This is a thick book. Took me a while to get to the end cos I've had quite a few things to attend to lately. But I stayed riveted because it was basically just that... riveting. I finally finished it this evening. This is the first of Dirk Pitt series that I am reading.
The novel begins with a background to the main plot. Australia, the dumping ground for felons. The clipper which was transporting Jess Dorsett, a convicted highwayman and Bess Fletcher, punished for stealing out of desperation ran into a typhoon and sank. The captain managed to construct a raft and transfer everyone onto it. There was an attempt to mutiny by the convicts. Anyway, Dorsett and Fletcher were among those who survived the terrible ordeal at sea. They became castaways on Gladiator Island.
Fast forward a few generations. Their descendants have become very rich, made by the discovery of high quality diamonds by Bess Fletcher on the island. Arthur Dorsett is a cruel man who thinks nothing of life. His mining activities became lethal when his mining method became a acoustic plague that kills everything in its path, hence the title Shock Wave. He has 3 beautiful daughters. 2 are like him while Maeve, ran away to escape her father's clutches.
Some parts of the novel seem so improbable but the way the author weaves and mixes facts with probables made everything seem possible, hence my mind kept going back to the novel whenever I had time to spare.
All ends well but not totally. The hero survives a certain death but loses his love. I might be reading more of this series, though.
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