Deadly Passage
by Lawrence W. GoldThriller Suspense Action & AdventureBook Overview
***** A great thriller built without guns blazing, fists flying or heroes doing impossible things July 24, 2013HALL OF FAMETOP 500 REVIEWERVINE VOICE
The quality of the writing in this book can be summed up in the following way. I know almost nothing about sailing, do not care to know, yet my interest was retained through the pages describing the acts of sailing. For the last five years, the Reiss family has lived on a boat and traveled the world, experiencing the dangers of life at sea. The father Andy, mother Jesse and twelve-year-old daughter Rachel are in the Caribbean and have made the decision to sail to Florida, get rid of the boat and once again live on land.
It is the onset of the hurricane season and they know that they must get to Florida before a major storm can develop. When the Reiss family dodges a storm by moving close to the Cuban coast they encounter another boat that has been severely battered by the storm. Following the laws of the sea, Andy moves to the craft to determine if there are any survivors.
He discovers two young Americans, Ryan and Nicole that are very ill. Andy is a physician and at first he thinks the two are just dehydrated. However, when ugly pustules appear on their skin, he realizes that they are suffering from a very serious and contagious disease. Ryan and Nicole are terrorists and they have voluntarily agreed to become infected so that they can pass the disease on to their fellow Americans.
Once the truth becomes known to the governments of Cuba and the United States, the plight and flight of the Reiss family becomes a national and international political football. The Cuban security service and navy, the U. S. Coast Guard, the Department of Homeland Security and the highest levels of the governments of the United States and Cuba are all involved. The situation is further complicated by the might of a hurricane, forcing decisions to be made immediately when the governments would rather go slow.
This is a great thriller, the senselessness, brutality, emotional coldness and arrogance of terrorism is a major part of the plot. Gold also portrays sections of the American government as being arrogant to the point of foolish and the hard political reality of having to make decisions where people die in order that others can live. The best part of the book is the repartee between Andy and Coast Guard Captain Barney Adams over the radio as Adams is ordered to stop Andy from landing in Florida while Andy refuses to consider any other option. It is funny and profound, yet it leads to a ratcheting up of tension to the point where one has to back down.
There is almost no shooting and fighting action in this book, yet there is a great deal of tension and excitement. Gold demonstrates that it is possible to write a thriller without gimmicks.
Deadly Passage is a high seas adventure of terrorism and counterterrorism where ruthlessness exists on both sides of the equation.
