Hatteras Blue

Rating:
Summary: Half of a Great Thriller
Review: "Hatteras Blue" has a lot going for it. Poyer's love for the Outer Banks of North Carolina clearly runs deep, and it gives the book a depth and richness that is often absent from run-of-the-mill thrillers. Tiller Galloway is an intriguingly screwed-up hero, and Poyer gets some good mileage out of putting him in a world (small town North Carolina) where everybody knows him and many despise him for what he's become. Again, there's more depth here than in a lot of thrillers, and that's great. Finally, Poyer handles the at-sea action deftly and credibly . . . with the feel of someone who's "been there, done that."

Unfortunately, a thriller stands and falls on its plot, and "Hatteras Blue" doesn't just fall--it trips over its own feet somewhere around page 80 and rolls noisily downhill from there. Without giving away critical details, all I can say is that Poyer manages to string together a story that is simultaneously: 1) Awash in over-used plot devices; 2) Awkwardly paced; 3) Dependent on implausible supporting characters doing stupid things; and 4) Jaw-droppingly unbelievable (even by the loose standards of thrillers) at the climax.

To be fair: Clive Cussler writes maritime thrillers with even more ludicrous plots. The difference is that Cussler (I think) *knows* he's writing ludicrous plots and has fun doing it. Poyer has mated a Cussler-esque plot with a gritty, realistic character-driven thriller . . . and the results aren't pretty to behold.

Rating:
Summary: Half of a Great Thriller
Review: "Hatteras Blue" has a lot going for it. Poyer's love for the Outer Banks of North Carolina clearly runs deep, and it gives the book a depth and richness that is often absent from run-of-the-mill thrillers. Tiller Galloway is an intriguingly screwed-up hero, and Poyer gets some good mileage out of putting him in a world (small town North Carolina) where everybody knows him and many despise him for what he's become. Again, there's more depth here than in a lot of thrillers, and that's great. Finally, Poyer handles the at-sea action deftly and credibly . . . with the feel of someone who's "been there, done that."

Unfortunately, a thriller stands and falls on its plot, and "Hatteras Blue" doesn't just fall--it trips over its own feet somewhere around page 80 and rolls noisily downhill from there. Without giving away critical details, all I can say is that Poyer manages to string together a story that is simultaneously: 1) Awash in over-used plot devices; 2) Awkwardly paced; 3) Dependent on implausible supporting characters doing stupid things; and 4) Jaw-droppingly unbelievable (even by the loose standards of thrillers) at the climax.

To be fair: Clive Cussler writes maritime thrillers with even more ludicrous plots. The difference is that Cussler (I think) *knows* he's writing ludicrous plots and has fun doing it. Poyer has mated a Cussler-esque plot with a gritty, realistic character-driven thriller . . . and the results aren't pretty to behold.

Rating:
Summary: Exciting book. The best of Poyer's "Blue" books.
Review: An author that actually knows something about diving is rare. One of that category that can actually spin a yarn is a gem.

This is the best diving book I've read. It's mostly technically accurate, and the highly fallible leading man is more believable than your usual Roger Ramjet hero type.

I highly recommend the entire series.

Rating:
Summary: Clive Cussler on the high seas...
Review: D.C. Poyer's novels read like Clive Cussler on the high seas. This book is an intriging novel of suspense and action. It brings cocaine, conspiracy and intrigue to Dare County, North Carolina. I also recommend Bahamas Blue. I have an affinity for the beaches and high seas of the Carolinas, particularly North Carolina, having lived in Wilmington and having traveled from the northern extremes of the Outer Banks to the southeastern beaches of the Grand Strand. There is no better setting for a novel than this.

Rating:
Summary: You can't have it all
Review: I guess it's just too much to ask to want a novel with a great setting, a plot centered around diving, and a little plausibility. Mr. Poyer doesn't develop his characters much, and misses a great chance to describe the book's setting. He also dumbs down descriptions of diving and diving related maladies. (I think if readers can hang with Michael Crichton and Tom Clancy they could handle an accurate description of nitrogen narcosis). Plausibility is the last straw, though. Nobody could buy this plot.

Rating:
Summary: Exciting book. The best of Poyer's "Blue" books.
Review: I read Poyer's Blue books out of sequence. I read Lousiana Blue first, then Bahamas Blue, The Sea Down Under, and finally Hatteras Blue. I enjoy Tiller Galloway's character, though not as much as Clive Cussler's Dirk Pitt.

Although Hatteras Blue does not delve into the technical aspects of diving nearly as deep (no pun intended) as the other books I found it to be more believeable and entertaining.

I discovered Poyer by mistake when someone put a copy of China Sea in my mailbox at work. I find Tiller Galloway in the "Blue" books and W.T. Halvorsen in the "Hemlock County" books to be more interesting than Dan Lenson in the modern Navy books.

I mentioned Clive Cussler's Dirk Pitt character earlier. If you like a great adventure book thats a ball to read get a Clive Cussler book. After you've read everything from Cussler sit down with a Poyer book. They are not the quite the same but I find Poyer to be informative and entertaining.