White Shark

Rating:
Summary: A disappointing monster novel.
Review: It is difficult to write a good monster novel. If the author makes the creature too unbelievable, the reader will just not buy into the concept and dismiss it as wacky. If the creature is not fantastic enough, the reader will lose his sense of awe and fear. There is no question that this is a tough balancing act.

Unfortunately, this book never finds that special balance. The idea toes the line between being trite or moderately interesting (Nazi experiment produces hybrid monster) but the delivery is lacking. There is nothing I can say that will articulate exactly what this book is lacking except that I feel it is missing that intangible "magic".

My advice to you is to read this if you must, but otherwise there are other better monster novels out there.

Rating:
Summary: Peter Benchley--White Shark (1995)
Review: Peter Benchley, the suspense master of the sea (author of "Jaws" and "Beast"), creates a new shark-filled tale with a twist. As a young man, scientist Simon Chase was too consumed with his work on sharks that he left wife and infant son Max to continue his rigorous studies of the sea. After developing the Osprey Island Marine Institute near Long Island's North Shore, he feels content with his work and realizes that he has failed as a father. Attempting to rectify the faults of his fatherhood, he spends much more time with his now pre-teen son and hopes to start the next chapter of his life as an excellent role model.

While monitoring a sixteen-foot mammoth of a great white shark, he notices several claw and gash marks on the creature. Chase believes that something is deadly wrong, so he informs Dr. Amanda Macy of his problem. Macy leases the institute, using the resources to unravel the horrific truth--the menace is a monster produced by a demented Nazi scientist, which has hatched 50 years later and is wrecking havoc on Chase's community. "White Shark" is an intuitive, yet slightly absurd look at the horrors that can evolve from evil minds, but the true ludicrousness of the Nazi war weapon references is overshadowed by the excellent dialogue between father and son. "White Shark" struggles to incorporate all of the plot twists and ecologic jargon into a concise, cohesive unit; however, it triumphs as a heartfelt tale of how a father and son can come together in the most adverse situations (even if the attack of a fifty-year old shark-creature is that adverse situation). A good, fast-paced read--nothing more, nothing less. Fans of "Jaws" may want to check it out, otherwise stick with the classic.

Rating:
Summary: Nazi horror at its sea-lion eating best
Review: This novel was a great book. Wonderful plot. lots of suspense. You felt sad for the people who died because Peter gave you so much info about their lives. And you feel so sad for the poor sea lions that get eaten. This is a real addicting book.

The only complaint is the ending.

God, all of Benchleys endings are strange.

I mean, the thing was blown to bits!
dont all his books end that way?

And the thing isnt a shark. its more like a half human monster. The only reason i can think that he named it white shark is because the scientist, Simon Chase, was studying a white shark. But aside from a few minor srew ups, its a good read.

Rating:
Summary: Greenie Ranting
Review: Well I read the whole book, even though it wasn't exactly what I was hoping it would be based upon my remembrance of reading 'Jaws'. In the novel 'Jaws' we are enfolded into the lives of several people and how they deal with a monster shark terrorizing a small town dependent upon tourism for their livelihood. Here, in 'White Shark', we are subjected to Benchley's ranting and raving and preaching about environmental issues, we are given cardboard characters that are predictable and a monster that is unbelievable science fiction.

I guess the author thought that if he called a book 'White Shark' we the readers wouldn't mind if he substituted an evil monster fish man created by Nazi's at the end of World War Two. Opps, I spoiled the surprise, however, in my defense, the subject comes up in the first chapter. There is a great white shark in the book, however, she plays a secondary role and doesn't eat anyone. Benchley, I think, when he wrote this book, was still feeling some guilt about presenting sharks as evil when he wrote 'Jaws', however, I don't think he chose a good vehicle to preach his greenie beliefs and I don't think resorting to a Nazi bad guy is the best way to make sure you present a monster that can be killed off without offending anyone.

I'm not sure how to rate this book, it was interesting enough to finish reading, however, I don't know what to characterize it as, and find it hard to rate in a certain category, which is usually how I rate things, how they stack up against other similar books. Because I can't exactly call it average, I'm going to go with a two star, but it may be a little bit better than that to those that enjoy this type of work.