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Sailors Take Warning
The aircraft carrier Nimitz steams toward the equator where her crew of 5,000 women and men will hold an ancient hazing ritual, but something is wrong aboard the ship. Bodies have turned up missing from the morgue and several jets have been sabotaged on the flight deck. Can first-responder Kate Conrad and deckhand Terrance McDaniels figure out what's wrong before the ship crosses the Golden Line? And if they do, will their superior officers listen to them and prevent a disaster at sea?
340 pages, Kindle Edition
First published May 15, 2014
11 people are currently reading
43 people want to read
About the author
Malcolm Torres
8 books53 followersIf you like adventure, crime, science fiction and horror set aboard ships at sea and in ports of call, then you'll like Malcolm Torres.
After serving in the Navy he went to college in Boulder, Colorado where he read novels and wrote stories. Over the years he's paid the bills by working as a cook, a teacher and a project manager.
Malcolm's writing has appeared in the Viking Monthly, the Colorado Daily and High Times. He is a scuba diver, a sailor of small boats, a mountain bike rider, a downhill skier and a golf addict. He lives in the forest outside Portland, Oregon.
Connect with Malcolm on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube and Blogger @seastoriesandsciencefiction.
For old time and original stories, try the Sea Stories and Science Fiction Podcast available on all podcast apps and websites.
After serving in the Navy he went to college in Boulder, Colorado where he read novels and wrote stories. Over the years he's paid the bills by working as a cook, a teacher and a project manager.
Malcolm's writing has appeared in the Viking Monthly, the Colorado Daily and High Times. He is a scuba diver, a sailor of small boats, a mountain bike rider, a downhill skier and a golf addict. He lives in the forest outside Portland, Oregon.
Connect with Malcolm on Instagram, Twitter, Facebook, LinkedIn, YouTube and Blogger @seastoriesandsciencefiction.
For old time and original stories, try the Sea Stories and Science Fiction Podcast available on all podcast apps and websites.
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Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews
December 8, 2014
Malcolm Torres exhibits a yeoman's knowledge of shipboard topography and lore as he weaves a new slant on an ancient navy tradition, crossing the equator.The twists and turns Torres presents kept me on the edge of my seat throughout the telling. Though totally unpredictable the story shines a new light on the sad state of affairs when dealing with our national political system.The fast paced action of the story was reminiscent of action adventures movies one might attend while some of the darker elements of the story were a bit disturbing."Sailors Take Warning" is kind of a cross between NYPD, CSI, and Night of the living dead. Women aboard ship adds a new dimension to shipboard life for me, the added sexual tension inherent in their mere presence drives the plot to much higher levels. I would say "Sailors Take Warning" was troubling with its satanic subplots but overall transfixing in its twist on equatorial crossing mythology and I look forward to reading future works by Torres.
July 1, 2014
The USS Nimitz is involved in trialling a new, top secret cloaking device. While spending long months at sea, a host things begin to go awry: sabotage and other criminal activities; disappearing bodies; devil worship; psychotic killers; a tropical disease threatening to become an epidemic. At first, this novel reads like a mystery/thriller, but gradually shifts into something with a more supernatural/horror feel.
The writing is of a reasonably high quality, and the story is peppered with a wide range of interesting characters. The story itself is at times a little chaotic, and not entirely coherent. Quite what is going on and why never becomes entirely clear. I had the feeling that the author had lots of great ideas, but hadn’t quite been able to string them together into a single, cohesive plot. It may have helped if some of the side plots had been jettisoned in the editing process. I think particularly of a BDSM relationship that develops between an officer and his young, enlisted assistant. This serves no purpose in the overall plot and is left unsatisfactorily resolved. The reader is led to believe that the strange rash affecting several members of the crew has something to do with whatever is going on, but in the end appears not to.
One of the main problems I have with this story is that there are no main characters, just a host of characters who do their bit here and there. To that extent the blurb on the Amazon page for this book is misleading. The story opens with a young naval officer, Kate. The opening is well-paced, and I settled down to enjoy her story. The blurb (and this opening chapter) leads the reader to believe that Kate will be our protagonist. She isn’t. ‘Kate takes drastic action on her own,’ asserts the blurb. She doesn’t. Kate disappears after the first chapter, popping up briefly here and there, but does nothing of any importance. She only becomes important again towards the end of the novel, but still not really taking ‘drastic action’. Terrence McDaniels, Kate’s love interest, is another potential protagonist, but he too comes and goes, and doesn’t really play a key role in events. In fact, my overall sense was that nobody does. In the end, perhaps the most ‘central’ character is Danny Jenks, a devil worshipping, psychotic killer. But he too could vanish from the story for long periods. The problem here is that the reader never really has a chance to identify with any of the characters. Any with whom the reader does begin to forge a bond (Nikki, for instance, the young girl involved in the BDSM relationship) are likely to disappear suddenly with no reference to their subsequent fate. While a character such as Captain Brandt (the other participant in the BDSM relationship) is quite well-drawn, we have no sense of his history, of why he is the way he is. Who he is at this present time is presented to us in a vacuum.
Despite these criticisms, there is enough here to make for interesting reading. I did want to know where the story was going, and what was going to happen to some of the characters. The fact that, in the end, I’m still not sure where the story went and why, and that some of the characters were forgotten along the way, left me feeling somewhat dissatisfied. I think it would have worked better if the author had adhered more closely to a central plotline. Side plots needed to feed into this central plot in some way. Giving more ‘screen time’ to only three or four main characters would also have given the reader a greater investment in the outcome of events.
The quality of the writing lifts this novel a little, as do the fertile ideas with which it is peppered. I give it 3.5 stars, rounding that to 4 stars where necessary.
The writing is of a reasonably high quality, and the story is peppered with a wide range of interesting characters. The story itself is at times a little chaotic, and not entirely coherent. Quite what is going on and why never becomes entirely clear. I had the feeling that the author had lots of great ideas, but hadn’t quite been able to string them together into a single, cohesive plot. It may have helped if some of the side plots had been jettisoned in the editing process. I think particularly of a BDSM relationship that develops between an officer and his young, enlisted assistant. This serves no purpose in the overall plot and is left unsatisfactorily resolved. The reader is led to believe that the strange rash affecting several members of the crew has something to do with whatever is going on, but in the end appears not to.
One of the main problems I have with this story is that there are no main characters, just a host of characters who do their bit here and there. To that extent the blurb on the Amazon page for this book is misleading. The story opens with a young naval officer, Kate. The opening is well-paced, and I settled down to enjoy her story. The blurb (and this opening chapter) leads the reader to believe that Kate will be our protagonist. She isn’t. ‘Kate takes drastic action on her own,’ asserts the blurb. She doesn’t. Kate disappears after the first chapter, popping up briefly here and there, but does nothing of any importance. She only becomes important again towards the end of the novel, but still not really taking ‘drastic action’. Terrence McDaniels, Kate’s love interest, is another potential protagonist, but he too comes and goes, and doesn’t really play a key role in events. In fact, my overall sense was that nobody does. In the end, perhaps the most ‘central’ character is Danny Jenks, a devil worshipping, psychotic killer. But he too could vanish from the story for long periods. The problem here is that the reader never really has a chance to identify with any of the characters. Any with whom the reader does begin to forge a bond (Nikki, for instance, the young girl involved in the BDSM relationship) are likely to disappear suddenly with no reference to their subsequent fate. While a character such as Captain Brandt (the other participant in the BDSM relationship) is quite well-drawn, we have no sense of his history, of why he is the way he is. Who he is at this present time is presented to us in a vacuum.
Despite these criticisms, there is enough here to make for interesting reading. I did want to know where the story was going, and what was going to happen to some of the characters. The fact that, in the end, I’m still not sure where the story went and why, and that some of the characters were forgotten along the way, left me feeling somewhat dissatisfied. I think it would have worked better if the author had adhered more closely to a central plotline. Side plots needed to feed into this central plot in some way. Giving more ‘screen time’ to only three or four main characters would also have given the reader a greater investment in the outcome of events.
The quality of the writing lifts this novel a little, as do the fertile ideas with which it is peppered. I give it 3.5 stars, rounding that to 4 stars where necessary.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 25, 2015
The USS Nimitz has been out to sea for 93 days on a top-secret mission. The U.S. Navy is testing a new cloaking device that will make it invisible to enemy ships. Things aren’t going according to plan despite the determination of Captain Fox to advance his career and make it work at all costs. The ship was found despite its cloak and now bodies are disappearing from the ship’s morgue. The crew tries to cover it up but someone is also sabotaging the ships equipment and a small group of sailors are performing satanic rituals. Life gets crazy when you’re stuck at sea and there are some horrific things happening on the USS Nimitz. It’s up to a few good sailors to solve the mystery of the missing corpses and make the cloaking device work.
Sailors Take Warning by Malcolm Torres has some great characters in it, I liked hearing why everyone enlisted in the navy. So much detail went into each person that you got the impression that they were all based on people who the author knew. The descriptions made you appreciate the diversity of the people on board adding realism to the story and showing what life must be like on a ship. For example I liked hearing how Kate Conrad got into the Navy. She knew it would give her money for student loans and another officer went into the Navy because the family farm was repossessed and it was the only way he could make a living. Another good part was the relationship between an executive officer and a young woman that gets a little twisted. Despite her fear she stays with the relationship because it is an escape from the boredom on the ship.
I enjoyed this book and all the references that were made about people in the Navy who live on ships for months on end. There are a lot of things that are described that I think we’re specifically geared towards people in the service. Despite the fact that I don’t have a Navy background, the ship references are what sets this apart from other horror novels and I liked that this book talks a lot about a way of life that I know nothing about. The author, Malcolm Torres is a navy man and he gives a perspective to this story that few people have and he paints a vivid picture of what Navy life must be like.
There are a lot of sub plots going on in Sailors Take Warning. In fact I thought the book felt more like several short stories that take place in the same setting rather than a cohesive novel. While all the sub plots were interesting not all of them were necessary and there was so much going on I wondered what the main story was. That being said each short story was good enough to keep me interested. Sailors Take Warning isn’t a straightforward horror novel. It’s more of a high seas thriller with some science fiction, horror and mythology references mixed in. I still think there is enough going on here that horror fans will enjoy it, such as missing bodies, satanic rituals and a BDSM relationship that kind of freaked me out. Sailors Take Warning is a thriller that will make you think twice before spending time at sea.
Sailors Take Warning by Malcolm Torres has some great characters in it, I liked hearing why everyone enlisted in the navy. So much detail went into each person that you got the impression that they were all based on people who the author knew. The descriptions made you appreciate the diversity of the people on board adding realism to the story and showing what life must be like on a ship. For example I liked hearing how Kate Conrad got into the Navy. She knew it would give her money for student loans and another officer went into the Navy because the family farm was repossessed and it was the only way he could make a living. Another good part was the relationship between an executive officer and a young woman that gets a little twisted. Despite her fear she stays with the relationship because it is an escape from the boredom on the ship.
I enjoyed this book and all the references that were made about people in the Navy who live on ships for months on end. There are a lot of things that are described that I think we’re specifically geared towards people in the service. Despite the fact that I don’t have a Navy background, the ship references are what sets this apart from other horror novels and I liked that this book talks a lot about a way of life that I know nothing about. The author, Malcolm Torres is a navy man and he gives a perspective to this story that few people have and he paints a vivid picture of what Navy life must be like.
There are a lot of sub plots going on in Sailors Take Warning. In fact I thought the book felt more like several short stories that take place in the same setting rather than a cohesive novel. While all the sub plots were interesting not all of them were necessary and there was so much going on I wondered what the main story was. That being said each short story was good enough to keep me interested. Sailors Take Warning isn’t a straightforward horror novel. It’s more of a high seas thriller with some science fiction, horror and mythology references mixed in. I still think there is enough going on here that horror fans will enjoy it, such as missing bodies, satanic rituals and a BDSM relationship that kind of freaked me out. Sailors Take Warning is a thriller that will make you think twice before spending time at sea.
October 30, 2014
First of all, the content of the book is a hidden gem buried beneath a somewhat lackluster cover. The cover could be improved to draw in even more readers to this piece of literary gem. Although this isn't a genre that I usually read, I was surprisingly entertained by the whole story.
SAILORS TAKE WARNING draws you in and sneaks up on you with a delightful mix of genres that leaves your eyes without any other option but to remain glued to every page. Heading in, I didn't know what to expect but, as with every potentially amazing story, I buckled up and enjoyed the ride -- and it didn't disappoint. Action from the very start, Malcolm Torres wrote the story in a way that it takes you inside of the scene. Either Torres experienced the events firsthand or he conducted a very extensive research. It takes a special breed of writer to make you feel as if you're experiencing every moment right from the page. Torres wrote the piece with guns ablazing, flexing his literary muscle while handing out very detailed narration. You come across wildly specific dimensions, terms and naval jargon that makes you question if it's from a foreign language but it never feels alienating.
The plot is reminiscent of stories of the Philadelphia Experiment -- switching between a science fiction naval thriller to that of a fantastical occult mystery. Even though the blurb would lead you to believe that Kate Conrad is the protagonist, none of the characters really filled that role -- an aspect of the book which I particularly liked. The switching of perspectives between all of the people in the USS Nimitz and the lack of a main plot might be an acquired taste, but one which I believe is a creative twist for the book.
With a brisk pace, a crisp story line and strong characterization, SAILORS TAKE WARNING is a definite must-buy for readers looking for something different. This book is a good entry point into the world of Malcolm Torres' stories.
SAILORS TAKE WARNING draws you in and sneaks up on you with a delightful mix of genres that leaves your eyes without any other option but to remain glued to every page. Heading in, I didn't know what to expect but, as with every potentially amazing story, I buckled up and enjoyed the ride -- and it didn't disappoint. Action from the very start, Malcolm Torres wrote the story in a way that it takes you inside of the scene. Either Torres experienced the events firsthand or he conducted a very extensive research. It takes a special breed of writer to make you feel as if you're experiencing every moment right from the page. Torres wrote the piece with guns ablazing, flexing his literary muscle while handing out very detailed narration. You come across wildly specific dimensions, terms and naval jargon that makes you question if it's from a foreign language but it never feels alienating.
The plot is reminiscent of stories of the Philadelphia Experiment -- switching between a science fiction naval thriller to that of a fantastical occult mystery. Even though the blurb would lead you to believe that Kate Conrad is the protagonist, none of the characters really filled that role -- an aspect of the book which I particularly liked. The switching of perspectives between all of the people in the USS Nimitz and the lack of a main plot might be an acquired taste, but one which I believe is a creative twist for the book.
With a brisk pace, a crisp story line and strong characterization, SAILORS TAKE WARNING is a definite must-buy for readers looking for something different. This book is a good entry point into the world of Malcolm Torres' stories.
July 3, 2014
The Ancient Mariner with an afterburner!
The characters are not brave captains or fighter pilots; they are salt-of-the-earth people like your cousin who 'joined the Navy.' The plot, like the setting (a battleship at sea) is a trap and the only way off is to sit up reading until 3am. I ignored my hunger, my partner, my kids and my ringing phone as I read the last 200 pages and it's only 280 pages long!
To elaborate without spoiling, this is a mystery thriller wrapped around a love story between emergency-first-responder Kate Conrad and Terrance McDaniels a flight deck worker. The ship is bearing down on the equator, where the crew will hold an ancient hazing ritual, but Kate and Terrance are suspicious because a corpse is missing from the ship's morgue and a jet was sabotaged on the flight deck. Little do these young love-birds know that the ship's executive officer (2nd in charge) is covering-up of these horrifying events.
Let your imagination run wild thinking about all the things that could possibly go wrong aboard a massive nuclear-powered battleship with an airport on top of it, and trust that Malcolm Torres has organized all those horrible things (and many more) into an exciting reading experience for your trip to the beach this summer.
It doesn't matter if you can't tell port from starboard, or you don't know what a bulkhead is, or you don't know if a lieutenant outranks a petty officer -- you don't need to know any of this stuff to enjoy this nautical tale. If you like a creepy mystery, an intriguing thriller, a unique setting, characters caught in a diabolical plot, then you'll enjoy Sailors Take Warning by Malcolm Torres. 5-STARS!
The characters are not brave captains or fighter pilots; they are salt-of-the-earth people like your cousin who 'joined the Navy.' The plot, like the setting (a battleship at sea) is a trap and the only way off is to sit up reading until 3am. I ignored my hunger, my partner, my kids and my ringing phone as I read the last 200 pages and it's only 280 pages long!
To elaborate without spoiling, this is a mystery thriller wrapped around a love story between emergency-first-responder Kate Conrad and Terrance McDaniels a flight deck worker. The ship is bearing down on the equator, where the crew will hold an ancient hazing ritual, but Kate and Terrance are suspicious because a corpse is missing from the ship's morgue and a jet was sabotaged on the flight deck. Little do these young love-birds know that the ship's executive officer (2nd in charge) is covering-up of these horrifying events.
Let your imagination run wild thinking about all the things that could possibly go wrong aboard a massive nuclear-powered battleship with an airport on top of it, and trust that Malcolm Torres has organized all those horrible things (and many more) into an exciting reading experience for your trip to the beach this summer.
It doesn't matter if you can't tell port from starboard, or you don't know what a bulkhead is, or you don't know if a lieutenant outranks a petty officer -- you don't need to know any of this stuff to enjoy this nautical tale. If you like a creepy mystery, an intriguing thriller, a unique setting, characters caught in a diabolical plot, then you'll enjoy Sailors Take Warning by Malcolm Torres. 5-STARS!
November 12, 2014
The Nimitz was at sea and had been for months. Though romance was off limits on the ship, Kate Conrad and Terrance McDaniels found their romance there. Life on a ship at sea is difficult. The long hours. The loneliness and boredom seem to be endless. Each sailor found ways to occupy his time, whether legal or not. Kate and Terrance were the lucky ones. They had each other. The Nimitz was testing new equipment and that meant even stricter rules for those aboard. All anyone could think of was getting leave time in a fun port of call. No one knew when that would happen though.
Extremely well written with characters you will love and hate. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I found it entertaining, but educational too. I learned more than I already knew about a sailor's life on board ship. I was frightened of some characters, felt compassion for others and hated still others. It felt as though I was on this ship watching these events happen. My skin crawled, my heart raced and yours will too. You will enjoy this book as much as I did. In the interest of full disclosure, the language and some scenes are very raw. Still it works with this book. The final part of the book will make you question what you know. By all means, buy this book!
I found no issues.
I gave this one 5 cheers out of 5 because it's time we had more books about Navy life. ~Copy of book provided by author in exchange for a fair review~
Extremely well written with characters you will love and hate. I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I found it entertaining, but educational too. I learned more than I already knew about a sailor's life on board ship. I was frightened of some characters, felt compassion for others and hated still others. It felt as though I was on this ship watching these events happen. My skin crawled, my heart raced and yours will too. You will enjoy this book as much as I did. In the interest of full disclosure, the language and some scenes are very raw. Still it works with this book. The final part of the book will make you question what you know. By all means, buy this book!
I found no issues.
I gave this one 5 cheers out of 5 because it's time we had more books about Navy life. ~Copy of book provided by author in exchange for a fair review~
June 1, 2015
A must-read breath-taking thriller:
I am not much of a fan of thrillers so when a friend of mine recommended this book to me, I was little apprehensive. But I must concede that all my apprehensions have been removed by SAILORS TAKE WARNING and I have kind of turned into a fan of the book and the genre too. Such superb is the narrative power of this book that it kept me engrossed in it for hours and I simply couldn't put it down. Not a single moment of dullness to be experienced when one has this book in their hand. So much of dramatic happenings in the confines of a ship! Add to that the minutely detailed informative aspect of the novel and you have a complete package for a weekend read in this unputdownable book by Malcolm Torres!
I am not much of a fan of thrillers so when a friend of mine recommended this book to me, I was little apprehensive. But I must concede that all my apprehensions have been removed by SAILORS TAKE WARNING and I have kind of turned into a fan of the book and the genre too. Such superb is the narrative power of this book that it kept me engrossed in it for hours and I simply couldn't put it down. Not a single moment of dullness to be experienced when one has this book in their hand. So much of dramatic happenings in the confines of a ship! Add to that the minutely detailed informative aspect of the novel and you have a complete package for a weekend read in this unputdownable book by Malcolm Torres!
February 13, 2016
"Disappointed"
This novel is described as a mystery at sea. It involves the USS Nimitz, an aircraft carrier, with 5,000 crew members. The ship is on a test run which makes it undetectable by other ships. But there are also mysteries aboard when dead bodies disappear from the ship's morgue, and also there are several aircraft being sabotaged while on the flight deck. This sounded interesting to me until the author throws in some explicit sex which leads to torture of sadism and masochism. Also depicted are some crew members who secretly practice Satanic rituals as well as bullying. This certainly changed my desire to read this book further. The author should have stayed with the story line.
This novel is described as a mystery at sea. It involves the USS Nimitz, an aircraft carrier, with 5,000 crew members. The ship is on a test run which makes it undetectable by other ships. But there are also mysteries aboard when dead bodies disappear from the ship's morgue, and also there are several aircraft being sabotaged while on the flight deck. This sounded interesting to me until the author throws in some explicit sex which leads to torture of sadism and masochism. Also depicted are some crew members who secretly practice Satanic rituals as well as bullying. This certainly changed my desire to read this book further. The author should have stayed with the story line.
July 10, 2014
A very good first novel!
I am also a retired U.S. Navy sailor though from a different era. It is my opinion that if the book was more technically accurate,the average person would not understand what Malcolm was saying and people familiar with the Naval jargon would dismiss it as another guy's day at work. I think the story was excellent for the genre even if the writing was not like Stephen King. Again, not a bad read for a first novel. Additionally, much of more popular authors infrequently hit it out of the park on their first try. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and thought the story was inventive. I'm looking forward to Malcolm's next work! Go Navy!
I am also a retired U.S. Navy sailor though from a different era. It is my opinion that if the book was more technically accurate,the average person would not understand what Malcolm was saying and people familiar with the Naval jargon would dismiss it as another guy's day at work. I think the story was excellent for the genre even if the writing was not like Stephen King. Again, not a bad read for a first novel. Additionally, much of more popular authors infrequently hit it out of the park on their first try. I thoroughly enjoyed the book and thought the story was inventive. I'm looking forward to Malcolm's next work! Go Navy!
September 18, 2014
Malcolm Torres doesn't disappoint with Sailors Take Warning. Torres has created a crew of enthralling characters and packs more twists and turns into the the UUS Nimitz than there are barnacles on her belly. If you're looking for a fast-paced thriller with supernatural and sci-fi undercurrents, then look no further.
May 30, 2018
Sailors Take Warningby Malcomb Torres would have made a good Halloween read. I'm not sure what site I procured this Kindle book from but I don't recall it being touted as being horror, but horror it was. Fortunately I love a good horror story just as much as I love a good thriller or a good mystery. Malcolm kept me turning the pages not so much as to see what was going to happen next because I had pretty much figured out how the story was going to end by the time I was a quarter of the way through it, he had me turning the pages to see how it was gong to happen. What made this book especially enjoyable for me was the proper use of Navy terminology and jargon.
I will be reading this book again on Halloween Eve as everyone gathers around fire pit in my backyard.
September 5, 2019
This is a massive book with lots of rich characters and fast paced action to keep you turning the page. The writer makes you feel that you're right in the middle of the story. The cloaking device for the boat is explained in a realistic and believable manner; i.e. the boat doesn't simply just disappear. You can tell that the author has been in the Navy and has used his wealth of naval experience to good effect; plus he explains all the naval jargon in a simplistic and easy to understand way.
This is a must read and I urge anyone who is interested in the Navy, pirates and scifi to buy this book and to look out for other titles by Malcolm Torres.
This is a must read and I urge anyone who is interested in the Navy, pirates and scifi to buy this book and to look out for other titles by Malcolm Torres.
January 1, 2015
Sailors Take Warning is proof that there are excellent books published under the Independent banner. Malcolm Torres weaves an intricate tale of the supernatural filled with interesting characters who range from likeable people you are rooting for to jerks you hope somehow get what’s coming to them. The writing is smooth and easy to read carrying the reader along on a roller coaster ride where the mysteries pile up until the end where it all becomes clear and the pieces fit. The author’s descriptions of life aboard a U.S. Navy carrier ring true and give the reader a glimpse into what shipboard life must be like. For those who enjoy a nautical tale of the supernatural, this is it.
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews