Stockholm Syndrome On the High Seas
924990
[Book version review] First let me say that I am a huge...huge...fan of Marsha Canham.  I have now read ALL of her romances and I have rated them all 5 stars (with the possible exception of her first novel, China Rose, that I might give 4 and 1/2 stars to though I haven't done a rating yet.  I understand she is rewriting it for the ebook version so it could very well be a 5 star when that comes out).  Of the 5 star books she's written, I think this is one of her best.  It is non stop high seas action and the story sucks you in from the first page.  All her romances that take place on a ship on the high seas are wonderful. This one, set in the Caribbean during the time leading up to the War of 1812, is no exception.  However, having said that, I do have some caveats on this one that even as a 5 star romance you should be aware of (and I do apologize for some plot revealing here).

It begins with the hero (Captain Morgan Wade, an American privateer with a past, of course) taking the heroine (Summer Cambridge, the innocent 18 year old English daughter of the Governor of Barbados) onto his ship, ostensibly as a rescue from a shipwreck, but then he rapes her that very day. And he finds it amusing (that really made me angry). No apologies for hurting her or selfishly taking her honor or shaming her in front of his crew. No, he just takes what he wants. So there. And, let me be clear, this was not a seduction as in THE WIND AND THE SEA; it was violent rape. The fact that she physically responded to him does not change the fact it was rape, as any rape crisis counselor or criminal lawyer can tell you. And he continues to have his way with her every day thereafter for a week, effectively making her his whore, despite her clear resistance and demands that he cease. Finally she is allowed to return home to her father where she is married to her betrothed who is not happy about getting "Wade's leavings," and now she finds she is pregnant with Wade's child. A year later, we are supposed to believe she has fallen for Wade, and Wade has been thinking of her (please). Her husband, who was the elegant British officer and a gentleman, is actually a demented cad. Only Marsha Canham could do this so well as to make it believable. I couldn't put it down, so I can't say I didn't enjoy it very much. But still. I had to suspend my logical mind to believe any normal female could be raped and then carry on a casual dinner conversation with the rapist that evening and then be forced to have sex with him again that same night. And, all the time, he's still a good guy. If he was such a good guy, he wouldn't have violated her in the beginning. There is some suggestion that she really wants his attentions, and Wade is setting her spirit free, but it wasn't made clear. And there are his own words that if he'd only known she was the Governor's daughter he might not have taken her virginity. None of that felt right. It worked in the story because Marsha makes it believable (only she is that good!), but I had to suspend my own logical mind to go there, which of course, I did. In real life, any 18 year old raped under those circumstances with a whole ship's crew aware she is being kept for the Captain's pleasure would be cowering in the corner even if she did have great strength and spirit.

You could attribute this romance to the "Stockholm Syndrome" where a victim identifies with and becomes sympathetic to her captors.  It can and does happen and I suppose it happened here. That makes some sense to me. But it also makes me wonder if Summer would have reacted the same to any man who took her virginity with a little technique and held her captive. Know what I mean? All that being said, this was one story I could not put down. I don't recommend starting it late at night, however, like I did as I stayed up all night (and I do mean all night) reading it. Note the e-version does not contain a rape; Marsha revised this after seeing my comments and attributed the rape to the romance writing at the time this was written.
15564
I really enjoy the convict stories. I cannot believe the brutality of the men in charge on the ships. It is heartening to hear how the women find mates along the voyage, creating friendships that last. This story had a lot of happy moments.
200956
Reminiscent of Alfred Hitchcock's 1940's classic, The Lifeboat by Charlotte Rogan chronicles the life of 22 year old newlywed, Grace Winter. After eloping to London, Grace and her husband Henry, find themselves in a race to leave England with throngs of people determined to escape the vortex of political turmoil in the summer of 1914 after archduke Ferdinand of Serbia is assassinated.
Banker Henry's wealth buys the couple passage aboard the Empress Alexandra, a luxury liner, leaving Liverpool bound for New York. All seems well until one August afternoon when an onboard explosion sinks the ship. Her husband bribes a position for her aboard one of the ship's few overcrowded lifeboats. As one of the 40 occupants, Grace struggles to maintain her dignity, sanity, and health during an epic three week sojourn on the open seas where the lifeboat's commander, seaman crew member Hardie's behaviour finally drives the surviving passengers to mutiny.
When at last the Grace is rescued and brought with the other survivors to Boston, she is arrested and tried for premeditated murder along with two of the other passengers.
This is a taut, page turner. Though many reviewers don't like this book because they don't relate to Grace's character, for me the book's message was so much more than that. It's a study of the breakdown of human morality in extreme situations such as that experienced by survivors on a lifeboat, and, characters aside, as such, it's superlative!

 I read this entire book in two sittings and a family member read it in one. It's that good, and I'd highly recommend it.
Enjoy.
1131192
I never don't like a Deep Black novel and this one is no exception.

Jihadi terrorists simultaneously hijack a British cruise liner and a nearby freighter loaded with reprocessed plutonium headed for Japan. What their goal is isn't clear, but you know it's got to be horrible.

So, it's a little bit "Airport" and a little bit "The Love Boat" crossed with the real-life Achille Lauro cruise ship hijacking of the 1980s, in which the elderly, wheelchair-bound Leon Klinghoffer was shot and dumped over the side.

This is a high-tech ship, with every passenger trackable from the microchip in their bracelets, every inch of ship monitored by cameras -- and the whole system accessible through a ship's security officer extorted by a kidnapping.

The good guys have a couple of people aboard -- two MI-5 agents investigating a murder back at the harbor, and a British agent seconded to NSA's Deep Black team who is on board, posing as a tourist, to help NSA penetrate its system. They do their best to suss out what's going on and report back without getting caught.

Meanwhile the cruise features the estranged couple trying to get back together, the prima donna rock star whose reckless lifestyle a la Spears and Lohan has a TV news crew in tow waiting for her to melt down, her diva-weary manager, a group of old lady tourists, the ship security officer on the make -- the usual disaster-film ensemble. One feature player: a robot named Rosie who can not only deal cards in the ship's casino, but banter and flirt with the customers as well.

NSA's William Rubens wants to put Deep Black's new Black Cat commando team into play. But he's stymied on one side of the Atlantic by an egotistical British general who wants to lead and get the glory, and on the other side by a U.S. president happy to let them so that he can avoid risks as he harvests the PR value of Ending Bush's Horrible Genocidal War in Iraq to signal a happy new age of American moderation in the Middle East.

Rubens, seeing a disaster in the making and knowing meanwhile the unique value his all-penetrating communications can contribute to any raid, must gamble on getting Charlie Dean and the new Black Cat team into place to help free the cruise ship without killing thousands of passengers and maybe contaminating the entire East Coast.

The technology as usual is up to the minute, plus all the inside intelligence poop presumably true or close to it. Does the U.S. really have a secret Mach 6 spy plane that flies at the edge of space taking pictures with far better resolution than even spy satellites can?

I particularly like the scene where the commandos do a high altitude parachute drop over the North Atlantic at night to hit the cruise ship. Totally bad-ass.
4490701
I sympathize with their plight as a marine lover, but the captain is a nut job. He asks that his crew be willing to risk their lives for the whales , but never risks his own. I have watched an episode in which he talks two members of his crew into illegally boarding a Japanese ship so that they may be taken hostage. But Fatty McFatterson never volunteers to risk his own life. Too much showmanship and not enough substance.
409107
SOS: Spirit of Survival is a book that tells of how a family dealt with the trauma of a cruise ship disaster. The Costa Concordia shipwreck is among the worst cruise disaster of recent history. Thirty two people lost their lives and thousands suffer each day from this horrific event. This story follows each perspective of a family of five. The Ananias, a family of five was a basic cruise lover who has been on countless cruises. After this disaster no member of this family will look at cruises again.
 The Costa Concordia was a cruise ship touring the islands of Italy. They began to have problems about two miles off shore when they hit a shallow spot. During the disaster no one realized how far they drifted. They happened to drift right onto a shelf of a nearby island. While drifting, the ship was turned the opposite direction of the island so no one was aware where they were going. These passengers were extremely lucky that the ship drifted onto a back or many other passengers wouldnt survive.
 During this disaster this family saw more than they were expecting. While trying to get to a rescue boat they saw men pushing kids and women away from them to get to their own safety. Cruise ships don't have nearly as much safety as they need. Everyone was panicked and scared and no one knew exactly where to go. God was really watching out for this family because there were many life or death situations that they encountered and survived.
192818
Cruise Confidential would be HIGHLY recommended to anyone who has been on a cruise or is thinking about a cruise vacation in the future.

The book goes into very revealing detail of the happenings below the water line, in the restaurants, on the decks, and warm tropical locales.  Intrigue, crazy antics, misadventures, flitations, and sex are brought to life in the pages of this book.  In reading this book I felt like I was actually going through the same battery of emotions the author was revealing to us. I really got caught up in so many of the situations captured in this wonderful tell all.  With each turn of the page I kept on wanting more and more.  I simply could not put the book down.  Matter of factly, I've read the book three times over the past month.  That's how good of a book Brian Bruns has written.  I have a much deeper respect for the hardworking crew that slave endlessly to provide us cruise vacationers with a tip-top, rewarding, good time on the high seas.

Needless to say, I am absolutely thrilled that there is currently an upcoming sequel to Cruise Confidential in the works.  I'm there with the click of my mouse to pre-order the next high seas adventure writen by Brian Bruns, as soon as Amazon starts advertising to do so.  Can't wait!!!
3085804
Maersk Lines permitted the author to make a voyage from Northern Europe to the Far East aboard the Maersk Kendal.  If you've never been to sea on a containership her description of the voyage permits you to vicariously experience working at sea.  However,  the most educational parts of the book come when she departs from the vessel and casts her laser like perception upon the industry itself.  Her descriptions of open registries,  port or flag state control regimes,  pollution and climate change regulations,  the demise of developed world employment in shipping,  piracy off Somalia,  and safety at sea are spot-on,  and her research is outstanding.  You will learn lots here and you may even be interested by the time she spent at sea.
1416882
As a merchant marine captain, who has sailed Arctic and Antarctic waters I find the accounts of weather and ice completely credible. The impersonal malevolence of the frozen latitudes is something one never forgets; it completely overwhelms the pristine pastel beauty. The message that is often overlooked by those who romanticize the sea are the extreme day to day difficulties of  living with different personalities while under unusual stress.  In addition, the debilitating effects of  sleep deprivation cannot be exaggerated. Through my eyes this was a foolish venture, with a fortunate outcome.  However, it is well recorded and a very good read.
2917114
Reading "Rig" is tough for safety professionals, and I can only imagine how much tougher it is for the families of those lost on the "Ocean Ranger" on February 15, 1982 in a horrible storm off Newfoundland. For those who chose to participate in this oral history, I hope they found the experience cathartic and hopefully it brought them some closure. The book is an edited compilation of nearly fifty well-chosen interviews relevant to the "Ocean Ranger," and the diversity of viewpoints is staggering.

I have some expertise in aviation and chemical processing safety programs and believe that there are parallel errors across many high-tech industries. It was with that in mind that I read the book, and while not a technical analysis, it is a far better recounting of the underlying safety culture onboard that rig than formal accident reports or professionally-oriented articles. Though there was some disagreement, the consensus estimate from the book was that the "Ocean Ranger" was a rather unpleasant workplace with variations in training and aptitude apparent, and with safety being a general afterthought. I was especially interested in the interviews with people who had been on the "Ocean Ranger" as well as other rigs, and found that even though rigs like the "Sedco 706" and especially "Zapata Ugland" were considered in some ways inferior, they had a much greater safety orientation. Gary Wall (Wireline Operator, Schlumberger) makes the case for the extreme safety orientation of the Norwegian-helmed "Zapata Ugland" on p. 46, and for me that interview is the key to understanding the book and the accident. The command structure of the "Ocean Ranger" was highly regimented with Rig Superintendent Jimmy Counts providing the hard-nosed leadership that struck fear into the hearts of subordinates. Many of the interviews were extremely critical of his intimidating leadership style, although there were interesting counter arguments from a few interviewees testifying that he knew the rig better than anyone, even going as far as to suggest that had he been onboard that night that the rig would not have foundered. Although that type of speculation is interesting it's ultimately unproductive. It's more interesting to examine the accident and the subsequent evacuation from a training and preparedness viewpoint; it seems almost certain that additional training would have been helpful, in some cases critically so, and it's beyond doubt that emergency equipment was inadequate. What's sad is that the rig had to founder with all 84 hands onboard to begin a regulatory assessment of offshore safety.

In addition to safety and accident specific information, this is a book that's really about the human cost of the accident and the needless waste of human life involved. This is not an oil company issue; it's a greater industrial issue and can be found the world over in a variety of industries. I am glad that Mike Heffernan assembled these amazing interviews. While I couldn't appreciate more Gary Browne's (Director of Emergency Measures [Acting], Royal Newfoundland Constabulary) portrayal of the press as little more than a heartless pack of jackals (p. 119, a sentiment professionally echoed elsewhere,) the most amazing single interview comes from Ray Hawco, a former Catholic priest who was supposed to be on the "Ocean Ranger" that night, but instead ended up coordinating notification of next of kin. His story starting on p. 112 is nothing short of astonishing and is so vividly recounted that it reads like the best fiction.

If you want to understand the dark side of the offshore oil industry, "Rig" is an excellent place to start. It's not a complete technical accident reconstruction, but it informs both safety professionals and interested laymen alike of the dangers of inattention to positive safety culture and lack of training and emergency preparedness. This is a sad, sobering, and thoroughly engrossing book.
1357772
This is a book that foreshadowed events like the Cole tragedy and shows how vulnerable the U.S. is to terrorism...plus it is a good high-seas adventure that puts you in the middle of high-paced life on an aircraft carrier...a real page turner.
1824758
A travel journalist deals with the emotional fallout of a traumatic event in her personal life while on her latest assignment on a luxury cruise ship. Just as she tries to pull herself together, she witnesses what she believes is a murderexcept no one on the ship is missing. She will have to prove to everyoneincluding herselfthat despite recent troubling events her journalistic instincts are still as sharp as ever to prove that someone died. Author Ruth Ware takes readers on a wild, fun ride in the murder mystery The Woman in Cabin 10.

Laura Lo Blacklock cant believe shes landed her latest assignment. Richard Bullmer, British business tycoon, has launched a new concept in cruise ship traveling. Its the ultimate in luxury cruising with less than a dozen cabins on board and every indulgence a person of wealth and power could possibly desire. Bullmer has invited a few choice guests and members of the media to cover the maiden voyage on the Aurora, and Lo gets to stay in one of the plush cabins while spending a week hobnobbing with some of Englands elite and sailing through the Norwegian fjords to observe the Northern Lights.

Days before she sets foot on board, however, Lo experiences a traumatizing event. She barely has time to recover before getting on the ship and trying to impress Bullmer and the other passengers. The details of the event haunt her, but she tries to concentrate on the opportunity to mingle with other journalists and Englands rich and powerful.

A chance encounter with the woman in the cabin next to hers turns into more than a casual meeting when Lo witnesses what she thinks is a murder. When Lo tries to bring the attention to the ships security and other crew members, though, they discover that everyone is accounted for. No one is missing. Lo begins to question herself, but her instincts won't let it go. Something serious took place, and even with her own misgivings and issues she won't stop until she figures out just who died.

Author Ruth Ware takes her readers through the paces of a good old-fashioned murder mystery. She offers what the genre does best: a protagonist with deep flaws. Misdirection. Red herrings relevant to the story. A list of suspects each more unreliable than the last. And enough conflict and tension to keep readers swiping or flipping pages in an eager bid to find out whats really happening.

Protagonist Lo does suffer from some annoying traits. She keeps turning to alcohol to solve her problems and her deep insecurity might make readers wonder how she manages to get out of bed in the morning, never mind hold down a steady job or pursue a relationship. Ware also leaves a few minor questions unanswered. Some readers may appreciate this cloudiness in the story; others might want to know everything by books end.

By the same token that Los alcoholism impairs her judgment, it also offers Ware the opportunity to sow doubt in Los trustworthiness. Can Lo count on herself? Can readers count on her? Ware keeps readers guessing to the very end about the identity of the victim and the series of events leading to her death, and she doesnt let up on the tension even with just pages to go until the end. Its a rollicking fun ride that will make readers want to go back to the front of the book as soon as they reach the end of it.

Readers will find that The Woman in Cabin 10 Borders on Bookmarking it!

(I received a copy of this book from the publisher so that I may review it objectively and honestly.)
1578240
On a recent trip to the Caribbean, it seemed fitting to read a book about pirates. So I picked up this book, which I had been meaning to read. Airborn is in many ways a classic sea-faring swashbuckler of a novel, with a plucky cabin boy, a brave captain, ruthless pirates, terrifying storms, and tragic shipwrecks.

However, Airborn features a few quirks. First of all, the ships in the story are airships, like the Hindenburg. The protagonist's ship, the Aurora, is a luxury passenger vessel that uses a lighter-than-air gas to fly, instead of floating on the water. The story is basically an alternate reality, set in the early 1900s, exploring what might have been, if airships had become a primary mode of transportation. Airborn also features sightings of a species of winged cats, undiscovered mammals that live over the ocean, another alternate reality that fascinates the author.

I quite enjoyed this book. The cabin boy, Matt Cruse, is brave and resourceful. He gets dragged into trouble by a wealthy young passenger named Kate, who is herself quite plucky, especially for her historical time period. Matt and Kate's main adversary, a pirate captain named Szpirglas, is also a well-rounded and interesting character, not your cardboard cutout pirate by any means. The story is complex and action-filled, with conflicts arising from nature, pirates, and Matt's troubles with authority.

I think that this book will appeal to teen boys looking for adventure stories, and will have cross-over appeal to girls, too, because Kate is such a strong character. (Kate is very brave, and independent almost to a fault. At one point, she drugs her companion/guardian, so that she can traipse through the woods on her own, to photograph an elusive and dangerous cloud cat.) I look forward to reading the sequel, Skybreaker.

This book review was originally published on my blog, Jen Robinson's Book Page, on July 11, 2006.
2116816
The US nuclear sub Seawolf, prowling around Arctic waters off the Russian coast and mapping the sea bottom with robot submersibles, collides with the Russian sub Severodvinsk, aggressively patrolling waters the Russians consider to be theirs.

The Seawolf, with a damaged hull and electronics, is still navigable, stabilizing after some harrowing hours. But the Russian sub has sustained far worse damage, and sits on the sea floor 600 feet down. Theyve got an escape capsule big enough for the entire crew, but the subs tilt on the seafloor prevents its release.

The Seawolf has begun heading to put in at a UK port. But only when it gets back in contact with the world do its officers hear the Russian sub has been declared missing.  Only they know the site of the collision, and theyve got their submersibles to hunt for it. Nasty weather keeps Russian rescue vessels in port.

The Seawolf is sent back to find it. But Cold War attitudes die hard. The Russians publicly blames the Seawolf for the collision, they won't share any information and they try to drive it off. Neither are Washington brass thrilled with the mission. Some think the US sub in its damaged condition shouldnt be risked to help a historic enemy whose own admirals don't seem to want it.

Fighting the elements and the bureaucratic obstacles, the Seawolf struggles to keep the Russian submariners alive until they can be rescued.

We see the action through the eyes of Bonds character, sub navigator Jerry Mitchell, and Dr. Joanna Patterson, the National Security Council representative who sailed with Mitchell in a previous adventure. She is sent out to lead the U.S. effort.

Both sub captains struggle with the torment of the responsibility they bear for their own mens lives lost. And the Russians must wait day after day in a cold, dark sub, with the air growing steadily less breatheable, wondering if theyll ever get rescued.

Like a lot of Bonds books, Id give this one a B for story and characters, and an A for technical detail and realism. Bonds characters are never that compelling, but the real stars in his books tend to be the situations, the hardware and the detail. I get the feeling a real submariner wouldnt find that much wrong with this book. The level of tension between Russia and the United States seems about right for the Putin era - no longer the Cold War, but with no love lost.

The story lagged at times, but perhaps in keeping with the plot: nothing happens but the clock slowly ticks, and if nothing keeps happening, a lot of men will die. Its a decent tale, inspired by the loss of the Russian sub Kursk and, longer ago, the US subs Thresher and Scorpion. Bond notes in an afterword that names of crew lost aboard those subs were used for characters on the fictional Seawolf and Severodvinsk.
1198916
Once again, we have a story that takes place outside of Brackish Bay, but is moving in that direction. Marri and Dinis were caught between fighting clans, and he was seriously injured, and both are taken in by William the Poet, his lover Amadeus and guardian Katherine. The story takes us on many dangerous twists and turns and missions to keep some towns safe and take out enemies in others. They add five more female soldiers on the way as they are heading to Brackish Bay.  The story is full of spankings and punishments, and various sexual encounters including mnage, anal-play, kidnap-capture and rape fantasy.  The story is not a sweet romance but is a post-apocalyptic world with cruel and evil people, slavery, and control. The stories are part of a series.  The next story will have us at Brackish Bay.
1347064
This is a "historical fiction" novel of High Seas Intrigue, Romance, Deception and Adventure.  The Heroine journeys across the sea, to escape from danger--yet, lives in fear for her life, daily.  The Heroine somehow manages to disguise herself as a boy and live amongst seamen without them catching-on.... leading to very precarious predicaments on-board the ship, down in the dark below-deck regions.
The journey across the sea, into unchartered(?) waters is plagued with daily near-disasters, Deception and laborious drudgery--spiked with moments of panic, Romance and religious epiphanies from The Goddess.
Behind the Heroine's personal adventure, is an underlying conspiratorial background of espionage and power plays relating to the shadowy plots of individuals and organizations loosely based upon "Templar" societies.  Historically, The Templars were International Sailors and the author has incorporated this fact into the story....which leads to The New World.
Is the Heroine doomed to the Inquisition's Torments....or, is she destined to be a Representative of The Goddess ?
Is she a wealthy Lady on the run...or a Swan Goddess, fallen to earth?
Will she survive the Journey...or perish in the Sea ?
264929
When the large merchant vessel anchored in the bay of the beautiful South Seas Island I could tell that there was going to be trouble. There was the beautiful girl and the sailor who would fall in love with her and together they would save her world. It has been done before except Guardian of Paradise has enough differences to make it an interesting read.  Healing lotions, talking birds, animal impressions and rare gems, the action got heavy and then very steamy at times.  Overall Guardian of Paradise was an enjoyable book to read.