What do you think?
Rate this book
Seal Cove
This book is no longer in print.
240 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 13, 2014
13 people are currently reading
62 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews
January 1, 2015
Wow!
I started reading this book thinking it would keep me interested for a short time on a boring night. Well, in just a few pages, I was hooked! The storyline was great....it was not just another monster book with stupid people doing stupid things. The characters were well developed and I loved the way they interacted with each other. The creature was not a typical run of the mill monster...it was also well developed and never boring. This book had lots of humor and just enough scare to make it one of the best horror novels I've read.
I started reading this book thinking it would keep me interested for a short time on a boring night. Well, in just a few pages, I was hooked! The storyline was great....it was not just another monster book with stupid people doing stupid things. The characters were well developed and I loved the way they interacted with each other. The creature was not a typical run of the mill monster...it was also well developed and never boring. This book had lots of humor and just enough scare to make it one of the best horror novels I've read.
August 3, 2015
Seal Cove has all the elements of an under water sea monster novel that I love. Unfortunately, despite having everything like its location in Nova Scotia and involving a lighthouse which I love, and the appearance of an unknown sea creature, everything else for me falls flat. I always hate to give a negative review, but in this case, if reviewing it means telling it like it is, then I'm at that point.
Seal Cove is about a large beached unknown creature that appears to be dead. It is taken back to a holding pool by the residents of this small town and kept wet to keep it from drying out and decaying before they can contact someone on the mainland about what they have. Out and out, the story is fairly straight forward, however there is a point where it goes wrong and that starts right at the beginning.
One of the biggest flaws for me is the fact that the author gave too much excessive dialog to his characters. While we all like to have character development, there are far too many characters and their banter between each other is very non-existing to the plot. I know what the author was trying to do, but having all his characters interacting completely with each others, the smallest piece of banters like one character ball busting the other and each other, is something I don't mind usually, but here its just too much.
I love to have at least one character I care about, two is even better. But in this story, there are so many characters to follow, that I think I ended up not caring about any of them at all, at least half way thru the book I realized it. It all became so tedious that I couldn't even tell who was talking any more.
The monster action thought there was a little of it, and I mean little, at the beginning, and in my head I was like "ok this is going to be good. How ever that wasn't the case. The real monster action didn't occur until more than half way thru the book at page 150. I wanted to like it so much, but I couldn't. I fond myself really speed reading and even skipping whole pages just to hurry to the end. Not something I usually do, but I was getting a little tired of it all. When the monster action did happen, I couldn't get into it. everything was played second fiddle like to the characters of the story. The character development worked the wrong way for me.
This book had a good chance to be something much better, but I can almost understand what the author was trying to do. The dialog all came off like it was a movie script, like it was written for certain characters to do all this bantering about with each other. It was just another major hurdle to getting to the end.
I love these stories but this one fell way to short of the mark. I usually try to refrain from reading reviews of books I have an interest in and don't want to be swayed. This time thought I did read the review for it, but as much as there were some people raving about the characters, there were more reviews that refuted it. I should have taken heed, but I didn't want to be swayed. Maybe I should have listened.
While this is not the best review I have ever given, it was needed. and after reading a few other reviews of people that had finished reading it, I thought long and hard about what I had read of them. and now I knew I was really on the mark about it.
It you like a lot of character banter with your main course of monsters, the this is the novel for you. But if not, then you might want to do a little more review reading just to make sure before ordering this book. It could have had a better editor that probably would have recommended that too much of one thing is not a good idea. Still, his idea for the story itself had merit.
on to the next book.
Seal Cove is about a large beached unknown creature that appears to be dead. It is taken back to a holding pool by the residents of this small town and kept wet to keep it from drying out and decaying before they can contact someone on the mainland about what they have. Out and out, the story is fairly straight forward, however there is a point where it goes wrong and that starts right at the beginning.
One of the biggest flaws for me is the fact that the author gave too much excessive dialog to his characters. While we all like to have character development, there are far too many characters and their banter between each other is very non-existing to the plot. I know what the author was trying to do, but having all his characters interacting completely with each others, the smallest piece of banters like one character ball busting the other and each other, is something I don't mind usually, but here its just too much.
I love to have at least one character I care about, two is even better. But in this story, there are so many characters to follow, that I think I ended up not caring about any of them at all, at least half way thru the book I realized it. It all became so tedious that I couldn't even tell who was talking any more.
The monster action thought there was a little of it, and I mean little, at the beginning, and in my head I was like "ok this is going to be good. How ever that wasn't the case. The real monster action didn't occur until more than half way thru the book at page 150. I wanted to like it so much, but I couldn't. I fond myself really speed reading and even skipping whole pages just to hurry to the end. Not something I usually do, but I was getting a little tired of it all. When the monster action did happen, I couldn't get into it. everything was played second fiddle like to the characters of the story. The character development worked the wrong way for me.
This book had a good chance to be something much better, but I can almost understand what the author was trying to do. The dialog all came off like it was a movie script, like it was written for certain characters to do all this bantering about with each other. It was just another major hurdle to getting to the end.
I love these stories but this one fell way to short of the mark. I usually try to refrain from reading reviews of books I have an interest in and don't want to be swayed. This time thought I did read the review for it, but as much as there were some people raving about the characters, there were more reviews that refuted it. I should have taken heed, but I didn't want to be swayed. Maybe I should have listened.
While this is not the best review I have ever given, it was needed. and after reading a few other reviews of people that had finished reading it, I thought long and hard about what I had read of them. and now I knew I was really on the mark about it.
It you like a lot of character banter with your main course of monsters, the this is the novel for you. But if not, then you might want to do a little more review reading just to make sure before ordering this book. It could have had a better editor that probably would have recommended that too much of one thing is not a good idea. Still, his idea for the story itself had merit.
on to the next book.
April 13, 2015
What the review doesn't mention is that the terrible storm that brings the creature happens almost half-way through the book, and that the first half of the book is extremely detailed character-building of every person who lives in Seal Cove. As a monster book it fell short for me because of this. It was too slow-paced, with not enough tension or buildup. I think if around 50 pages were cut from the beginning of the book, reducing the level of detail on all the characters and adding more foreshadowing, signs, even run-ins with the creature or history of the creature it would be a great book, but as it is it's an amazingly well written character analysis with a monster thrown in. It's not a terrible book, it's just not a thrilling monster book for me.
June 1, 2015
Couldn't really enjoy this
This is one off at those books that encourages you to keep checking the page number. The first fourth of the book was mildly interesting but I found myself becoming mildly annoyed. The snappy chatter of all the characters seemed entirely contrived. It seemed to me the author put so much work into making the characters appear witty that the plot got weaker and weaker. I couldn't really connect with any of the characters because of this. And to be honest the whole plot seemed very quite predictable. Frankly I couldn't recommend this book to anyone.
This is one off at those books that encourages you to keep checking the page number. The first fourth of the book was mildly interesting but I found myself becoming mildly annoyed. The snappy chatter of all the characters seemed entirely contrived. It seemed to me the author put so much work into making the characters appear witty that the plot got weaker and weaker. I couldn't really connect with any of the characters because of this. And to be honest the whole plot seemed very quite predictable. Frankly I couldn't recommend this book to anyone.
March 15, 2015
I'd give this one 3.5 stars. If you like Jaws, you will probably like this one.
July 31, 2017
3.5 Stars
Not a bad deep sea monster story. Reading somewhat like a B movie, we find a northern coastal town attacked by a dinosaur like creature from the depths. The characters cracked a few too many jokes for my liking, especially considering these are supposed to be regular everyday people but they are making wisecracks when they are literally seconds away from death. Also, a little too much backstory was given about some of the unimportant characters. Overall though, not a bad read. I especially liked the town of Seal Cove, the atmosphere was great.
If you like ocean monsters, you'll probably enjoy this one.
Not a bad deep sea monster story. Reading somewhat like a B movie, we find a northern coastal town attacked by a dinosaur like creature from the depths. The characters cracked a few too many jokes for my liking, especially considering these are supposed to be regular everyday people but they are making wisecracks when they are literally seconds away from death. Also, a little too much backstory was given about some of the unimportant characters. Overall though, not a bad read. I especially liked the town of Seal Cove, the atmosphere was great.
If you like ocean monsters, you'll probably enjoy this one.
February 19, 2017
Humor?
The book started out pretty good, but it had quite a few typos. It got funny toward the end. I laughed out loud at the ridiculous events at the end of the book.
The book started out pretty good, but it had quite a few typos. It got funny toward the end. I laughed out loud at the ridiculous events at the end of the book.
September 30, 2015
Seal Cove a quaint little town on the coast of Canada. Our main characters are a family that has recently come to the area. They have purchased a house that comes with a lighthouse. After a meteor shower a strange animal emerges. It likes to eat people.
This is an interesting story with a fast moving plot. I liked the characters, although at least one seemed to act in a way that wouldn’t have been natural. It appears to be the first book that DiVitto Kelly has written. It has the feel of a first book in the way it is written. Even with the first time feel to it, I recommend it for those who like the scifi monster type stories and movies.
This is an interesting story with a fast moving plot. I liked the characters, although at least one seemed to act in a way that wouldn’t have been natural. It appears to be the first book that DiVitto Kelly has written. It has the feel of a first book in the way it is written. Even with the first time feel to it, I recommend it for those who like the scifi monster type stories and movies.
February 7, 2015
Decent Thriller
The characters in the story are very well likable and different. The creature was interesting, but the story was sort of a PG horror film. It had real potential to be frightening, but fell a bit short.
The characters in the story are very well likable and different. The creature was interesting, but the story was sort of a PG horror film. It had real potential to be frightening, but fell a bit short.
January 2, 2016
The book had well defined characters that were likable. But it kind of lost me in the monster's 2nd phase. As well fleshed out as everything was, the creature's 2nd form never really solidified (in script) for me. Otherwise, the book was a quick, entertaining read.
December 24, 2015
I like the story line but despite the full detail of the characters' background and relationship at the beginning, the ending is too short and quite unsatisfying me
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Displaying 1 - 11 of 11 reviews