Ghostboat

This was the first book my mother bought me that was not from the children's section of the bookstore, it was in the late 1970s and I wanted something to read that was exciting and she found this for me. I loved it, and spent the next week reading it slowly, from cover to cover, savouring every word and thinking how creepy and scary it was, okay I wasn't a very sophisticated teenager, I plead guilty to the charge. The plot wasn't rocket science, a WWII submarine called the Candlefish which disappeared near Japan during the early days of the war makes a come back causing the powers that be a bit of a headache, it is eerily empty of its crew that supposedly went down with it but all their belongings are still on board, the engines are in good working order and nobody knows what is going on! The book then chronicles the past and the present and we learn what actually happened to the Candlefish when it disappeared, mainly from the perspective of Jack Hardy the only surviving crew member who is drawn back to the submarine and takes a second ill fated journey in it to unravel the secrets of its mysterious return to the 1970s. The new crew of the Candlefish are also sucked into the Submarine's creepy history, taking on persona's of the missing crew and as you turn each page you are slowly begin to realise that something terrible is about to happen, history is going to repeat itself and repeat itself for a reason that is too awful to contemplate, at least for Jack Hardy that is. As a woman of the 21st century I realise that this book is pure pulp fiction, and as cheesy as it gets but I loved it when I first read it as a teenager and I still love it now though the writing is macho, outdated and probably historically incorrect, but all same it was a coming of age read for a teenager whose previous reads were Nancy Drew and the Hardy Boys! As for turning this book into a film, it has just (2006) been turned into a two part TV series with the same title and Jack Hardy is the main character (played by David JASON) but it is from a British perspective, the Candlefish becoming the Scorpion, its disappearance being in Russian waters rather than Japanese and it is the 1980s rather than the 1970s when the submarine resurfaces which is at the height of British-Russian tensions.

I first read this book in the late 70 when my mom gave it to me. I read the first 15 chapters of the book in about a week. When they realized that they had somehow gone back to WW II, I could not put the book down and finished the last 10 chapters that night. I also agree that this would make a great movie.

I READ THIS BOOK WHEN I WAS IN JR. HIGH AND LOVED IT FORM THE START. THE USS CANDLEFISH(A NON-EXISTANT GATO CLASS SUBMARINE)DISAPPEARS IN NOV. OF 1944 AND REAPPEARS IN 1974 WITHOUT THE CREW SAVE ONE SURVIVOR(JACK). THE IDEA OF THE BOOK IS TO RETRACE THE CANDLEFISHS LAST PATROL AND IF POSSIBLE TO FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENED TO HER 30 YEARS AGO, THE ENDING IS WORTH THE READING OF THE BOOK.THIS BOOK WOULD MAKE A SMASH HIT MOVIE USING TODAYS COMPUTER TECHNOLOGY AND A REAL WW2 ERA SUBMAINE(AFTER ALL THEY USED A REAL SUB IN THE COMEDY MOVIE "DOWN PERISCOPE"). BUT THE SAD NOTE IS THAT MOVIE COMPANIES DONT STICK TO THE BOOK EXACTLY(CASE IN POINT THE BOOK AND MOVIE ADAPTATION OF "BEYOUND THE POSIDEON ADVENTURE-THE BOOK WAS GREAT, THE MOVIE STUNK!!).IF ANYONE IS INTO GHOST STORIES AND WW2 SUBMARINE STORIES THIS IS THE BOOK FOR YOU!!

I still have my copy of Ghostboat. I remember reading it in 1976 (I was 11). It's still very exciting and contains detailed descriptions of WWII submarine action. It should make a very good movie.

I remember ditching school almost twenty years ago, buying a copy of this book and finishing it that same day.It was so good that I took it with me a few years later when I served aboard one of the last diesel submarines in the US Navy. The book made the rounds and was thoroughly enjoyed by my shipmates, who found the descriptions of the WW2-era fleetboat quite realistic.The story was intriguing, with time travel and ghosts, too -- I just wish I could find my copy. Haven't seen it since '83. I wonder if Chief Donald Hunt, STSC(SS), still has it? Are you out there, Chief?