Voyage into Limbo by Patricia Watkins
| Voyage into Limbo by Patricia Watkins | |
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| Category: Thrillers | |
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Reviewer: Sue Magee
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| Summary: I regard Pat Watkins' historical fiction as a treat and I was nervous about her first foray into a thriller in a modern setting. I needn't have worried - it's a great read. | |
| Buy? Yes | Borrow? Yes |
| Pages: 288 | Date: April 2014 |
| Publisher: Down Desigh Publications | |
| External links: Author's website | |
| ISBN: 978-0957210486 | |
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Colwyn Yeats, veteran of the war in Afghanistan and top-class sailor found himself at a loose end over the summer months. A planned research trip fell through when he'd already rented out his apartment. It seemed fortuitous when an acquaintance approached him to skipper himself and two friends across the Atlantic, in aid of a charity. Yeats had his doubts when he realised that his 'crew' weren't kitted out for the trip (flip flops? I mean, honestly!), they didn't appear to get on with each other particularly well and despite what he'd been told they didn't seem to know much about sailing. But - it was only a few weeks, when he'd nothing else to do, wasn't it?
The problems started early on. There was the disagreement about having alcohol on board, which Yeats thought he'd settled, but found he hadn't. Then there was the man lost overboard, but the worst part for Yeats was when he regained consciousness in a rescue helicopter after being found alone on a rocky shore, with no identification. The last part probably wouldn't have mattered too much but he was suffering from total amnesia - and was virtually blind. Where was he? How had he got there - and what was going to happen to him?
If you've read anything by Patricia Watkins you'll know that she writes beautifully - no tricks, no strange literary devices, just clear writing that leaves you in no doubt about the story she's telling. You'll know too that she has a talent for creating rounded characters. They're not perfect or in any way extraordinary: they're just human and they stay with you long after you've finished the book. But if I had to put my finger on what it is that lifts the books up in my estimation then it's the plots. Watkins takes perfectly ordinary people and pops them into a situation which is only slightly unusual and then allows the situation to develop. So often with thrillers I want to shout don't do that on the basis that only an idiot would do it - and then they go ahead and do it - but Watkins puts her characters into situations where you find yourself nodding, knowing that they had no choice or that you would have done the same.
Add into this mix some excellent research (you always get plenty of 'well, I never knew that' moments with Watkins) and some neat plot twists and you realise that this is someone who deserves to be more widely read. Highly recommended - and my thanks to the publishers for sending a copy to the Bookbag.
It you'd like to try some of Watkins' historical fiction then try Trick of Fate: Connell O'Keeffe and The Pen Caer Legacy - for starters!
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You can read more about Patricia Watkins here.
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