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Sea Change By James Powlik ( Island Books )
Release Date: 2000-08-08
Average Customer Rating:
List Price: $6.99
Price: $6.99
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Product Description
BENEATH THE CALM SURFACE A DEADLY TERROR AWAITS.
In the cold waters of the Pacific Northwest, two fishermen are the first to feel the heat. Then a young girl, playing innocently by the seashore--before dying an agonizing death. Now the media have a story. Reporters, scientists, and government officials are descending on the coastline, searching for a killer in the water. Renegade oceanographer Brock Garner is at the center of the storm.
He wants to know why he's finding dead zones in the Pacific...and why his best friend's heart stopped after he examined ravaged sea lions on a beach. Dr. Ellie Bridges, on duty when the little girl died, has questions of her own. Thrown together in the chaos, Brock and Ellie are about to uncover some disturbing truths: about a catastrophe of unimaginable proportions that is growing. Gathering strength. And moving--unless they can stop it--south toward a new victim. Seattle.
SEA CHANGE
"EXCITING...WILL KEEP READERS OUT OF THE WATER AND ON THE BEACH, READING THEIR EYES OUT."
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Amazon.com Review
Imagine a mix of Jaws and Godzilla with a touch of Titanic thrown in, and you'll have some idea of the scope and ambition of this debut techno-thriller from Canadian oceanographer James Powlik. Like in Jaws, something weird is killing people along a coast--in this case, the Pacific Northwest. Like in Godzilla, something we've done to the environment has caused simple creatures--in this case, tiny marine protozoa--to go crazy and mutate into a new killer entity. The Titanic touch comes when billions of these nasty creatures gather together to form a huge floating blob the size of an iceberg, which gives off a noxious gas that not only dissolves human tissue but also stops boat and plane engines dead. By the time marine microbiologist Brock Garner and his ex-wife, whale sonar expert Carol Harmon, figure out just what the murderous agent is, the mucky mountain is caught up in a terrific storm that is pushing it toward Seattle. And the government isn't doing a lot to stop it, because they know who's behind the monstrous mutation--a former Defense Department consultant who happens to be Carol's father. Powlik keeps this all from falling into the dangerous waters of "high camp" by making sure his characters are as reality-based and accessible as his scientific expertise. --Dick Adler
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 Decent oceanic thriller ( barbthejavamaster )
I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book, although the pace is slow in the beginning. There's a little action but it's mostly character development and to the author's credit, the characters are fairly believable. The problem for me is that there's too little fun in this book. The plot of the book has microscopic organisms developing into a collective, a large oceangoing monster that consumes everything in its path. It makes Jaws look like a guppy.
The author, however, is intent on beating his readers over the head with scientific facts and trivialities which lend the book an air of authority, instead of simply having fun with his creation. Two authors who consistently write good thrillers are Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child, yet they never take themselves too seriously, which I felt was this author's only failing.
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I really liked this book after all!
This book is written with a lot of scientific terminology and medical references that take some getting used to. There are also many naval and maritime references, again, if you are not familiar with the lingo, could get overwhelmed reading it at times.
The story line is believable: an out of control sea spreading virus thingy that is mysteriously making people sick and then killing them.
There, I gave you a little insight WITHOUT giving anything away!
I think MEN would enjoy this book a little more than women would, only because of the naval stuff.
But there is SUSPENSE, GORE, and excitement for sure! HORROR FANS will love this too! AS will scuba divers like myself!
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NOT THE BEST BUT VREY GOOD ( rexfoster10 )
I really liked this book and it was hard to put down. It's not the best but it was well worth the money and it was scary about what could happen in the water. It was like Jaws but with a different twist. I really liked it.
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An Average Read
James Powlik did a mediocre job in writing so that his work would appeal to a wider range of audiences. A downfall of his writing is his use a lot of scientific terminology that makes it hard for the average reader to grasp a concept that may be easy to understand. I often found my interest lost due to the amount of scientific terms and unnecessary information. I also found it hard to relate to any of the characters in the book. There were so many, most expressing little emotion, which took away from the story as a whole. I did enjoy some of the imagery Powlik used when describing victims of the Pfiesteria.
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Why swimming pools are becoming so popular... ( phikindic )
Peter Benchley frightened us from the water with stories of humongous sharks. Steve Alten took it up a notch with his action-packed thrillers featuring thought-to-be-extinct megalodons. James Powlik brings the newest aquatic threat to frighten us down to microscopic proportions with no less terror or thrills. With a writing style reminiscent of Michael Crichton (but thankfully less droning with the scientific details), Mr. Powlik deserves his spot amidst the big-boys of fictional techno-thrillers. Sea Change has enough science to make it believeable, enough emotion to make it real, and enough non-stop action to make the story big-screen worthy. More intriguing than preachy, this fiction makes a great read that's hard to put down. I'd tell ya it's a great beach read, except you wouldn't want to linger near any coastlines with this title in hand! I only give it four out of five stars merely because it's Powlik's first jump out of the gate and I strongly suspect his works will only get better while Amazon will still only offer a maximum five stars. A thoughtful, exciting read. Well worth it!
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