What do You think about Fatal Tide (2004)?
If you were to ignore the characters and look at the plot line of this book itself then you'd find it a quite enjoyable read. The characters though I found a bit stale/flat. With the exception of the dolphins (which is pretty obvious really) I failed to imagine what any of the characters were really like. Someone in another review described them as being two dimensional, and I think that sums them up perfectly. My other gripe is about the ending, for the way the storyline was building up it seemed a bit sudden. Added to this was the jumps in the timeline - 2/3 days would pass and there would be no mention of what happened during this time, even though there would've been events to do with the storyline taking place. Overall it was ok, but nothing spectacular.
—Bazz
Melis Nemid is a marine researcher (specializing in dolphins) with a traumatic past. Accompanied by the wealthy Jeb Kelby, she races against a sadistic arms dealer to find a sunken city - the Egyptian version of Atlantis known as Marinth. Who will claim it and the riches within first?While the premise is interesting, the execution leaves a lot to be desired. For the first 60 pages, everyone but the reader knows what Marinth is until that point. The book seems to focus more on Melis overcoming her past than on the actual discovery of the ruins. The fore-gleams are so excessive and vague that when such mysteries are finally explained, the reader is no longer intrigued but is just glad to finally have a tiny piece of the puzzle, half-dreading what written subterfuge will pop up next. The characters are all one-dimensional and unrealistic, given no motivation for their feelings or actions other than that's how the author wanted them to be. So all in all, an interesting premise poorly executed in its simplicity and slowly driven by flat, underdeveloped characters. Its only saving grace are 2 dolphins, Suzie and Pete, who Melis' cares for and know the way to the lost city. This book could have been so much more, but it sadly disappoints.
—Kelly
The book had a very easy-to-read narrative, which made it quick to get through, but I found the characters were quite flat. I had no real idea of Kelby, and his face was completely blurred out in my imagination because he was so one-dimensional, which was a fault of all the characters. I was left wanting more with so much of the stuff described in the book, from Marinth to Kafas. There could have been a very rich background woven with that information that just came disjointedly. I wanted more, and it wasn't really in a good way. I liked that Melis was very strong-willed, but I don't know if it was just me being feminist or what, but I was left kind of cold with the idea that all she needed was a strapping, strong-willed man and it would 'fix' all her problems.Though, not all the things in the book were bad. I really liked Melis's interaction with the dolphins, and the descriptions about her relationship with them.
—Kate
