The Shallow Sea

This book has it all: non-stop action to keep your heart pounding, a likeable hero who won't give in to corrupt authority, tropical island locations and characters, an unexpected romantic twist, and just enough science to make you think.Grant North is frustrated by the Bahamians when he attempts to develop an island as an incubator for technical projects that would help the area. His best friend dies, his daughter is missing, and the island is ravaged. North's ultimate reaction is both terrible and swift.The sea may be shallow but it's certainly not calm. Its broad expanses, wild storms, and evil denizens drive the story. But the island and the man who built it bring the book to its violent conclusion.I doubt that this author will ever be welcome in the Bahamas again.

The Shallow Sea is an excellent novel, fast paced, loaded with surprises and full of realistic action. Grant North, the leading character, moves easily from a benevolent scientific philanthropist to a tough single minded worrior searching for his kidnapped daughter. He and his trusty girlfriend lead the reader through an exciting chase through some of the seedier elements of the rich and beautiful Bahamas--drugs, violence and crooked politicians--in pursuit of the bad guys. The character development is extremely well done expecially Grant North, who is very like Clancy's Jack Ryan. Both are well educated and intellectual, but beneath that exterior are men with a strong sense of purpose and integrity, and the strength to punish those who wrong them or theirs. No matter how rich or well placed the villian is, crossing North comes with a very high price tag as the reader will soon find out. I really enjoyed this book and look for more from Ruzic.

I picture Harrison Ford as the alturistic man of science Grant North, who is pushed by corruption and circumstance to the very limits of his physical and mental capabilities. The Shallow Sea has all of the ingredients of a great action thriller: set on a pristine tropical island threatened by drug smugglers and an impossibly corrupt bureaucracy, the hero Grant North uses his intellect and innovative technology to fight for his daughter Coby and the island he loves. Vivid discriptions and intriguing details permeate the senses, letting the reader live vicariously through Grant North in his tropical paradise with problems. "Nothing in this country is as it seems" said Rolle, North's incongruous best friend. Author Neil Ruzic skillfully guides the reader through this tropical country that he loves and knows so well. I can hardly wait for the sequel!!

The Shallow Sea is written so well that I visualized every scene as though it were on a large screen. I loved this absorbing adventure on a Bahaman Island. It is irresistible reading, rich in love, hope, despair, diplomacy, corruption and racial tension . This book has more than enough ingredients to make a super movie. The plot is complex and mysterious. The drama is exciting. The cast of characters would lend well to a director's paradise and actors' pleasure. The possibilities for filming are endless from caves to palatial opulence. Audiences would adore the rapid change of scenes, flashbacks and twists to solve the underlying mystery. The scenery would be so special for the sequence of events that make this book such a treasure.

Why on earth this book, The Shallow Sea, hasn't been made into a movie I can't imagine! Maybe it's because the novel is so alive you don't need a movie to see the characters--especially Grant North and his girlfriend Marianne--come alive before your very eyes. You really care about the people in the book. They all are in the process of change--for instance, the hero, North, changes from a philanthropic scientist who wants to help the Bahamas enter the 21st century to a warrior who uses his immense powers of intuition and innovation to devise unusual retailiations. This book is more than fiction. It's a classic.