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Wednesday 4 February 2015

James Patterson - Sail

review by showhost
How can an author who so strongly supports the National Literacy trust produce such no brainer literature! 
This is the same man who wrote the gripping crime novels with alex Cross & his family as the main characters (Kiss the Girls, Along Came a Spider etc).  He wrote them all by himself but now most of his books have another author attached - in this case it is Howard Roughan.  But in retrospect literature is about reaching out to all regardless of their ability or reading preferences.  If this book engaged a previous reticent or non-learner then it has done some good.  We all start somewhere.
Sail is a very predicable read.  The 'family dunne' is the name of a big sailing boat belonging to the very wealthy american family, the Dunnes.  Katherine Dunne, the mother, and her 3 children decide to spend the summer on a sailing vacation off Bahamas (mums idea not the kids).  The boat belonged to their deceased father.  Their Uncle Jack, their fathers brother, is to be their captain.  Katherine hopes it will help bond her warring children.  Her new husband/partner Peter Carlyle waves them off on the quay then meets up with his mistress for a romp.
But mishap follows mishap, leak in the fuel/water hose, then an explosion which wrecks the boat.  After being adrift for days the family find themselves marooned on a deserted island.  The positional GPR box reads wrong & the coastguard rescue can't find them.  But a message in a bottle proves lucky. 
Was the boat an accident or attempted murder and if so who dunnit? No prizes for guessing correctly.
Good if you want an easy predicatble read you can pick up and put down without having to concentrate.

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