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The Sea
When Elliott Wages joins a salvage mission to recover the untold riches at the bottom of the Sargasso Sea, he is submerged in a dark world of conspiracy and betrayal in which unknown enemies wait in the shadows to destroy him. Original.
368 pages, Paperback
First published March 1, 1999
28 people want to read
About the author
R. Karl Largent
26 books10 followersR. Karl Largent, a.k.a. Robin Karl or Simon Lawrence, is an author, lecturer, and columnist who teaches writing at Tri-State University. Before launching his writing career, he spent 30 years in industry, the last 17 as VP of Marketing for a Fortune 500 multinational. A former horse show judge and trainer of youth horses, he competed in SCCA road racing events, flew as a weather observer in the USAF, completed a tour of duty in the Arctic and served with the U.S. Weather Bureau.
R. Karl Largent is the author of over 600 columns. He has also authored nearly two dozen novels including the bestselling "Red" series. He has also written six non-fiction books as well as numerous articles for magazines, newspapers and other publications.
R. Karl Largent is the author of over 600 columns. He has also authored nearly two dozen novels including the bestselling "Red" series. He has also written six non-fiction books as well as numerous articles for magazines, newspapers and other publications.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
May 11, 2019
This is another case of one of my favorite authors switching to first-person and almost ruining a great story. When I originally read this sixteen years ago (as of 2015), I never did a review so I’m making up for it now.
I had to force myself to get though what could’ve been a much more enjoyable story if he’d just chose other than such a myopic point of view. The plot had lots of great things going for it with a sunken sub and Nazi gold. There were plenty of twists and turns and I had a good time as far as I could, but having to force myself through the I’s and me’s and we’s, just became annoying. Plus, the tunnel vision of seeing everything through only one character made the story lose some impact.
Still, there was plenty to like, so The Sea was not all bad. Largent was still one of my favorite authors and I miss him a lot. If you like first-person, I highly recommend this.
I had to force myself to get though what could’ve been a much more enjoyable story if he’d just chose other than such a myopic point of view. The plot had lots of great things going for it with a sunken sub and Nazi gold. There were plenty of twists and turns and I had a good time as far as I could, but having to force myself through the I’s and me’s and we’s, just became annoying. Plus, the tunnel vision of seeing everything through only one character made the story lose some impact.
Still, there was plenty to like, so The Sea was not all bad. Largent was still one of my favorite authors and I miss him a lot. If you like first-person, I highly recommend this.
December 2, 2015
Sometimes I like to abandon any plans or strategies for what I want to read next and just go to my huge collection of unread books I have on my shelves and grab one at random. I had received this one in a big bundle of free books I got from my co-workers when I was departing a job many years ago. They knew I wanted to open my own used book store someday so they all cleaned off their personal bookshelves and gathered together more than 700 paperbacks to help me with my startup. Many of those I did later sell but I saved far too many for my own reading pleasure simply based on the cover art or blurb or subject matter.
So I came to this one with no particular expectations. I had never heard of the author and did not check any ratings or reviews anywhere before reading it. It is a story of a search for a sunken German U-boat which was supposedly carrying tons of Nazi gold. Unfortunately, its reported location is in the Sargasso Sea, deep within the Bermuda Triangle. The story is told from the first person POV of Elliot Wages, hired to join a salvage mission to retrieve the lost gold. As the story progresses it becomes apparent that not everybody on the mission has the same goals and are even willing to kill to achieve their aims.
I found the writing style enjoyable at first as Elliot is a witty, roguish fellow who is happily sarcastic from time to time sort of like most Floridian private investigators one comes across in many a novel. The plot was reasonably good but not all that original and the first half of the book contained far too much diving terminology and methods for my taste. We are also introduced to way too many characters to keep track of and most were never developed at all so there wasn’t much to make me care about who the good guys and the bad guys might be. In the end, the surprise reveal was no surprise at all and was all too obvious from near the very beginning of the story.
I think the book also suffered from not knowing what it was really trying to be. It’s mostly an adventure mystery novel but due to the location being in the Bermuda Triangle, an element of the bizarre snuck in all over the place but ultimately mattered little. Encounters with prehistoric sharks many times larger and more dangerous than ever recorded really elevated the eye-roll factor. In addition, members of the crew kept getting killed one by one and I was starting to think I was reading a repeat of Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None except on a stranded salvage ship in the sea.
I now know that the author has a number of other books and series out there. While this was an “OK” read, I don’t think I will be specifically seeking out more books by this author. If I had another free one handed to me though…I would very likely read it.
So I came to this one with no particular expectations. I had never heard of the author and did not check any ratings or reviews anywhere before reading it. It is a story of a search for a sunken German U-boat which was supposedly carrying tons of Nazi gold. Unfortunately, its reported location is in the Sargasso Sea, deep within the Bermuda Triangle. The story is told from the first person POV of Elliot Wages, hired to join a salvage mission to retrieve the lost gold. As the story progresses it becomes apparent that not everybody on the mission has the same goals and are even willing to kill to achieve their aims.
I found the writing style enjoyable at first as Elliot is a witty, roguish fellow who is happily sarcastic from time to time sort of like most Floridian private investigators one comes across in many a novel. The plot was reasonably good but not all that original and the first half of the book contained far too much diving terminology and methods for my taste. We are also introduced to way too many characters to keep track of and most were never developed at all so there wasn’t much to make me care about who the good guys and the bad guys might be. In the end, the surprise reveal was no surprise at all and was all too obvious from near the very beginning of the story.
I think the book also suffered from not knowing what it was really trying to be. It’s mostly an adventure mystery novel but due to the location being in the Bermuda Triangle, an element of the bizarre snuck in all over the place but ultimately mattered little. Encounters with prehistoric sharks many times larger and more dangerous than ever recorded really elevated the eye-roll factor. In addition, members of the crew kept getting killed one by one and I was starting to think I was reading a repeat of Agatha Christie’s And Then There Were None except on a stranded salvage ship in the sea.
I now know that the author has a number of other books and series out there. While this was an “OK” read, I don’t think I will be specifically seeking out more books by this author. If I had another free one handed to me though…I would very likely read it.
May 9, 2017
A solid open ocean mystery thriller. Wages is an enticing leading character that gets you into the nuts and bolts of the story. The ending will leave you asking questions and wondering, in the ways a good story should.
October 8, 2021
This had an interesting story searching for lost treasure in the Bermuda Triangle.
But, as the mystery unfolded, it become a little tedious until the events all came to a head. I don't think the mystery makes complete sense, but it ended interestingly if rather quickly.
But, as the mystery unfolded, it become a little tedious until the events all came to a head. I don't think the mystery makes complete sense, but it ended interestingly if rather quickly.
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October 19, 2013I registered a book at BookCrossing.com!
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/12256363
http://www.BookCrossing.com/journal/12256363
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews