that has been good to me.' Writing: guiding aspiring novelists: teasing out the very essence of professionally-competent authorship is what he excels at, and he submits a portfolio comprising some two million published words as evidence.

'A Ship is Dying' is his second title to be published in electronic format. A further 17 Callison titles are scheduled for release as Kindle eBooks during the winter/ spring period 2011/2012.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Like Alistair MacLean -- only nastier!, March 28, 2000

By 

Joseph W. Smith III - See all my reviews

This review is from: A web of salvage (Hardcover)

Expertly researched and written maritime thriller in the solid tradition of Alistair MacLean and Hammond Innes. Terrific atmosphere aboard a tug that salvages wrecked ships -- and with much knowledge to impart about the little-known salvage business. Strong plotting, lots of gritty action, including a nuclear device -- but a bit too much death and bloodshed for my tastes. Callison seems to enjoy bumping off major characters, often in a somewhat grisly way, and this happened a few too many times to conform to the traditional thriller plot (a al Innes) where the bad guys "get theirs" and the good guys win. Not a bad, book, though, for those who've run out of MacLean novels to read.