Maelstrom

Sailing Thrillers

by Sam Llewellyn

Ernie Johnson, yshipowner and pacifist, is getting old. He has fought Fascism everywhere, starting in the Spanish Civil War. His nephew, the charter skipper Fred Hope, is called by his enemies an ecoterrorist, and by his friends a man with a lot of common sense. As Ernie approaches his eightieth birthday, he is arrested for gunrunning. Fred goes to his aid, and finds himself in the icy Norwegian Sea, heading for a tangle of Nazi loot, Russian mafiosi and renegade whalers. A tangle whose resolution involves nasty weather, nastier people, and a horrible legacy from the best-forgotten past....

Genres: Mystery, Fiction

338 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 13, 1994

About the author

Sam Llewellyn is a British author of literature for children and adults.

Reviews

[Stven · Rating 2 out of 5]

It's not impossible that there's a readable story in here, but many of the signs are discouraging. Every character, large and small, seems to have a backstory which must be indulged at slightly too great a length. It's a question of balance and the author has not quite achieved a comfortable footing, at least for my tastes. I want to get to the part of the story that's about ships at sea but so far it's all about the rascals and reprobates ashore. The other discouraging thing is that this book is almost 25 years old and has only one review on goodreads. My enthusiasm has dwindled to a stopping point at page 49.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another good yarn by Sam Llewellyn. Nazis, whales, Tzars, amber, yachts and scrapyards.

[Jo · Rating 3 out of 5]

The plot was a bit too complicated, but was a pretty good read.