Tentacles, by Roland Smith, as reviewed by Atlas

I hadn't actually read Cryptid Hunters yet, the first book in this series - it just didn't seem like my type of book. I am very glad Tentacles ended up on our Fall Into Reading list, because it forced me to read both back to back - not that there was much forcing to do after the first few pages!



From the jacket cover:

"Wolfe's latest quest: to be the first to capture a giant squid alive. Before long, the trio sets sail, South-Pacific bound - and with a couple of dinosaur eggs incubating below deck. But their huge freigter may be haunted, and someone on board seems determined to sabotage the mission. If Grace and Marty follow the clues, will they get to the bottom of all this fishy business - or end up at the bottom of the sea?"

Sometimes you have to wonder if the people who write the jacket covers actually read the book. Not that anything in this description is inaccurate, but it really doesn't give a good description of the story line - which may have been why I wasn't initially interested in reading the first one. One would think an author of Roland Smith's caliber would rate a little more attention to detail. Like the fact that it isn't just the trio (Wolfe, Marty and Grace) on this adventure, but also some characters from the first book - most notably, Marty's friend Luther, and Laurel Lee. Noah Blackwood is, of course, also heavily involved. We know from the beginning there is no haunting, and that's almost a side issue, so its mention becomes rather misleading.

For the story itself, I have no complaints! Things may not have happened the way I wanted them to, but that is a sign of the reader's emotional involvement with the story, not a fault of the story itself. There is a lot going on, and the ending only sets things up for a lot more to happen in the next book - which we hopefully won't have to wait too long for!