Mariner's Ark: A Richard Mariner nautical adventure

Robin and Richard Mariner are in Long Beach awaiting the arrival of their container ship the Sulu Queen. Then they plan to meet up with a friend to take a trip on his pricey yacht. Things change when the biggest storm in over 150 years is set to hit the Pacific coast. The Mariner’s quickly begin to turn the Sulu Queen into a survival ship, a real life Noah’s Ark as they try to save not only their own lives, but the lives of countless others

I did enjoy this book but I felt that it was slightly slow to start but it then built up pace and I am really glad I carried on as I loved the pace when it properly got going.  The characters are strong and the author tells a vivid exciting tale.  I received a copy of this book from the publishers via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Climate is what we expect, weather is what we get. - Mark Twain

I haven't read any of the other Mariner adventures but I didn't feel that was necessary Richard as I read MARINER'S ARK. It's a complete story in itself.

This is quite an adventure, focusing on the overwhelming power of weather, especially winds and rain.

Richard and Robin Mariner of Heritage Mariner Shipping are in Long Beach, California when they hear a newscast by Dr. Danielle Jones of the USGS National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration division, forewarning of an ARkStorm - over 40 days of rain falling at at least an inch an hour.  It's hard to envision that much water.

The Mariners with their cargo carrier Sulu Queen, and their filthy rich friends the Greenbaums with their racing boat Katapult8 and their yacht Maxima, all head to Mexico to escape the worst of the storm and to see the new resort built by Nic Greenbaum. 

The power of the ocean and the power (and capriciousness) of Mother Nature are explored in this gripping adventure. Besides ships (or boats) there is a helicopter, the National Guard to the rescue, a dirigible and pages that made me seasick to read them.

The story started out a little slow but was soon moving at breakneck speed. I enjoyed the characters, the story, the dialogue but I did feel the ending was rather abrupt.

If you like tales of the high seas, of Mother Nature at her fiercest, lots of details about shipping and sailing, I recommend this thriller by author Tonkin.

NOTE: I received a free advance copy of this book from Severn House via NetGalley in exchange for my unbiased review.

“Mariner’s Ark” was published in 2015 (May) and was written by Peter Tonkin (http://www.fantasticfiction.co.uk/t/peter-tonkin/). Mr. Tonkin is a prolific writer with 40 novels published. This is the 29th novel in his “Richard Mariner” series. 

I would categorize this novel as ‘PG’ as there are a very few instances of Mature Language. This Action Thriller novel is set off the western coast of North America. The primary characters are Richard Mariner and his wife Robin.

Richard and Robin are on the west coast to meet their California bound container ship Sulu Queen, observe close friend Nic Greenbaum’s Olympic multihull racing sailboat in action, and to take Nic’s multi-million dollar yacht down to his elaborate new home in Mexico. 

The sailboat takes off towards Mexico with Nic’s daughter at the helm and with Nic’s yacht following. An epic Pacific storm, an ARKstorm, is headed towards the west coast. An accident at sea puts the yacht and all aboard her in danger. 

Richard, who has flown back to California to take care of issues with his container ship, is soon headed south in the Sulu Queen hopefully to find wife Robin. His ship is also carrying much needed emergency supplies for the storm torn west coast of Mexico. 

This was an enjoyable 7 hour Action Thriller read. In typical fashion, there is one disaster after another facing the characters. It did seem to end rather abruptly. I can see another chapter or two easily possible after the point where the book ended. I give this novel a 4 out of 5.  

My book reviews are also published on Goodreads (https://www.goodreads.com).

There is a long series of Richard Mariner books however this is my first and was pleasantly surprised at how entertaining it was. After a slow start which included unnecessary meal descriptions and other fillers, and the author started on the main subject of the storyline, things got measurably better. As an adventure story excluding the start it is full of exciting action and written in a way that makes it easy to visualise the experience. Mariner is in Long Beach with his wife when warnings are issued for an Arkstorm that would be bigger and more destructive than all the recent storms and tsunami. As he heads into the storm with emergency supplies aboard his container ship he is unsure of his wife's location or condition. Will she be safe in the luxury yacht Maxima as they go south following a high tech competition yacht?