Customer Reviews

Wreckers' Key: A Novel of Suspense

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

 

 

Five MESMERIZING Stars! "Wreckers' Key" by Christine Kling is a highly entertaining novel full of mystery, interesting people, and great scenery. Seychelle Sullivan is a tall unmarried tugboat captain with an artistic eye and deep yearnings inside. And she's got her strengths and vulnerabilities: man problems and legal problems, among them. She comes to Key West from Fort Lauderdale to assist a friend and tow a damaged boat back. Such is the background of this standout novel that starts out interestingly and then hits a high gear of intrigue when tragedy strikes and there is a death. And we are inside of Seychelle's interesting mind the entire way, as her past keeps catching up with her, the mystery deepens, and interesting men catch her eye-but what about B. J.? Quite frankly, the high level of Ms Kling's writing artistry was such that I couldn't put the novel down. And truth be told, Seychelle's life seems to enjoyably overpower the storyline at times, although it's subterfuge. But it's fun just to watch Sey 'navigate' through the storyline.

Those familiar with the Key West part of the storyline will recognize places such as Duval Street, Turtle Kraals, Schooner Wharf Bar, the Dry Tortugas, the incredible sunsets from Mallory Pier and will feel right at home as she populates her landscape with interesting and unique characters both there and later in Fort Lauderdale. We are also introduced to a facet of boating that may be new to many of us who have visited there. And that's where the trouble starts and develops, and for Seychelle Sullivan it gets way too personal. The specific writing about the Gorda/Grady-White incident is spellbinding. In "Wreckers' Key", Christine Kling has conjured up a taut, carefully-plotted tale with interesting twists and turns that are the basis of an engrossing page-turner with a surprise resolution. But watch out! You may fall in love with the amazing Seychelle Sullivan. I did!! And the Florida Keys as well. Highly Recommended. Five MYSTERIOUS Stars!!

(Note: this review of "Wreckers' Key" is based on an unabridged digital download in secure eReader format.)

Wrecker's Key was the fourth book of Christine Kling's I read in quick succession. Once I started with her characters of Seychelle Sullivan, B.J., and Pit I was hooked. Actually, what really got me was the setting. Kling writes about apart of South Florida that comes alive in her description and history. She explores more of Fort Lauderdale and Key West than just the beaches so that the rivers and canals become as much a character as the people in her stories.

I thoroughly enjoyed Wrecker's Key, as much as any other of her books in the series and can not wait to read more.

This is a great series for anyone interested in delving a little farther into Florida's colorful characters and past, while at the same time enjoying a well-written mystery.

Victoria Allman

author of: SEAsoned: A Chef's Journey with Her Captain

This is the first of Ms. Kling's novels I've read. I stayed engaged with her blend of action and her development of characters, plots and broader subplots sufficiently to feel hooked and finish in one day. Her writing is smooth, direct and easily followed. Conversations seem mostly realistic without an inordinate amount of profanity -- and the latter seemed to fit quite appropriately where it was used.

I read the Kindle version. I found rare, almost inevitable typo's that were not really distracting to me. I suppose these could be handled in future editions via a copy editor (as suggested by a prior reviewer), but no major grammar, spelling, layout or other problems leapt out at me in the electronic version.

REGARDING AUDIENCE:

My guess is that the book would attract persons who would enjoy learning about boating, Florida history, mixed with some local flavoring (of past and modern Keys culture) with the benefit of being carried along via a story line rather than searching out similar material in a dryer nonfiction work. While it may indeed be predictable to provide a "Who Dunnit" strategy for such a task, I feel the author does a good job with this modality.

She builds a reasonably plausible and intriguing set of plots. The primary female heroine displays her strengths with respect to cognitive work, intuition and respectable physical prowess rather than brute force in solving the crimes. Thus, I suspect this novel might appeal more to persons who appreciate her knowledge of local life, language and boating expertise than those craving fast, rapidly changing and highly violent contests of raw power. There is also a fairly satifying degree of psychological depth to her character development. (Though there are a few angles of the twists and turns through mental illness I might rather see done differently). She also dips into some exploration of familial and relationship conflicts/values, particularly with respect to modern changes in both male and female roles as they are evolving in her setting.

The ending was rather precipitous -- a strategy that annoys some readers who might wish to at least end with tidy, clear resolutions, if not a "happy therafter" feeling. This novel either intentionally leaves room for her next sequel or shifts the responsibility to the reader to resolve several final tensions through their own imagination.

SUMMARY:

Overall, I experienced a well-rounded novel with intrigue, intellectual stimulation, and an opportunity to learn along the way. There was enough richness in content to feel like I could take a refreshing break, journeying for awhile within the story, her characters and the critical scenes without feeling overly bogged down in prolonged descriptions of environmental, technical or personal detail. It seems to me that it could particularly appeal to a relatively broad range of female readers, to outdoor and sealoving adventurers, and to male readers who are open to exploring the deeper twists and turns of complicated modern relationships.

Fort Lauderdale salvage and towboat operator Seychelle Sullivan finds herself in Key West during race week in Kling's fourth. She's come to tow a mega-yacht back to Lauderdale after its hired captain, her friend Nestor Frias, ran it aground.

Nestor suspects the boat's obnoxious owner messed with the GPS but Seychelle, something of a luddite, thinks sailors who rely on technology make mistakes, period.

Then Nestor dies in a windsurfing accident and his pregnant wife insists it's murder. While humoring her, Seychelle finds more reasons to suspect the yacht owner. And she discovers that one salvage company seems to be landing a suspicious amount of business.

Before leaving Key West she also runs into a childhood friend who has shed his ugly duckling nerdyness for a buff and ready success as a handsome charter captain. But the boyfriend back home, B.J., uncertain as that all is, keeps her honest and soon she's headed back to Lauderdale with the yacht, a new crew member and a lot more worries.

Kling keeps things moving and winds up the action with a terrific storm. Readers may figure the culprit before Seychelle does, but the beauty of the book is the water-oriented setting and salvage background and the salty descriptions of the Florida Keys and Lauderdale and their sometimes-shady history.

I was introduced to this book through a promotion at my public library in FL. The author was to appear for a "meet the author" session...but cancelled. Having spent a great deal of time in Key West and being a bit of a history buff for the Keys in general, I gave Kling a shot...so it was entertaining, but incredibly predictable re: "Who Dunnit". She knows boating and gets an "A" for incorporating that knowledge correctly. She also knows secular vernacular...it's just too bad she uses the book to prove it. There's opportunity for a good copy editor, and finally, it's as if she got tired of writing at the end (ie...you turn the page to look for a closing chapter...but there is none).

Christine Kling writes entertaining though predictable novels centered about the Florida Keys and boats. Kling is a real-life sailor, and her knowledge of sailing lends the credibility that carries these novels. Unfortunately, she blew this one with the absurd plot driver of megayacht captains 'running on instruments' at high speed as they approached reef-strewn channels. No real captain runs blind in poor visibility, relying only on GPS to navigate in hazardous waters. Such would constitute horribly poor seamanship as well as violation of the USCG Navigation Rules. Am I being picky? No, the flaw is just too basic and serious to be ignored.

This was my first book by Christine Kling and I thought it was pretty good. I read the book in 2 days and then read Cross Current. I liked Wrecker's Key better, however a similar story line occured in both books- a person from the past emerges as a "good guy" and turns out to be the villain....

Great story I had not read any of the authers books until now , very easy reading the story is like a movie makes you feel like you are in the scenes.

Wreckers Key was everything I expected from this talented author, and a little more. I read this one straight through. She seems to get better with each publication and this one is the best, so far. Not only has her mystery writing matured, but I truly enjoyed the way she described and used the different area of Key West and her knowledge of Ft. Lauderdale. I felt very confortable with her use of Schooner's Warf, Stock Island, etc. It's obvious that she has "been there, done that". I am looking forward to her next installment.

Seychelle Sullivan is a butch bitch staking out territory in the testosterone laden business of boat salvage, whose gorgeous lover has developed an interest in an embarrassingly wussy profession. But random events in the storyline won't really tell you what this book is about.

WRECKERS' KEY records the thoughts of a deft teller of tales, a boat captain, who learned her trade, the tricks thereof, and a lovely sense of justice from the folks who surround her- her family. This is her journey, nominally through murder and mayhem and pursuit of the bad guys, but really through the decisions she must make about her life. And I was glad to do that journey with her.

Within a few pages, I knew I was in the presence of a skilled writer. WRECKERS' KEY, my first Christine Kling book, is a laudable example of words used economically without distracting descriptive clutter. In less than a couple dozen paragraphs, I met many players and learned their place in Seychelle's heart, met the author's wit, her pacing and her sense of beauty: effortlessly, like undersea plants swirling with the flow of water.

[...]

But you already know my opinion.

Reviewer: Theresa de Valence