Rating: 
Summary: Far Fetched, but fun!
Review: I'm sorry to have to disagree with my good friend Katie about Iris Johansen's "Fatal Tide" (see Comic Book Heroine on the Printed Page, a review of this book by Captain Katie Osborne on September 11, 2003), but I've lived on a sailboat in the Caribbean too (we actually met in Trinidad) and in my opinion, Ms. Johansen is asking us to stretch our imagination a bit too much with this one. Lotana's Island, couldn't buy it, sorry. But even though the island and some of the characters were a bit over the top, I still finished the book in one sitting, still enjoyed it immensely, was still captivated by the story.I thought our heroine's romantic interest in this book broke himself out of that jail in Iraq a little too easily in the first chapter, but I did like how the book opened with his dream sequence and how Johansen segued from the past into Melis Nemid's dream in the present. I liked Pete and Susie, though they were a tad bit more intelligent and communicative than any of the dolphins that have frolicked around my boat. Melis is certainly a Wonder Woman Heroine, as Katie says, but her childhood was just a little too awful for me. However, I like strong female characters and Melis is certainly that. The love story was predictable, but I wouldn't have had it come out any other way. The destructive weapon, bad guy Archer is after, is straight out of James Bond, but if you bought the dolphins (and I did), you'll buy the sonic gun. My recommendation: This is a swift read that is much more fun than anything you'll find on television. I give it four stars. You won't go wrong if you buy this book. Reviewed by Vesta Irene
Rating: 
Summary: fish food
Review: I've read quite a bit of Johansen's work, and have generally enjoyed it up till now. This was AWFUL. The characters were flat, the dialogue was lame, the plot was silly. I'm not sure why I bothered to finish it, except that I'd been looking so forward to reading it, and I kept hoping it would get better.
Rating:
Summary: Awful, simply awful.
Review: If I could have given this effort zero stars I would have, but alas the program wouldn't let me. Imagine my excitement at finally having in my eager little hands another Iris Johansen novel. Imagine my disappointment when it was undoubtably the worst book ever written! The dialogue is completely composed of platitudes and cliches, the characters are one-dimensional, and the plot thin. I couldn't care enough about the herione to make her problems matter to me.
I do love all her other books, and her writing is usually clean, characters complex, and dialogue natural. I can't imagine what went wrong here, other than it was an earlier attempt that she stashed away for a while, then dusted off and updated without ever really rereading closely. Unless you really enjoy poorly written books, I would not waste my money on this one, save it for her next attempt.
Rating:
Summary: Yuck
Review: Iris is a good writer, this is not a good book. Predictable, overly sexed, and just general bad plot and writing.
Rating: 
Summary: exciting romantic thriller
Review: Lontana's Island in the Lesser Antilles is the refuge of Melis Nemid, a woman who loves the dolphins Pete and Susie that she trains as if they were own children. She doesn't like or trust men except foster father Phil Lontana or the crewmembers of his shop the Lost Home. Phil is obsessed with discovering the location of Marinth, an island of an advanced civilization that sunk beneath the sea millennia ago. Arms dealer Hugh Archer wants the research notes concerning the weapon that Phil developed that can cause earthquakes because a Mideast terrorist group is willing to pay much money for it. When Phil refuses to deal, Archer blows up the ship with Phil aboard and goes after his protégée Melis who he knows has the location of the research notes. When Melis also refuses to deal, he kills her closest friend forcing her to team up with billionaire Jed Kelby who will help her kill Archer if she leads him to the location of Marinth. Though feeling somewhat comic book in nature, FATAL TIDE is an exciting romantic thriller that starts off at light speed and just picks up speed until the climax is over. In between chase scenes, the two protagonists find room for romance but the real scene-stealers are the two dolphins, more loving and civilized than most of the humans in the novel. Melis will engage reader empathy especially when the audience discovers the extreme trauma she suffered as a child. Nobody will pity her though because she has grown into a strong woman who is not afraid to mete out justice to those who deserve it. Harriet Klausner
Rating:
Summary: Heart-pounding, but not fatal
Review: Marine researcher, Melis Nemid, works with dolphins, Pete and Susie, on an isolated Caribbean island. She shares a secret about the mysterious underwater city of Marith with her foster father, Phil Lontana. After Phil's boat blows up, Melis is the only person alive with information pertaining to Marinth. It is information that someone wants at any cost. Her friends, her dolphins, her very sanity are threatened in order to get the information. Jed Kelby, an ex-Navy Seal, is also looking for Marinth. He and Melis become partners in the hunt for the madman threatening Melis. Along the way, Jed helps Melis deal with the scars of her past as they embark on a new emotional journey. The first few chapters were very confusing and I was not sure if I would like this book. Many characters were introduced rather quickly and the premise of underwater cities was a little off the wall for me. Once I had the characters straight, the story unfolded at a quick pace and became very engrossing. The primary and secondary characters are engaging. The dolphins almost steal the show and I would not be surprised if Iris Johansen's next book features Nicholas Lyons as the protagonist. This is a good, light read that will appeal to fans of the romantic suspense genre.
Rating: 
Summary: OK, But Not Ms. Johansen's Best...
Review: Melis Nemid lives on her own island in the Carribean w/no one but her dolphins for companionship. She's supported by her "foster father" a wealthy treasure hunter named Phil Lontana. She had a tough childhood, sexual abuse being involved, so she has a problem trusting people. When her foster father dies in a boat explosion, Melis teams up w/filthy rich (where does this girl find all these rich dudes?) ex-Navy Seal Jed Kelby to find his murderer. Jed wants Melis to help him find the mythical city of Marinth. Bad guy Hugh Archer wants to possess Melis and beat Kelby to finding the mythical city. And he has no qualms about hurting people to do so. So the chase is on...
Melis's horrific childhood reviewed pretty vividly and in some detail. I know child sex abuse happens, but I really don't need to hear the nitty gritty details, thanks so much. That turned me off from the whole story. And as some other reviewers have pointed out, the bad guys are really, really, bad and the good guys are ever so good. I've read most of Ms. Johansen's books and liked most of them. If you are new to her books, I'd recommend starting w/one like "And Then You Die" or "Long After Midnite". This book is by no means terrible, but it was not one of her best, in my opinion, too dark.
Rating:
Summary: Revolting
Review: Mutilating of women and animals, white slavery, gratuitous torture and murder, the heroine a woman trying to recover from horrendous sexual abuse, and a wooden hero make this book one you would really rather miss. In terms of entertainment I would give it minus stars if I could. The fact that the supposed hero gets sexually aroused as she tells him about her life in a child brothel in Istanbul is just revolting, and there is about as much heat and sensuality in this book as a guttering candle. This is the first book I ever read by this author, and It will most certainly be my last. These are not characters, they are cardboard cut outs. Even the dolpins are only moderately interesting, and her foster father is too stupid and terrible to be true. A real let down for intelligent readers who want more than simple minded fluff written in words of more than one syllable.
Rating:
Summary: Another fatality!
Review: The only things I liked about this book were the dolphins and some background on their behavior. The main characters were boring and choppy. Nicholas was at least a bit interesting. I really didnt care for the hero and heroine at all. The romance had no heat to it whatever. I felt the book was written in spurts and I couldnt get it to settle down. But I did finish it and all's well that ends well. This was a first of IJ's and I dont think I will rush out to get another one.
Rating:
Summary: Comic Book Heroine on the Printed Page
Review: There is absolutely nobody on the planet, never was, probably never will be, who can write such outrageous tales of abused women who overcome the most insurmountable odds and have her readers willingly surrender their disbelief as if they were children the way Iris Johansen does. If you thought the super abused, super strong heroine in her last novel was about as far over the top as Johansen could get, well you thought wrong. Yet, even though I knew "No One to Trust's" Elena Kyler was straight out of DC Comic Book fiction, even though I knew no woman could ever survive the abuse she had, could never fight the way she did, I was up all night reading the bloody thing, because there is just something about an Iris Johansen novel. I was up all night with "Fatal Tide," as unbelievable as it was, too. And I know it was unbelievable, because I've spent a lot of time cruising the Caribbean islands, but still I couldn't put the book down. Melis Nemid, our heroine in Fatal Tide, had a horrific childhood, probably the worst in fiction. She's got dolphin friends that are more human than the humans in the book. She's Wonder Woman tough, but she's human as well. But wait, there's more, like a sunken, treasure laden island and a bad guy after a super weapon that can destroy-well, you can just imagine what it can do and what it can destroy. With all that said, you might think I was putting down this book, on the contrary, I loved, every word. As I said, only Iris Johansen can make you believe in a tale like this and leave you wanting more. My advice, buy this book, curl up and prepare for a wonderful read. Oh yes, there's a rich guy, good guy in the book as well, every woman's dream. Review submitted by Captain Katie Osborne
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