And not merely to its setting by Joseph Conrad in the Malay Archipelago, where the shallow waters of the Karimata Strait separate Sumatra to the west from Borneo to the east. Exotic to western readers, the locale renders even more special the romance between a freelance sea captain of a small boat and a British woman traveling with her husband on a yacht that has gone aground on a sandbar off one of the many islands. The locale enables it, in fact. The remoteness of the spot heightens and intensifies the action among the vividly drawn characters. It is a dangerous place, with political conflicts simmering among the islanders native to the region and the potential treasure of a British yacht and its passengers too much for some of the factions to resist. I’ve enjoyed several of T. Jefferson Parker’s crime novels over the years. So, when I learned that his newest novel, The Rescue, involved a dog as a major character, I had such strong expectations that it would be “right up my alley” that I put it at the very top of my mountain of books waiting to be read. So far I’ve summarised this book as if it were a kind of love story, but there’s a great deal of darkness here too. The mysterious white-suited figure of Jorgenson looms about the margins of this story; an old white sailor with a somewhat mysterious past, he harbours a kind of hollowness reminiscent of all those men Marlow encountered in the deep colonial outposts of the Congo. Like the Professor in ‘The Secret Agent’, he is a nihilist, with a casual contempt for the everyday value of human life. McNab also worked as an instructor on the SAS selection and training team and instructed foreign special forces in counter terrorism, hostage rescue and survival training. Rainbow Fish ‘reluctantly’ swam off to join his friends. Can you think of other adverbs to use in this sentence? How does this change the meaning?

The book also notable for its depiction of a foreign civilisation; unlikes those aforementioned early novels, there’s little sense here of the Malaysians as an ‘other’ who only serve to respect the unknowable aspects of their white masters. Instead, they are presented as developed and admirable characters in their own right, being active players in a well-developed political society — and the privileged whites who look down on them are also the most ridiculous figures in the book. A brig captain, Lindgard, is hailed out of his ship's, and his, doldrums by a mysterious rowboat of sailors. This sets the tone for the rest of the book - his not knowing what is the ultimate aim of the people he brings on board and how much he should trust them. A yacht has been stranded in the shallows of a coast that Lindgard knows very well - and he knows that if that yacht stays there, everything he cares for is doomed.

First: A big thank you to Goodreads Giveaways for giving me the opportunity to read an ARC of this book in exchange for my honest and unbiased opinion. As part of my cover story, I’m going to decide that you two are annoying parents and that I don’t have to listen to a word either of you say” (171). To some extent, he is choosing between the native Hassim and Immada, who he regards as his own children, and members of his own race. In the circumstances, he does as many others have done, and chooses his own kind, precipitating the disaster. However, while his decision may be wrong, Conrad is sympathetic to his plight. Indeed, it is the European characters that bring the work to life, whilst the Malay characters are too shadowy to engage our interest. Conrad sides with the Europeans every bit as much as Lingard does. This author is an auto read for me, so I don't really pay attention to what the new book is about, just know when it comes out and I request it from the library. So I had no clue what this about going in, but I loved it! I really loved how we got so much of Joe/Felix's life, what he liked, what he didn't, what he knew, what he didn't. All this around several humans who were really going through some things. T. Jefferson Parker is an Orange Count California hometown guy! He lived in Tustin, (where I live) moved from LA when he was 5 years old and attended local schools as well as college. Then moved to nearby Laguna Beach and worked in Irvine. He now lives in Fallbrook in North San Diego County. Many of his stories are based in SoCal.

The other characters? Less interesting. They're written well and they're not unlikable.. they just seemed contradictory and I feel like that prevented me from really connecting with any of them. One of the love options was incredibly creepy from the start and, although it seemed like Bettina could sense that, she was not heeding the red flags. I cannot say I was extremely fond of the other option, either, and I did feel he did a few uncomfortable things, but I’d still choose him over what was behind door number two. However, this is a very different Tom Lingard in other respects. He is more heroic and strong-minded, passionate and reflective. He is therefore considerably more sympathetic than the older Lingard of earlier books. Andy McNab has written about his experiences in the SAS in two bestselling books, Bravo Two Zero (1993) and Immediate Action (1995). Bravo Two Zero is the highest selling war book of all time and has sold over 1.7 million copies in the UK. To date it has been published in 17 countries and translated into 16 languages. The CD spoken word version of Bravo Two Zero, narrated by McNab, sold over 60,000 copies and earned a silver disc. The BBC's film of Bravo Two Zero, starring Sean Bean, was shown on primetime BBC 1 television in 1999 and released on DVD in 2000. The ship is owned by the odious businessman, Travers, who is caught with his bored and scornful wife, Edith, and their acquaintance, D’Alsacer. The presence of Europeans complicates Lingard’s plans. He feels obliged to help his own people, and to prevent them from falling into the hands of the natives, his ruthless allies. Travers and D’Alsacer fall into the hands of a faction among the natives, and Lingard finds it a difficult job to extricate them, especially since he is falling in love with Edith Travers, and neglecting his duties towards Hassim and Immada.Joe's current owner is journalist Bettina Blazak, who writes stories and does video interviews for a newspaper called 'The Coastal Eddy' in Laguna Beach, California. However, I didn't feel like the other characters were quite as developed as they could've been. Jakob seemed very similar to other male friend characters in Nielsen's historical works. And Alfred seemed a bit flat. I wasn't sure of his motivations. I think Liesel was the most developed out of the three.

A critic has suggested the grandiosity of the titles registers a weakness of Conrad's vision or execution. It's possible, as this is not a perfect book, just a great one -- but I fell for the rhetoric completely, baroque or not. The story is fast paced. There are criminals, d

Edenton, NC

It's February 1942 and Meg Kenyon, 12, is living on her Grandmère's farm with her French mother in Nazi occupied France. She hasn't seen her English-born dad since he left in May 1940 after receiving a telegram from London and Meg believes he has been imprisoned by the Nazis, if he is even still alive. Before he left, he created a jar full of coded messages for her to solve - deciphering each other's coded messages was something they both enjoyed doing. Now, however, there was only one message left and Meg has been putting off solving it. Travers has been rescued and Mrs Travers has adopted native dress on board the Emma. Travers delivers an embittered and pompous lecture to his wife, criticising her behaviour. They argue about Lingard, about whom Travers is arrogant and snobbish.

I was not prepared for this book. I thought it was going to be a fun thriller that included a dog. I was mistaken.

Media Reviews

When confronted by raging fires or deadly accidents, volunteer fireman Taylor McAden feels compelled to take terrifying risks - risks no one else in the department would ever take - to save lives. But there is one leap of faith Taylor can't bring himself to make: He can't fall in love. For all his adult years, Taylor has sought out women who need to be rescued, women he leaves as soon as their crisis is over, as soon as the relationship starts to become truly intimate. You can see this same fault hobbling The Nigger of the Narcissus where Conrad departs from the matter-of-fact struggle of men vs sea; to ruminate pointlessly about catharsis. (Uncle Joe: show us! Don't tell us!) When Lingard and Mrs Travers reach the Emma Jorgenson is truculent and hostile . Lingard questions Mrs Travers somewhat jealously about d'Alcacer, whilst she in her turn thinks that Lingard is enamoured of Immada, by who they are joined on board with Hassim. Find out about environmental issues that are affecting coral reefs. How can people help to protect them?