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Two If By Sea
From the #1 New York Times bestselling author of The Deep End of the Ocean, an epic story of courage and devotion that spans three continents and the entire map of the human heart.
Just hours after his wife and her entire family perish in the Christmas Eve tsunami in Brisbane, American expat and former police officer Frank Mercy goes out to join his volunteer rescue unit and pulls a little boy from a submerged car, saving the child’s life with only seconds to spare. In that moment, Frank’s own life is transformed. Not quite knowing why, Frank sidesteps the law, when, instead of turning Ian over to the Red Cross, he takes the boy home to the Midwestern farm where he grew up. Not long into their journey, Frank begins to believe that Ian has an extraordinary, impossible telepathic gift; but his only wish is to protect the deeply frightened child. As Frank struggles to start over, training horses as his father and grandfather did before him, he meets Claudia, a champion equestrian and someone with whom he can share his life—and his fears for Ian. Both of them know that it will be impossible to keep Ian’s gift a secret forever. Already, ominous coincidences have put Frank’s police instincts on high alert, as strangers trespass the quiet life at the family farm.
The fight to keep Ian safe from a sinister group who want him back takes readers from the ravaged shores of Brisbane to the middle of America to a quaint English village. Even as Frank and Claudia dare to hope for new love, it becomes clear that they can never let Ian go, no matter what the cost. A suspenseful novel on a grand scale, Two If by Sea is about the best and worst in people, and the possibility of heroism and even magic in ordinary life.
Just hours after his wife and her entire family perish in the Christmas Eve tsunami in Brisbane, American expat and former police officer Frank Mercy goes out to join his volunteer rescue unit and pulls a little boy from a submerged car, saving the child’s life with only seconds to spare. In that moment, Frank’s own life is transformed. Not quite knowing why, Frank sidesteps the law, when, instead of turning Ian over to the Red Cross, he takes the boy home to the Midwestern farm where he grew up. Not long into their journey, Frank begins to believe that Ian has an extraordinary, impossible telepathic gift; but his only wish is to protect the deeply frightened child. As Frank struggles to start over, training horses as his father and grandfather did before him, he meets Claudia, a champion equestrian and someone with whom he can share his life—and his fears for Ian. Both of them know that it will be impossible to keep Ian’s gift a secret forever. Already, ominous coincidences have put Frank’s police instincts on high alert, as strangers trespass the quiet life at the family farm.
The fight to keep Ian safe from a sinister group who want him back takes readers from the ravaged shores of Brisbane to the middle of America to a quaint English village. Even as Frank and Claudia dare to hope for new love, it becomes clear that they can never let Ian go, no matter what the cost. A suspenseful novel on a grand scale, Two If by Sea is about the best and worst in people, and the possibility of heroism and even magic in ordinary life.
448 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 15, 2016
384 people are currently reading
5375 people want to read
About the author
Jacquelyn Mitchard
68 books1,252 followersJacquelyn Mitchard’s first novel, The Deep End of the Ocean, was named by USA Today as one of the ten most influential books of the past 25 years – second only to the Harry Potter series by J.K. Rowling (but second by a long shot, it must be said.)
The Deep End of the Ocean was chosen as the first novel in the book club made famous by the TV host Oprah Winfrey, and transformed into a feature film produced by and starring Michelle Pfeiffer.
Most of Mitchard’s novels have been greater or lesser bestsellers – and include The Most Wanted, A Theory of Relativity, Twelve Times Blessed, The Breakdown Lane, The Good Son, and Cage of Stars. Critics have praised them for their authentic humanity and command of story. Readers identify because they see reflected, in her characters – however extreme their circumstances – emotions they already understand.
Mitchard also has written four novels for young adults.
The first, Now You See Her, from HarperTeen, is the story of a pampered, driven young actress who fakes her own abduction.
All We Know of Heaven told the story of lifetime best friends Bridget and Maureen, who are just sixteen when a fatal crash on an icy road and a poignant case of mistaken identity divide their small Minnesota town forever.
The Midnight Twins was the first in a trilogy of teen mysteries about identical twin sisters born on New Year’s Eve – one a minute before and a minute after midnight – Meredith and Mallory Brynn learn on the night they turn thirteen that their psychic abilities will force them to intervene in dire events, although one twin can see only the future and one can see only the past. The Midnight Twins is in development as a TV series by Kaleidoscope Entertainment.
Mitchard's newest novel for adult, A Very Inconvenient Scandal, out in November 2023 from Mira/HarperCollins, is the story of an acclaimed young underwater photographer whose famed marine biologist father shatters their family by marrying her best friend., a woman 35 years his junior.
At the local coffee shop, Mitchard is best-known as the mother of Rob, Dan, Marty, Francie, Mia, Will and Atticus , as the grandma of Hank and Diana and the wife of handsome Chris Brent.
Her favorite color is periwinkle blue; her favorite holiday is Halloween; her favorite flower is freesia; her favorite word is "smite," and her second favorite is "Massachusetts"; her lucky number is 119 (anyone who can guess where that comes from wins free first editions of her novels for life). She lives in her favorite place on earth, Cape Cod, summering in a villa on the Amalfi Coast. (Guess which part of that sentence is fiction.)
Her essays have appeared in publications including the New York Times, Chicago Tribune Magazine and Reader's Digest, and are widely anthologized and used in school curricula. She has taught in MFA programs in Vermont, Ohio, and Massachusetts, and is part of the faculty at the Summer Writers Institute at Yale University. She is a member of the Tall Poppies Writers and has been a fellow at the MacDowell Colony, Yaddo, and the Ragdale Foundation.
Her pet peeves are known authors and editors who cannot and will not learn the difference between “lie” and “lay” and family signs pluralized with apostrophes.
She would love to appear on just ONE episode of any incarnation of ‘Law and Order,’ as has everyone else in America. She still is willing to play the role of a murder victim – except one found by earth-moving equipment in a landfill – though she would do that in a pinch.
Mitchard would like to have a swimming pool, because, although she lives near the ocean, she is afraid of the dark water and hates sand. She would love to have a clawfoot tub, or any tub.
She believes that stories are the ways that human beings make sense of life and that our stories will save us.
The Deep End of the Ocean was chosen as the first novel in the book club made famous by the TV host Oprah Winfrey, and transformed into a feature film produced by and starring Michelle Pfeiffer.
Most of Mitchard’s novels have been greater or lesser bestsellers – and include The Most Wanted, A Theory of Relativity, Twelve Times Blessed, The Breakdown Lane, The Good Son, and Cage of Stars. Critics have praised them for their authentic humanity and command of story. Readers identify because they see reflected, in her characters – however extreme their circumstances – emotions they already understand.
Mitchard also has written four novels for young adults.
The first, Now You See Her, from HarperTeen, is the story of a pampered, driven young actress who fakes her own abduction.
All We Know of Heaven told the story of lifetime best friends Bridget and Maureen, who are just sixteen when a fatal crash on an icy road and a poignant case of mistaken identity divide their small Minnesota town forever.
The Midnight Twins was the first in a trilogy of teen mysteries about identical twin sisters born on New Year’s Eve – one a minute before and a minute after midnight – Meredith and Mallory Brynn learn on the night they turn thirteen that their psychic abilities will force them to intervene in dire events, although one twin can see only the future and one can see only the past. The Midnight Twins is in development as a TV series by Kaleidoscope Entertainment.
Mitchard's newest novel for adult, A Very Inconvenient Scandal, out in November 2023 from Mira/HarperCollins, is the story of an acclaimed young underwater photographer whose famed marine biologist father shatters their family by marrying her best friend., a woman 35 years his junior.
At the local coffee shop, Mitchard is best-known as the mother of Rob, Dan, Marty, Francie, Mia, Will and Atticus , as the grandma of Hank and Diana and the wife of handsome Chris Brent.
Her favorite color is periwinkle blue; her favorite holiday is Halloween; her favorite flower is freesia; her favorite word is "smite," and her second favorite is "Massachusetts"; her lucky number is 119 (anyone who can guess where that comes from wins free first editions of her novels for life). She lives in her favorite place on earth, Cape Cod, summering in a villa on the Amalfi Coast. (Guess which part of that sentence is fiction.)
Her essays have appeared in publications including the New York Times, Chicago Tribune Magazine and Reader's Digest, and are widely anthologized and used in school curricula. She has taught in MFA programs in Vermont, Ohio, and Massachusetts, and is part of the faculty at the Summer Writers Institute at Yale University. She is a member of the Tall Poppies Writers and has been a fellow at the MacDowell Colony, Yaddo, and the Ragdale Foundation.
Her pet peeves are known authors and editors who cannot and will not learn the difference between “lie” and “lay” and family signs pluralized with apostrophes.
She would love to appear on just ONE episode of any incarnation of ‘Law and Order,’ as has everyone else in America. She still is willing to play the role of a murder victim – except one found by earth-moving equipment in a landfill – though she would do that in a pinch.
Mitchard would like to have a swimming pool, because, although she lives near the ocean, she is afraid of the dark water and hates sand. She would love to have a clawfoot tub, or any tub.
She believes that stories are the ways that human beings make sense of life and that our stories will save us.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 639 reviews
December 25, 2015
On Christmas Eve ...(in real time tonight here too), ex- police officer Frank Mercy
survives the Brisbane tsunami. His pregnant wife dies, and most of her extended family. Frank is American...from Wisconsin ...but stays in Brisbane to help saving lives when and where he can. He is constantly comparing himself to his deceased wife. He says she was more fit, stronger ( not with a bad leg like Frank is from a previous accident). His is heart is completely broken.
He ends up saving a young boy who was trapped in a car. Rather than turn him over to the Red Cross or an agency that could help re-connect the boy to his family ...he 'steals' him. ( the word 'steal' is not used in the story)... but it's what Frank does.
He takes the kid ( not very talkative kid), back home with him to the farm he grew up on in Wisconsin.
The kid, 'Ian', is not without behavior and psychological problems. Ian is now part of a new family in America..,( Frank's mother, Frank's new love Claudia, extended friends... and a life including horses).
'Ian' has an unusual power ....he can take control of what other people's actions will be. ....He can literally change their behaviors by entering their minds. He can help people relax and calm down enough to treat animals with kindness... or ...he can create evil.
Glory Bee, Frank's young mare, is a center of enjoyment and distraction for both Frank and Ian. With Claudia being a professional equestrian psychiatrist, she, too, brings
healing to broken hearts and troubled lives.
This novel satisfied my hunger in the way food does when I need something to eat, but not my savory memories. What didn't work well for me was the mix of parts --realistic - and 'not' realistic. I wasn't sure where my emotions were suppose to be loyal to. ( the parts I felt that could be true.. or .. 'go for the surreal').
Yet... this was my first novel by this author. Other readers - and long time fans might
absolutely love it.
Thank You Simon & Schuster, Netgalley, and Jacquelyn Mitchard.
survives the Brisbane tsunami. His pregnant wife dies, and most of her extended family. Frank is American...from Wisconsin ...but stays in Brisbane to help saving lives when and where he can. He is constantly comparing himself to his deceased wife. He says she was more fit, stronger ( not with a bad leg like Frank is from a previous accident). His is heart is completely broken.
He ends up saving a young boy who was trapped in a car. Rather than turn him over to the Red Cross or an agency that could help re-connect the boy to his family ...he 'steals' him. ( the word 'steal' is not used in the story)... but it's what Frank does.
He takes the kid ( not very talkative kid), back home with him to the farm he grew up on in Wisconsin.
The kid, 'Ian', is not without behavior and psychological problems. Ian is now part of a new family in America..,( Frank's mother, Frank's new love Claudia, extended friends... and a life including horses).
'Ian' has an unusual power ....he can take control of what other people's actions will be. ....He can literally change their behaviors by entering their minds. He can help people relax and calm down enough to treat animals with kindness... or ...he can create evil.
Glory Bee, Frank's young mare, is a center of enjoyment and distraction for both Frank and Ian. With Claudia being a professional equestrian psychiatrist, she, too, brings
healing to broken hearts and troubled lives.
This novel satisfied my hunger in the way food does when I need something to eat, but not my savory memories. What didn't work well for me was the mix of parts --realistic - and 'not' realistic. I wasn't sure where my emotions were suppose to be loyal to. ( the parts I felt that could be true.. or .. 'go for the surreal').
Yet... this was my first novel by this author. Other readers - and long time fans might
absolutely love it.
Thank You Simon & Schuster, Netgalley, and Jacquelyn Mitchard.
February 22, 2016
I really hate to DNF (not finish) a book. I especially hate to do this when it is a book that I won on goodreads. I thought I really wanted to read this new novel by Jacquelyn Mitchard, after all I entered the contest to win it. Unfortunately I found it extremely confusing and awkwardly written and I did not care at all about the main character. Frank Mercy loses his pregnant wife in a tsunami in Australia and the next day he rescues a young boy from the floodwaters. He decides to adopt this boy, actually he kidnaps him, and discovers that he has special powers. The story lurches ahead and back in time, and it left me confused and frustrated. I wanted to give up on the book much earlier but I trudged through - over halfway into this 400 page book, but that was as far as I was willing to go - life is too short and there are so many, many more good books out there.
June 19, 2020
I love magical realism when done well. And it certainly was done very well here! I'm going to make my way through this author's other novels.
April 29, 2016
I have loved quite a few of Ms. Mitchard's books, so it was a total surprise for me to admit that by page 151, I could no longer read this one. I tried, I really did. But good grief, there was WAY TOO MUCH going on and I simply couldn't keep up. Here's a rundown of what happens in the first 10 out of 33 chapters that I read: Man lives in Australia with pregnant wife. Tsunami comes, kills her and her whole family, leaving him to pick up the pieces. He helps rescue people, identifies her body, rescues a three year old who doesn't talk. Hurts himself - leg issues ensue. The people he works for lose one of their loved ones. Funerals happen. He mourns for two seconds. He decided to take the boy back to the states, basically stealing him and having fake papers made up. He goes back to states. With a crazy horse. But we have the kid to settle the horse down - he's gifted that way. On a plane. The two people the man worked with in Australia get in an accident and die. He mourns for two seconds. The little boy does weird talking gestures. Has some special power, calms down animals and bad people. No one seems to think this is that big of a deal, really. Man and boy move home with his mom. Some kid tries to steal horse. Chaos ensues. Kid saves family with his hand gestures. A ranch hand who came to the states with the man is there too, that we know nothing about. He pops in and out. Someone else (or is it the ranch hand friend, good grief, who knows at this point?) has a friend who is a psychiatrist who decides she actually wants to be an Olympic horse rider. Wants man to train her. He refuses. Then he doesn't. Man decides to become a horse rancher like his father - sort of, not really. Now he's training her. Oh, in between all this his sister gets married; there's a wedding. He misses his wife for two seconds. Then the kid, whose three, who has the run of the farm (really?), suddenly starts talking. We don't know why - the psychiatrist turned Olympic hopeful says sometimes that just happens. This is where I stopped. Are you fricking kidding me with all this? And none of it was really looked at or examined or really given the time of day. We just keep speeding along at breakneck speed - I just couldn't handle one more thing that just flew by in a few pages. I'm thinking a book on the tsunami and losing his wife was a good book all it's own, but that lasted for about the first 40 pages. So, it is with much regret I say that this book is about twenty books/plots in one and none of them are given their due. I couldn't help but wonder if Ms. Mitchard was on speed/coke when she wrote this and just could not decide what in the world to focus on so she just wrote about everything she could possibly think of. Ergh. Goodness knows what happens in the next 23 chapters - you're on your own on that one.
October 9, 2022
Well then. First, I have to say that this was an interesting premise. Frank is the main character, an ex-cop, from Wisconsin, but living in Australia, happily married and expecting his first baby at 40-something, when a catastrophic tsunami changes everything. He finds and rescues a young boy, and inexplicably takes him and soon after, they leave for the US. He realizes that the boy has supernatural powers, and then realizes there are bad people who want the boy, for nefarious reasons. This took me a bit to wrap my head around, along with the somewhat disjointed writing style, at least to me.
However, the story, for me, picked up steam, as we see life unfold for Frank on his childhood farm, surrounded by his family, a new love interest, a new career. I loved the family, grew to love Frank, and the horses he trained, especially Glory Bee. It is this sort of idyllic setting with everyday life unfolding, set against the lurking ever present danger, that captured me. At the heart of it, this book is about family, about building a family, and about love and sacrifice and what a parent will do for a child, AND about the importance of community and neighbors and the braveness of starting over again in the face of adversity.
3.75 stars rounded up to 4
However, the story, for me, picked up steam, as we see life unfold for Frank on his childhood farm, surrounded by his family, a new love interest, a new career. I loved the family, grew to love Frank, and the horses he trained, especially Glory Bee. It is this sort of idyllic setting with everyday life unfolding, set against the lurking ever present danger, that captured me. At the heart of it, this book is about family, about building a family, and about love and sacrifice and what a parent will do for a child, AND about the importance of community and neighbors and the braveness of starting over again in the face of adversity.
3.75 stars rounded up to 4
March 23, 2016
I got this from my local library, which is good, as I found it difficult to finish, which I did do. This wasn't a page-turner for me; I put it down, picked it up, left it for a week and finally rushed through the end just to see if there was a decent resolution to the plot lines. I'd have to say a resounding "no".
Enough of the plot has been described by others already. What I did like were the two young boys, Ian and Colin, and was intrigued by their special abilities.
Unfortunately the author didn't focus enough on them, but instead more on the "too many" other things going on in this novel.
It's a "natural disaster/fantasy/horse-lovers/murder mystery/romance/multi-generational, multi-continent family relationships/etc." novel. Everything except aliens. Identity crisis in need of an editor, who could have also helped with the repetitiveness.
Too many characters throughout whose stories prop up the outline then disappear. Enough plot holes to drive many teams of horses through. We never really find out enough about who the villains were, and after the dastardly things they do (it's okay to use animals as victims instead of people?) not enough retribution for them.
There was a definite point in the book where I absolutely lost interest. It was the point at which the newly widowed main character, Frank, manages, after just a few months, to overcome his all-consuming grief and jump into bed with the new love of his life. Totally undermined his credibility for me, as well as for the whole novel, because this forecast the change in direction the novel would be taking: Cheesy. This isn't the type of book I generally read, but I'd read "The Deep End of the Ocean" years ago and thought this would be of similar quality. Noooo.
Two star rating may seem low, but I expect more from well-established authors. If this had been by a newbie, I might have been more generous.
Enough of the plot has been described by others already. What I did like were the two young boys, Ian and Colin, and was intrigued by their special abilities.
Unfortunately the author didn't focus enough on them, but instead more on the "too many" other things going on in this novel.
It's a "natural disaster/fantasy/horse-lovers/murder mystery/romance/multi-generational, multi-continent family relationships/etc." novel. Everything except aliens. Identity crisis in need of an editor, who could have also helped with the repetitiveness.
Too many characters throughout whose stories prop up the outline then disappear. Enough plot holes to drive many teams of horses through. We never really find out enough about who the villains were, and after the dastardly things they do (it's okay to use animals as victims instead of people?) not enough retribution for them.
There was a definite point in the book where I absolutely lost interest. It was the point at which the newly widowed main character, Frank, manages, after just a few months, to overcome his all-consuming grief and jump into bed with the new love of his life. Totally undermined his credibility for me, as well as for the whole novel, because this forecast the change in direction the novel would be taking: Cheesy. This isn't the type of book I generally read, but I'd read "The Deep End of the Ocean" years ago and thought this would be of similar quality. Noooo.
Two star rating may seem low, but I expect more from well-established authors. If this had been by a newbie, I might have been more generous.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 31, 2016
The plot was completely weak and I had a difficult time actually understanding what was happening with the story. I could never figure out the 'why" of the dangerous situation (no spoilers here), so I was mostly confused throughout much of the story. Plus, the writing was noticeably poor. I was disappointed since I enjoyed the Deep End of the Ocean. I ended up skimming the last bit of the book, just to finish as soon as I could.
June 14, 2017
I hate when a book falls short and this one certainly did. I need a palate cleanser after finishing this one. It was a book club book, or I might not have bothered to complete it.
I found the book to be inconsistent, unbelievable and poorly edited. On the inner cover of the book it states, "A man who has lost faith in everything rescues a child who can do the impossible".
Frank is that man and after he loses his wife in the Christmas Eve tsunami in Brisbane, he immediately goes out on a rescue mission and rescues Ian, this miraculous child. He heads off to the family farm in the Midwest with him as he feels compelled and knows he must protect him. (NO spoilers- all in the book synopsis). From that moment on, life as Frank knows it changes dramatically. There were so many coincidences and improbabilities that had me so annoyed.
What I liked about the book were the kids- so much cuteness coming from their mouths. I do believe there are people with special talents and abilities, so did not mind that aspect of the story.
I read the author's first book "The Deep End of the Ocean" and really enjoyed it. This one is a pass for me.
I found the book to be inconsistent, unbelievable and poorly edited. On the inner cover of the book it states, "A man who has lost faith in everything rescues a child who can do the impossible".
Frank is that man and after he loses his wife in the Christmas Eve tsunami in Brisbane, he immediately goes out on a rescue mission and rescues Ian, this miraculous child. He heads off to the family farm in the Midwest with him as he feels compelled and knows he must protect him. (NO spoilers- all in the book synopsis). From that moment on, life as Frank knows it changes dramatically. There were so many coincidences and improbabilities that had me so annoyed.
What I liked about the book were the kids- so much cuteness coming from their mouths. I do believe there are people with special talents and abilities, so did not mind that aspect of the story.
I read the author's first book "The Deep End of the Ocean" and really enjoyed it. This one is a pass for me.
March 10, 2016
Two If by Sea by Jacquelyn Mitchard is a highly recommended novel about a grieving man, a young boy with a special ability, and horses.
Frank Mercy lost his pregnant wife and her entire family when a Christmas Eve tsunami hit in Brisbane, Australia. He was part of the volunteer search and rescue team, so even while grieving, before he knew if his wife or any of her family had survived, he set out to help rescue others. During his efforts he saves a little boy, age 3, and calls him Ian. Frank believes that Ian has a telepathic gift to make others, animals and people, calm down, relax and "be nice." Ian quickly attached himself to Frank and needs to be by him all the time.
An American expat, Frank decides that he is going to return to his family's horse farm in Wisconsin. He sidesteps the law and takes Ian with him, telling people a tale of how they are vaguely connected and having a lawyer friend acquire proper paperwork. They arrive in the USA, along with a horse named Glory Bee and a former jockey and set in training horses at the family farm.
Frank and Ian are healing and settling into life cautiously when Frank meets Claudia, a psychiatrist and champion equestrian, and they quickly form a close connection as she trains with Frank for the Olympics. Franks family and Claudia have notice that Ian has an unexplained ability. It also becomes clear that someone or a group of people are after Ian. Frank knows that Ian's gift could be used for evil or personal gain by unscrupulous people. He doesn't know who the people are who want Ian, but he clearly knows that they are watch and nearby.
This is a solid 3.5 for me. The story is engaging, and the writing is great. Mitchard does an excellent job developing her characters describing the setting. I did have several niggling complaints about elements of the plot. These might not bother other readers, or you might be able to set them aside, but they were bothering me. Often I can overlook improbabilities and suspend my disbelief, but I just couldn't do that here.
The first is Frank getting the paperwork to take Ian to the USA without using the same lawyer and his ability to handle sketchy paperwork to legally adopt Ian. I don't want to think it would be that easy to take a child out of a civilized country. That he did so bothered me all the way through the novel, even though I realize Frank had good intentions.
The second bothersome point was that Two If by Sea felt like it wanted to be a love story after great tragedy, with lots of horses involved in the plot. But Ian and his gift were added to the plot to create a tension and suspense. It never felt like all the elements gelled for me into a cohesive whole. I was never fully convinced that Ian's "gift" was all that necessary to the story. Plus his age, 3, seems a bit young for this great gift to be so proven that bad guys are after him. Just think about a 2 or 3 year old and let the idea of a psychic ability to make people and animals "be nice" sink in for a moment and you'll likely feel the same way I did.
The story would have made more sense to have Frank rescue Ian, adopt him, try to make a new life in the USA, train champion horses, and become a new family with Claudia. A different story, but the direction that Two If by Sea felt like it wanted to take, except the supernatural psychic bits were added.
I did read the whole novel. It is well written and I wanted to know what happened next, thus the 3.5, or rounded up to 4 because of all the things Mitchard did right.
Disclosure: I received an advanced reading copy of this book from Simon & Schuster for review purposes.
Frank Mercy lost his pregnant wife and her entire family when a Christmas Eve tsunami hit in Brisbane, Australia. He was part of the volunteer search and rescue team, so even while grieving, before he knew if his wife or any of her family had survived, he set out to help rescue others. During his efforts he saves a little boy, age 3, and calls him Ian. Frank believes that Ian has a telepathic gift to make others, animals and people, calm down, relax and "be nice." Ian quickly attached himself to Frank and needs to be by him all the time.
An American expat, Frank decides that he is going to return to his family's horse farm in Wisconsin. He sidesteps the law and takes Ian with him, telling people a tale of how they are vaguely connected and having a lawyer friend acquire proper paperwork. They arrive in the USA, along with a horse named Glory Bee and a former jockey and set in training horses at the family farm.
Frank and Ian are healing and settling into life cautiously when Frank meets Claudia, a psychiatrist and champion equestrian, and they quickly form a close connection as she trains with Frank for the Olympics. Franks family and Claudia have notice that Ian has an unexplained ability. It also becomes clear that someone or a group of people are after Ian. Frank knows that Ian's gift could be used for evil or personal gain by unscrupulous people. He doesn't know who the people are who want Ian, but he clearly knows that they are watch and nearby.
This is a solid 3.5 for me. The story is engaging, and the writing is great. Mitchard does an excellent job developing her characters describing the setting. I did have several niggling complaints about elements of the plot. These might not bother other readers, or you might be able to set them aside, but they were bothering me. Often I can overlook improbabilities and suspend my disbelief, but I just couldn't do that here.
The first is Frank getting the paperwork to take Ian to the USA without using the same lawyer and his ability to handle sketchy paperwork to legally adopt Ian. I don't want to think it would be that easy to take a child out of a civilized country. That he did so bothered me all the way through the novel, even though I realize Frank had good intentions.
The second bothersome point was that Two If by Sea felt like it wanted to be a love story after great tragedy, with lots of horses involved in the plot. But Ian and his gift were added to the plot to create a tension and suspense. It never felt like all the elements gelled for me into a cohesive whole. I was never fully convinced that Ian's "gift" was all that necessary to the story. Plus his age, 3, seems a bit young for this great gift to be so proven that bad guys are after him. Just think about a 2 or 3 year old and let the idea of a psychic ability to make people and animals "be nice" sink in for a moment and you'll likely feel the same way I did.
The story would have made more sense to have Frank rescue Ian, adopt him, try to make a new life in the USA, train champion horses, and become a new family with Claudia. A different story, but the direction that Two If by Sea felt like it wanted to take, except the supernatural psychic bits were added.
I did read the whole novel. It is well written and I wanted to know what happened next, thus the 3.5, or rounded up to 4 because of all the things Mitchard did right.
Disclosure: I received an advanced reading copy of this book from Simon & Schuster for review purposes.
November 3, 2016
Ok, so I hope Micthard doesn't read her Goodreads reviews. And I know I have never written a book, so who the heck am I to judge? And I generally try to be cognizant of that when write reviews here. I am just a reader, and I enjoyed it or I didn't for a multitude of reasons. To each his own. But I know I am not going to be very kind in this review. I think I have only given 3 other books one star, and one of those was a first time author, so he gets a pass.
I picked up this book because I really liked Deep End Of The Ocean. I am looking back at my 5-star review and I guess I loved it. But this book is , in many ways, the opposite of Deep End, and not just because Deep End was great, and this is terrible. Deep End is all about what happens when a three-year-old boy is taken from his family. This book is about a three-year-old boy who is taken, but the protagonist is the man doing the taking. It’s not as menacing as it seems (we learn) but still, I was appalled that Frank Mercy (ex-cop) had no qualms about just absconding with a child of unknown origins (rationalized and explained away later), especially given the subject matter of Deep End.
But that does not begin to scratch the surface of my distaste for this book. In a nutshell, I found rampant inconsistencies (as if it was unedited) and I found most of the plot and the characters’ actions totally unbelievable. In fact, I thought that the seemingly most far-fetched aspect, i.e. the boys’ “supernatural” powers, was the most consistent, interesting, and well-written aspect, indeed that is what made me push through to finis the novel. But mostly everything else made no sense to me.
There were so many inconsistencies! I’m talking about the little details that make a story cohesive. We are told that Claudia is on sabbatical to pursue her Olympic dreams, but a few pages later, she is at work. When Frank takes up with Claudia, he asks someone, “can you believe a doctor would want to be with a guy like me?” Huh? Wasn’t his deceased wife a doctor? At the end, the “professor” kills Glory Bee’s foal, yet the “dark-skinned guy” who was first introduced as the “dark-haired” guy is the one charged with that crime with no explanation.
But those small inconsistencies, while maddening (!) were less bothersome to me than the bigger plot points. We have barely met Frank (and not met Natalie at all) when the Tsunami hits. Frank never grieves over Natalie, takes off with the boys, puts his trust in the drifter Patrick (whom I assumed all along would turn out to be the villain, since Frank entrusts him implicitly though he barely knows him) and takes off for America in the first few pages. My head was spinning. Finally, he gets to his family farm and I think, now we will settle in to the meat of the story. But I still don’t know what this book was about or the point. Claudia appears out of nowhere and despite losing the love of his life 6 months ago, Frank not only hooks up with her, but marries Claudia a year and a week after Natalie’s death. And Claudia? She’s a psychiatrist/professor with dreams of being an Olympic horse jumper (already a bit much), who tosses all of that aside for a man (and boy) she just met? And Frank himself is hard to believe-an ex-cop, reluctant horse-trainer, turned willing horse –trainer in Australia where he is also a volunteer fireman. Huh?
I have to stop writing I’m sorry I disliked this book so much. I was as lost at the ending as I was at the beginning. I do not recommend.
I picked up this book because I really liked Deep End Of The Ocean. I am looking back at my 5-star review and I guess I loved it. But this book is , in many ways, the opposite of Deep End, and not just because Deep End was great, and this is terrible. Deep End is all about what happens when a three-year-old boy is taken from his family. This book is about a three-year-old boy who is taken, but the protagonist is the man doing the taking. It’s not as menacing as it seems (we learn) but still, I was appalled that Frank Mercy (ex-cop) had no qualms about just absconding with a child of unknown origins (rationalized and explained away later), especially given the subject matter of Deep End.
But that does not begin to scratch the surface of my distaste for this book. In a nutshell, I found rampant inconsistencies (as if it was unedited) and I found most of the plot and the characters’ actions totally unbelievable. In fact, I thought that the seemingly most far-fetched aspect, i.e. the boys’ “supernatural” powers, was the most consistent, interesting, and well-written aspect, indeed that is what made me push through to finis the novel. But mostly everything else made no sense to me.
There were so many inconsistencies! I’m talking about the little details that make a story cohesive. We are told that Claudia is on sabbatical to pursue her Olympic dreams, but a few pages later, she is at work. When Frank takes up with Claudia, he asks someone, “can you believe a doctor would want to be with a guy like me?” Huh? Wasn’t his deceased wife a doctor? At the end, the “professor” kills Glory Bee’s foal, yet the “dark-skinned guy” who was first introduced as the “dark-haired” guy is the one charged with that crime with no explanation.
But those small inconsistencies, while maddening (!) were less bothersome to me than the bigger plot points. We have barely met Frank (and not met Natalie at all) when the Tsunami hits. Frank never grieves over Natalie, takes off with the boys, puts his trust in the drifter Patrick (whom I assumed all along would turn out to be the villain, since Frank entrusts him implicitly though he barely knows him) and takes off for America in the first few pages. My head was spinning. Finally, he gets to his family farm and I think, now we will settle in to the meat of the story. But I still don’t know what this book was about or the point. Claudia appears out of nowhere and despite losing the love of his life 6 months ago, Frank not only hooks up with her, but marries Claudia a year and a week after Natalie’s death. And Claudia? She’s a psychiatrist/professor with dreams of being an Olympic horse jumper (already a bit much), who tosses all of that aside for a man (and boy) she just met? And Frank himself is hard to believe-an ex-cop, reluctant horse-trainer, turned willing horse –trainer in Australia where he is also a volunteer fireman. Huh?
I have to stop writing I’m sorry I disliked this book so much. I was as lost at the ending as I was at the beginning. I do not recommend.
December 9, 2015
I feel like horses are in right now, this is my fourth book in three months where they play a role. Frank Mercy is drowning in loss when a tsunami takes the lives of his beloved pregnant wife, unborn child and her family. Still reeling in shock, he saves a child (Ian) in a submerged car. Here, he makes a choice to keep him. There is something about the boy, something in his eyes that speaks of need. But he can't quite understand why he decides to risk so much by keeping him. What he learns is that Ian is a special child with strange abilities. He can influence people, which came off at times as adorable for me. The problem is, Frank has taken him illegally and there are bad people after him. This has a love story as well in the new woman in Frank's life, but you could just as easily say Ian and Frank have a love story too (becoming family). When Frank takes Ian back to the states, returning to his family farm to work with horses he meets a woman (psychiatrist) who wants his help training for the Olympics. Ian's family isn't as dead as was believed- there are people after him. He is wanted because of his abilities, and not for good purposes. Just how far will someone go to protect someone they have come to love?
There is a slight supernatural feel to the story (because of young Ian's telepathy) but it isn't focused just on that. It is about grief, strength of love, friendship, animals, healing... It was bittersweet.
There is a slight supernatural feel to the story (because of young Ian's telepathy) but it isn't focused just on that. It is about grief, strength of love, friendship, animals, healing... It was bittersweet.
March 10, 2016
Simon & Schuster and NetGalley provided me with an electronic copy of Two If By Sea, in exchange for an honest review.
Former police officer Frank Mercy, despite just losing his wife, her entire family, and his unborn child in a tsunami in Brisbane, reports for work with the volunteer rescue unit and helps save the life of a child. Heartbroken for his own loss, as well as that of the child's, Frank takes it upon himself to claim Ian as his own. When the boy's mysterious gift surfaces, Frank will fight to protect him from those that mean him harm.
Usually, I love Jacquelyn Mitchard's novels, especially the way she weaves a story seamlessly with her characters. I did not get that feeling here, as the writing style seemed forced. It was as if the author knew where she wanted the story to go and had to work the characters into that narrow framework. With a lack of depth and too many plot holes to ignore, Two If By Sea was a missed opportunity for me. The premise was interesting, but I was not transported to another world by the story. Although I am a big fan of author Jacquelyn Mitchard's earlier works, I cannot recommend this book.
Former police officer Frank Mercy, despite just losing his wife, her entire family, and his unborn child in a tsunami in Brisbane, reports for work with the volunteer rescue unit and helps save the life of a child. Heartbroken for his own loss, as well as that of the child's, Frank takes it upon himself to claim Ian as his own. When the boy's mysterious gift surfaces, Frank will fight to protect him from those that mean him harm.
Usually, I love Jacquelyn Mitchard's novels, especially the way she weaves a story seamlessly with her characters. I did not get that feeling here, as the writing style seemed forced. It was as if the author knew where she wanted the story to go and had to work the characters into that narrow framework. With a lack of depth and too many plot holes to ignore, Two If By Sea was a missed opportunity for me. The premise was interesting, but I was not transported to another world by the story. Although I am a big fan of author Jacquelyn Mitchard's earlier works, I cannot recommend this book.
January 23, 2016
I did finish "Two If By Sea," but the story is ungainly and not very convincing. It involves horses--a popular critter right now--and large family groups in three different parts of the world. There's an adorable three year old boy who may have magic powers. Former Chicago cop Frank Mercy loses his pregnant wife and her entire family in the Brisbane, Australia tsunami. He rescues a little boy, and smuggles him back to the family farm in Iowa, where no one asks him any probing questions about the little guy. Murder explodes behind them and Frank realizes that someone is after little Ian, probably for his power of being able to make people be nice.
The book is a mess, but if you're in the mood for this kind of read it might just fill the bill. Interesting, I remember Jacqueline Mitchard writing much more nuanced novels.
The book is a mess, but if you're in the mood for this kind of read it might just fill the bill. Interesting, I remember Jacqueline Mitchard writing much more nuanced novels.
June 23, 2016
Painful. This was very difficult to finish. I kept hoping that the ending would make it worth it but, no.
December 26, 2015
Sounds interesting. Hope it's good as I just won from Goodreads!
Finished this Goodreads win on Christmas Day. Written by Jacquelyn Mitchard author of The Deep End of The Ocean which I have not read but now I will probably move up in my pile of books after reading this suspenseful if not somewhat slow novel. Sounds like a contradiction however the writing and the authentic, down to earth characters who I really cared about made this a wonderful read. There's a hint of the supernatural in the story but the focus was mainly on family, handling grief, and how far one goes to protect those you love. This could have been a 4 star book for me but since it took 100 pages to grab my attention ( even tho it started out with a tsunami wiping out an entire family!) I had to subtract a 1/2 star. Also I wanted to know a little bit more about the bad guys in the book. They were underdeveloped and played a minor part although always lurking in the background. I loved little Ian and his brother Colin and the rapport between Frank and girlfriend Claudia. Happy I won this book from Goodreads! 3 1/2 stars.
Finished this Goodreads win on Christmas Day. Written by Jacquelyn Mitchard author of The Deep End of The Ocean which I have not read but now I will probably move up in my pile of books after reading this suspenseful if not somewhat slow novel. Sounds like a contradiction however the writing and the authentic, down to earth characters who I really cared about made this a wonderful read. There's a hint of the supernatural in the story but the focus was mainly on family, handling grief, and how far one goes to protect those you love. This could have been a 4 star book for me but since it took 100 pages to grab my attention ( even tho it started out with a tsunami wiping out an entire family!) I had to subtract a 1/2 star. Also I wanted to know a little bit more about the bad guys in the book. They were underdeveloped and played a minor part although always lurking in the background. I loved little Ian and his brother Colin and the rapport between Frank and girlfriend Claudia. Happy I won this book from Goodreads! 3 1/2 stars.
March 23, 2016
I actually really liked this book, but I wanted to like it more.
What bothered other people didn't affect me--the horses and training, or Frank's occasional marveling and coming to grips with his instant parenthood--no, to me, those were very realistic and rounded out the setting and made Frank a more fully realized protagonist. I liked how he even admitted early on he was a bit of a mama's boy, because yes, he was.
What bothered me were two things: how Frank could marry two amazingly strong and independent women and neglect to include Claudia in ANY of his decision-making (and how my now-defended Claudia could be so whiny and childish at times), and how the bad guys were still so ill-defined, even at the end when we should be wrapping things up. It was a great premise, creative, scary, nicely defined characters and some really funny bits (the giant aquarium made me laugh out loud!), but the best part just sort of fizzled out. The wrap up was corny. This book was a solid 4-star plus until it closed.
What bothered other people didn't affect me--the horses and training, or Frank's occasional marveling and coming to grips with his instant parenthood--no, to me, those were very realistic and rounded out the setting and made Frank a more fully realized protagonist. I liked how he even admitted early on he was a bit of a mama's boy, because yes, he was.
What bothered me were two things: how Frank could marry two amazingly strong and independent women and neglect to include Claudia in ANY of his decision-making (and how my now-defended Claudia could be so whiny and childish at times), and how the bad guys were still so ill-defined, even at the end when we should be wrapping things up. It was a great premise, creative, scary, nicely defined characters and some really funny bits (the giant aquarium made me laugh out loud!), but the best part just sort of fizzled out. The wrap up was corny. This book was a solid 4-star plus until it closed.
January 22, 2018
I cannot describe how much I hated this book. It was SO painful to read. Multiple scenes didn't feel quite thought out, and the dialogue was awkward and clunky. Sometimes even the logic from one sentence to the next was so weird they might as well not even be connected. I could figure out the connection eventually, but I had to take a really roundabout way to think it through.
The relationships were awkward and unrealistic, and the main characters makes stupid decisions constantly. The mystery/suspense that drove the plot seemed forced and overly dramatic, and the author didn't even give the villain any personality or motivation at all. The villain was an ever-present threat that never showed up.
There was no substance to half the characters, especially Natalie. Even though she's not in the book long, she plays such an important role, and I was disappointed she was so two-dimensional.
This is my first book by Jacquelyn Mitchard, and my last.
The relationships were awkward and unrealistic, and the main characters makes stupid decisions constantly. The mystery/suspense that drove the plot seemed forced and overly dramatic, and the author didn't even give the villain any personality or motivation at all. The villain was an ever-present threat that never showed up.
There was no substance to half the characters, especially Natalie. Even though she's not in the book long, she plays such an important role, and I was disappointed she was so two-dimensional.
This is my first book by Jacquelyn Mitchard, and my last.
July 3, 2022
One of the strangest books that I have read and not sure how to classify the genre. I should have paid more attention to some of the reviews and avoided this one.
June 26, 2016
Is There Life After Loss?
Two If By Sea by Jacquelyn Mitchard
A tsunami claims the life of Frank Mercy’s wife and unborn child Christmas Eve on Bribie Island, north of Brisbane in Queensland, Australia. Frank, a retired police officer and volunteer fireman, attempts to rescue the occupants of a sinking van. The older lad trapped inside insists he save the younger one first. He does but the woman and other boy slip away. Frank is compelled to keep the child. He confirms him the son of a deceased relative, calls him Ian and moves to his family’s horse farm in Wisconsin. Ian manifests an extraordinary mind able to change people’s behaviour. The boy assumed drown survives. He is revealed Ian’s older brother, Colin whom Frank adopts as well. Colin has telepathic ability and thugs keen to employ the sibling’s gifts for nefarious purposes attempt to abduct them. Frank does whatever necessary to hold them safe and, as such, a riveting conflict drives Two If By Sea. Jacquelyn Mitchard’s novel, however, also explores the human response to grief, the many kinds of love and our capacity to heal, move past tragedy and begin anew.
The four-hundred page book is organized into thirty-three chapters with Frank’s chilling account of the approaching tsunami on the second page drawing the reader into the looming horror and the consequences it will precipitate at the start.
“He saw the wave as a gleaming dam, built of stainless steel, standing upright in the misty moonlight, fifty feet tall and extending for half a mile in either direction.”
From this point, the story spans a two year period set in Australia then Wisconsin, North Carolina and finally, Yorkshire, England. The author creates a vivid sense of locale with this Chapter Thirty excerpt describing the village of Stead, England as testament.
“Houses and stores bumped up against the thoroughfare, with no front yard or parkway except a scrap of tufty grass tucked behind ancient dry stone walls-their slabs stacked like shrunken books. At the back of buildings that clustered together like a toy village, there were small yards, with play structures, tumbles of wild roses and balls of shrub, that rose up to the curved and clefted hills,.…”
The threading of local language throughout the text also strengthens authenticity. Weaving Australian terms such as lamingtons, a popular Brisbane dessert and jackaroo, a young man working on a cattle ranch are apt examples.
A meticulous work, Mitchard’s depiction of the equestrian world serving as a backdrop merits note. A jockey and Olympic hopeful are among the characters that provide technical details. Their various perspectives shed insight as do incidents involving injuries to horses, skill clinics for novice riders and competitive events.
There are two recommendations for improvement. The inclusion of a map would have aided the reader in locating Bribie Island thereby enhancing understanding of the devastating impact of the tsunami. Julia Madigral, an acquaintance of Frank’s new girlfriend, Claudia is presented as a mysterious woman. An adult with ability similar to Ian’s; Frank is perplexed with a youthful appearance inconsistent her chronological age. His comments raise intrigue but as an explanation is lacking, the reader is left an incomplete profile.
The book is a worthy read especially since the author is deft with dialogue. The Chapter Fifteen exchange between Frank and Claudia who is also a psychiatrist with regards Ian and how children express grief is penned with thought-provoking brilliance.
“She (Claudia) described it as “taking bites.” Little children, who didn’t have the large vocabulary necessary for ritual mourning, were sad in small “bites,” but then rushed away to play….Kids just didn’t look the way we think people look when they’ve suffered a tremendous loss.”
At the end of Two If By Sea, conflicts are resolved satisfactorily and a reasonable scenario crafted for the future. The final chapter reassures us magic exists in our everyday world. Jacquelyn Mitchard has written an inspirational tale celebrating the possibility of life after loss.
Please note that I received a free copy of this book from Simon & Schuster Canada in a Goodreads giveaway in exchange for an honest review.
Marianne Perry
Author of The Inheritance
Writing inspired by genealogical research to solve family mysteries.
http://www.marianneperry.ca
Two If By Sea by Jacquelyn Mitchard
A tsunami claims the life of Frank Mercy’s wife and unborn child Christmas Eve on Bribie Island, north of Brisbane in Queensland, Australia. Frank, a retired police officer and volunteer fireman, attempts to rescue the occupants of a sinking van. The older lad trapped inside insists he save the younger one first. He does but the woman and other boy slip away. Frank is compelled to keep the child. He confirms him the son of a deceased relative, calls him Ian and moves to his family’s horse farm in Wisconsin. Ian manifests an extraordinary mind able to change people’s behaviour. The boy assumed drown survives. He is revealed Ian’s older brother, Colin whom Frank adopts as well. Colin has telepathic ability and thugs keen to employ the sibling’s gifts for nefarious purposes attempt to abduct them. Frank does whatever necessary to hold them safe and, as such, a riveting conflict drives Two If By Sea. Jacquelyn Mitchard’s novel, however, also explores the human response to grief, the many kinds of love and our capacity to heal, move past tragedy and begin anew.
The four-hundred page book is organized into thirty-three chapters with Frank’s chilling account of the approaching tsunami on the second page drawing the reader into the looming horror and the consequences it will precipitate at the start.
“He saw the wave as a gleaming dam, built of stainless steel, standing upright in the misty moonlight, fifty feet tall and extending for half a mile in either direction.”
From this point, the story spans a two year period set in Australia then Wisconsin, North Carolina and finally, Yorkshire, England. The author creates a vivid sense of locale with this Chapter Thirty excerpt describing the village of Stead, England as testament.
“Houses and stores bumped up against the thoroughfare, with no front yard or parkway except a scrap of tufty grass tucked behind ancient dry stone walls-their slabs stacked like shrunken books. At the back of buildings that clustered together like a toy village, there were small yards, with play structures, tumbles of wild roses and balls of shrub, that rose up to the curved and clefted hills,.…”
The threading of local language throughout the text also strengthens authenticity. Weaving Australian terms such as lamingtons, a popular Brisbane dessert and jackaroo, a young man working on a cattle ranch are apt examples.
A meticulous work, Mitchard’s depiction of the equestrian world serving as a backdrop merits note. A jockey and Olympic hopeful are among the characters that provide technical details. Their various perspectives shed insight as do incidents involving injuries to horses, skill clinics for novice riders and competitive events.
There are two recommendations for improvement. The inclusion of a map would have aided the reader in locating Bribie Island thereby enhancing understanding of the devastating impact of the tsunami. Julia Madigral, an acquaintance of Frank’s new girlfriend, Claudia is presented as a mysterious woman. An adult with ability similar to Ian’s; Frank is perplexed with a youthful appearance inconsistent her chronological age. His comments raise intrigue but as an explanation is lacking, the reader is left an incomplete profile.
The book is a worthy read especially since the author is deft with dialogue. The Chapter Fifteen exchange between Frank and Claudia who is also a psychiatrist with regards Ian and how children express grief is penned with thought-provoking brilliance.
“She (Claudia) described it as “taking bites.” Little children, who didn’t have the large vocabulary necessary for ritual mourning, were sad in small “bites,” but then rushed away to play….Kids just didn’t look the way we think people look when they’ve suffered a tremendous loss.”
At the end of Two If By Sea, conflicts are resolved satisfactorily and a reasonable scenario crafted for the future. The final chapter reassures us magic exists in our everyday world. Jacquelyn Mitchard has written an inspirational tale celebrating the possibility of life after loss.
Please note that I received a free copy of this book from Simon & Schuster Canada in a Goodreads giveaway in exchange for an honest review.
Marianne Perry
Author of The Inheritance
Writing inspired by genealogical research to solve family mysteries.
http://www.marianneperry.ca
June 4, 2017
this book had all the elements i usually enjoy but i just couldnt do it for some reason.... not sure why grr it frustrated me
April 1, 2016
I received this book free of charge for an honest review.
I wish I would have put this book down and then picked it up later so I could have savored it more deeply. I normally finish a book in 3-5 days and this one took me a month -- but only because of a family illness that kept me from reading. Because I was reading only small bits at a time, it took me a while to really get into the rhythm of the characters and the story. However, about half-way through, I fell in love with them all. I didn't realize until after I finished the book that the author also wrote "The Deep End of the Ocean" but it should have been apparent. She has an overwhelming knack of portraying just how far a parent's love can extend and be stretched -- even if the child isn't biologically yours.
Frank, an ex-cop and one-time horse trainer, loses his wife and unborn child during a tsunami in Australia. During his volunteer efforts to help other survivors, he sees a car submerged in rushing water and mud. Approaching the vehicle, a young boy pushes his even younger brother out of the car towards Frank and says, "take my brother -- he's important". After seeing that the small lad is on safe ground, he attempts to rescue the other brother, but another strong wave washes the car and its occupants into the muck and mire. Much like the story "The Light Between Two Oceans", Frank is faced with an uncanny urge and need to keep the small lad and not release him to the custody of officials. He soon finds that the boy is more than important -- he is "special" in ways that most people can't fathom. And no matter how far he travels around the globe, there is always someone looking for his special child.
I thought the story was well written with characters who mastered the meaning of courage and compassion. It was a testament to unconditional love and the control a mind can have over matter. For me the book was a bit rushed in the end but perhaps it was because circumstances caused me to not jump into the story with both feet at the beginning so I was just hesitant to let the tale run its course to closure. Regardless, it was a most enjoyable read.
I wish I would have put this book down and then picked it up later so I could have savored it more deeply. I normally finish a book in 3-5 days and this one took me a month -- but only because of a family illness that kept me from reading. Because I was reading only small bits at a time, it took me a while to really get into the rhythm of the characters and the story. However, about half-way through, I fell in love with them all. I didn't realize until after I finished the book that the author also wrote "The Deep End of the Ocean" but it should have been apparent. She has an overwhelming knack of portraying just how far a parent's love can extend and be stretched -- even if the child isn't biologically yours.
Frank, an ex-cop and one-time horse trainer, loses his wife and unborn child during a tsunami in Australia. During his volunteer efforts to help other survivors, he sees a car submerged in rushing water and mud. Approaching the vehicle, a young boy pushes his even younger brother out of the car towards Frank and says, "take my brother -- he's important". After seeing that the small lad is on safe ground, he attempts to rescue the other brother, but another strong wave washes the car and its occupants into the muck and mire. Much like the story "The Light Between Two Oceans", Frank is faced with an uncanny urge and need to keep the small lad and not release him to the custody of officials. He soon finds that the boy is more than important -- he is "special" in ways that most people can't fathom. And no matter how far he travels around the globe, there is always someone looking for his special child.
I thought the story was well written with characters who mastered the meaning of courage and compassion. It was a testament to unconditional love and the control a mind can have over matter. For me the book was a bit rushed in the end but perhaps it was because circumstances caused me to not jump into the story with both feet at the beginning so I was just hesitant to let the tale run its course to closure. Regardless, it was a most enjoyable read.
May 7, 2016
I wanted to like this book as much as I did Mitchard's 1st book The Deep End of the Ocean, but it didn't come close; I wish that I wouldn't have these expectations.
Although a nice little story, as you can read from the synopsis, there were things that didn't click for me:
** a 3 year old boy Ian (adorable) who can "make" people/animals be "nice" with a word or a touch.
** bad guys who come to get Ian back with them so they can use his "gift" to line their pockets w/ money, but.... they just appear; there is no back story, which to me is critical to the plot. We are told nothing about how they originally came to have Ian and very little is told about his parents so we don't know how this all came together. And, they kept Ian and his brother Colin, who has the gift of telepathy, in a tree house ??
** Main character Frank lost his pregnant wife in a tsunami on Christmas Eve in Brisbane, Australia, but I later read that Brisbane's location would never experience a tsunami event. Of course, it's fiction, but why use Brisbane and not a place where a tsunami could actually occur? Plus, the author's description of the tsunami was not very exciting/thrilling and not well explained.
I can't say that I was enamored w/ Frank, although he did the right stuff to be the best dad to these two "lost" boys, Ian and Colin, and they came to adore him. He went through the right motions and he certainly wanted them with him, but I felt that his motivations/reasons were selfish. And, perhaps I didn't expect him to find a new love of his life w/ Claudia so quickly after losing Natalie, although everyone experiences grief differently and there is no time limit that must be followed. For me, it was a lot, too soon.
I did like how Claudia , who was a psychiatrist (convenient), helped the boys work through and understand their problems, and I did love Frank's mom Hope who gave the boys so much grandmotherly love and stability.
I gave this book 3 stars so I liked it; I just didn't love it, and I wouldn't recommend it.
Although a nice little story, as you can read from the synopsis, there were things that didn't click for me:
** a 3 year old boy Ian (adorable) who can "make" people/animals be "nice" with a word or a touch.
** bad guys who come to get Ian back with them so they can use his "gift" to line their pockets w/ money, but.... they just appear; there is no back story, which to me is critical to the plot. We are told nothing about how they originally came to have Ian and very little is told about his parents so we don't know how this all came together. And, they kept Ian and his brother Colin, who has the gift of telepathy, in a tree house ??
** Main character Frank lost his pregnant wife in a tsunami on Christmas Eve in Brisbane, Australia, but I later read that Brisbane's location would never experience a tsunami event. Of course, it's fiction, but why use Brisbane and not a place where a tsunami could actually occur? Plus, the author's description of the tsunami was not very exciting/thrilling and not well explained.
I can't say that I was enamored w/ Frank, although he did the right stuff to be the best dad to these two "lost" boys, Ian and Colin, and they came to adore him. He went through the right motions and he certainly wanted them with him, but I felt that his motivations/reasons were selfish. And, perhaps I didn't expect him to find a new love of his life w/ Claudia so quickly after losing Natalie, although everyone experiences grief differently and there is no time limit that must be followed. For me, it was a lot, too soon.
I did like how Claudia , who was a psychiatrist (convenient), helped the boys work through and understand their problems, and I did love Frank's mom Hope who gave the boys so much grandmotherly love and stability.
I gave this book 3 stars so I liked it; I just didn't love it, and I wouldn't recommend it.
November 23, 2016
It was the night before Christmas in Brisbane, Australia, when the tsunami struck, taking lives and tearing families apart.
Frank Mercy lost his pregnant wife Natalie and several members of her family.
A former cop, Frank is assisting with rescue attempts when he finds two young boys in a purple van, almost submerged by water. The older boy insists that he take the younger one, and he carries him away.
There is something unique about the boy whom he calls Ian. A special gift that calms people down: a kind of telepathy. Has Frank taken him because something in the boy insists on it? Or does he know that he must protect him somehow?
After everything settles down in Brisbane, Frank takes Ian with him to Wisconsin, to his mother, Hope, and his sister Eden. They would settle in at Tenacity Farm and the horses that were part of his life.
At the ranch, Frank helps train the horses…and meets Claudia, a psychiatrist who is also an equestrian. She asks Frank to train her to perform on her horse.
But perhaps Claudia can also help with Ian, whose special gifts may have made him a target for sinister characters.
Two If by Sea was a book that captured my interest, for the most part, although it rambled on for longer than I would have liked, and there were sections, mostly those involving horse training, that I slogged through.
However, I had to keep reading, because I wanted to know what would happen to Frank, to Claudia, and to Ian and his brother Colin, who came to them from an orphanage in Australia.
There were surprises along the way, and a sense of dark foreboding that never lessened. And then, finally, after the whole family moved to England to start over once again, and in the face of a new form of the recurring danger, something truly mystical and triumphant would bring the story to its conclusion. 4 stars.
Frank Mercy lost his pregnant wife Natalie and several members of her family.
A former cop, Frank is assisting with rescue attempts when he finds two young boys in a purple van, almost submerged by water. The older boy insists that he take the younger one, and he carries him away.
There is something unique about the boy whom he calls Ian. A special gift that calms people down: a kind of telepathy. Has Frank taken him because something in the boy insists on it? Or does he know that he must protect him somehow?
After everything settles down in Brisbane, Frank takes Ian with him to Wisconsin, to his mother, Hope, and his sister Eden. They would settle in at Tenacity Farm and the horses that were part of his life.
At the ranch, Frank helps train the horses…and meets Claudia, a psychiatrist who is also an equestrian. She asks Frank to train her to perform on her horse.
But perhaps Claudia can also help with Ian, whose special gifts may have made him a target for sinister characters.
Two If by Sea was a book that captured my interest, for the most part, although it rambled on for longer than I would have liked, and there were sections, mostly those involving horse training, that I slogged through.
However, I had to keep reading, because I wanted to know what would happen to Frank, to Claudia, and to Ian and his brother Colin, who came to them from an orphanage in Australia.
There were surprises along the way, and a sense of dark foreboding that never lessened. And then, finally, after the whole family moved to England to start over once again, and in the face of a new form of the recurring danger, something truly mystical and triumphant would bring the story to its conclusion. 4 stars.
July 22, 2016
I was loving this novel, with its convincingly human and suffering, but resilient, I characters. I was intrigued by the paranormal gifts of two young boys who quickly claimed space in my heart. I began to recognize that great feeling that comes when you want to turn pages quickly and make bargains about how many pages you'll read before... work, dinner, that walk, bedtime. I almost didn't finish the book though! It sprawled when I expected it to tighten up. Smart characters made too many foolish mistakes. In fact, too many characters crowded in. I couldn't always keep track of what was happening or especially of who was speaking or of some dialect or colloquial phrases. I did finish, though. Had to find out what happened to those gifted boys. Also, the author has me thinking about suffering, resilience, love, family, morality, the existence of goodness and of evil, of good coming out of evil and evil tainting goodness, even of angels among us... And how we respond to them if we recognize them. At times, I cringed, gasped, laughed out loud, cried a bit. The novel did engage, touch, and move me. I'm glad I stuck with it.
September 14, 2015
Frank loses his family in a Christmas Eve flood in Australia. After helping rescue Ian, a small boy from drowning he returns to America with the the child. Since he brought Ian with him illegally, when there are attempts to kidnap him they rely on friends and neighbors for help. Ian displays hints of telepathy and there are people who will kill to take him back to Australia. Exciting and suspenseful it brings out the best and worst in people. An enjoyable read with a hint of violence but tempered with love good will.
May 21, 2016
Quite readable, but would have to do better to measure up to author's "Deep End of The Ocean". Tragedy in Brisbane, Australia - Christmas Eve tsunami kills American policeman's new bride and all her family. He turns to rescue, finds a small boy he bonds with and claims for his own. Off to his family horse farm in Wisconsin. Rest becomes predictable - meets new woman, finds new life among horses, child has supernatural abilities. As I said, very readable, keeps ones attention, and overall - enjoyable. Does not however in any way, shape, or form, reach ones innermost regions!
December 28, 2017
Not sure if I'm allowed to rate a book that I haven't fully read, but I couldn't get past the first 30 pages. I tried....and then I skimmed ahead to see if it would get better, but it was just more unnecessary references to penises and cocks. The writing wasn't compelling or interesting. What a waste.
April 30, 2016
Okay, this isn't a fair review as I couldn't read past page 125. The opening was great, but then it fell flat with flat characters and a dumb premise. I read the last 25 pages as well, and it still was awful. I love this author,but yuck.
May 22, 2016
Great book! I read The Deep End of The Ocean when it first came out and then haven't read anything else by Ms. Mitchard since. Big mistake! Now, I'll go back and read her other books. I could not put Two If by Sea down once I started it.
July 26, 2017
I was very disappointed in this book. I have previously read Jacquelyn Mitchards books and quite liked it. It wasnt to my taste jumped all over the place. Other people will probably like it . But not me.
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