Tide

by Zach Hughes

An experiment in radiation treatment of fish produces mutations in the microscopic dino-flagellates the fish feed on. The result in the fish is horrifyingly abnormal aggressiveness - toward other fish and even against man. Science Fiction Thriller.

Genres: Horror, Science Fiction

156 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published January 1, 1975

About the author

Zach Hughes is a pseudonym of American writer Hugh Zachary.

Reviews

[Phil · Rating 3 out of 5]

The cover blub calls Tide an ecological horror novel and that fits. Zach Hughes (AKA Hugh Zachary) penned quite a few genre novels in the 70s and 80s and this really captured the zeitgeist of the mid 70s. Remember the oil crisis and inflation? (I guess history does repeat itself, but the second time as a farce). With rising prices of food generally, some scientists came up with an idea for an ocean fish farm 50 miles off the coast of North Carolina. While Hughes spares the reader all the scientific details, basically the Project Tide stirs up waters from the depths, bringing nutrients and such that plankton love; fish eat the plankton and boom-- lots of fish!

Our lead, 'Tusk' (and old army nickname) knows water and fish and since his old army commander is running Project Tide, he gets a job there. Without going into the details to avoid spoilers, Tide's plot concerns science gone wrong. When has humanity actually improved nature stands out as the novel's theme for sure. All they wanted to do at Project Tide was to ensure cheap, healthy fish for American's tables. What they created may threaten all life in the oceans...

While a decent tale, Hughes bogs the story down with lots of romance between the main characters which really added little to the story. I might have rated this lower, but Tide has such a 70s feel to it (besides the inflation and oil crisis). 2.5 tainted fishes, rounding up!

[Kristoph Kosicki · Rating 2 out of 5]

well, this certainly was a book in the sense that it had pages with words on them. At its core I think there is a plot involving mad cow disease but for fish spreading across the ocean and beyond with a plan to use nukes to stop it. But nothing actually happens?

There are characters who have various romantic flings in the midst of this. One of them is named Tusk.

on the positive side there is a few paragraphs that raise interesting concerns about food shortages and in its stronger sections it gives off similar vibes to stories like Make room! Make Room! (Soylent Green). but very poorly executed.

[Mikepottz · Rating 4 out of 5]

A huge fish factory in the middle of the ocean, high-tech experts from all the sciences, working on increasing fish numbers, food for global use. The facility is called Tide. Slowly fishes behaviors have started changing, aggressive, barging into each other, ferocious biting, chewing. Trying to improve nature, never been done. A fisherman falls overboard, a fish latches onto his lip, ripping, biting, tearing, the flesh coming off easily, the water now a deep dark red. People who consume the fish are aggressive, uncontrollable, people beating each other to pulp. Baseball bats, knives, kidney cut, skulls cracked. Elderly gentleman smashed over the head repeatedly with a chair. Mutant fish cause chaos and destruction. Birds attacking. Ecosystem on the verge of death. Well, maybe a nuclear weapon in the ocean might help? Well written for a pulpy animal attack book.

[Scott Oliver · Rating 4 out of 5]

A government experiment to speed up the development of fish to help stabilise the food shortages goes awry when a plankton like organism mutates and send anything that consumes it into a murderous self destructive rage.

A good eco thriller giving a glimpse into what could happen when man meddles in nature

[Adam Clark · Rating 3 out of 5]

Solid little ecological horror.