Análisis de diario de la biblioteca
| Kraus, coauthor of The Shape of Water with Guillermo del Toro, presents a nerve-wracking tale of survival in Monterey, CA. Jay is a young scuba diver who has a contentious history with his father, a local legend and maritime master. Feeling crushed under the weight of expectation and disappointment, Jay performs one last dive to prove himself. When he's swallowed by a sperm whale, with only one hour before his scuba tanks runs out of oxygen, he'll have to draw upon everything he's ever learned from his father and the ocean to get free. The novel conveys a great respect for nature, especially for whales and the ethereal beauty and ferocious dangers of the ocean. The scientific and biological accuracy enhances the disturbing realism of what it would actually be like to be swallowed by a whale. Jay's plight is viscerally intense and claustrophobic, even as he grapples with real and raw emotions that stem from remorse and a need for reconciliation. VERDICT This hard sci-fi thriller is full of cinematic and wild suspense and would be great for fans of Andy Weir, although the tone is far more austere.--Andrea Dyba |
Análisis semanal de editoriales
| This gripping sci-fi thriller from bestseller Kraus (who previously coauthored the novelization of The Shape of Water with Guillermo del Torro) takes readers quite literally into the belly of the beast. After local diving legend Mitt Gardiner dies in a suicide by drowning, his estranged high school--age son, Jay, sets out to bolster his own reputation as a diver by retrieving his father's remains. Returning to the water after two years away from his domineering dad, Jay makes the risky dive. Instead of locating the body, however, he finds a giant squid, and then a massive sperm whale finds them both. Accidentally ingested, Jay struggles to escape the whale's belly before the creature either digests him or retreats to depths that could crush him. Jay's struggle to free himself from his blubbery prison mirrors his struggle to free himself from his father's shadow, which forms the real heart of the story. Kraus provides solid nautical science alongside the stretchy coincidences that fuel Jay's survival. Just on the brink of horror fiction, especially for the claustrophobic, this deep-sea thrill ride will have readers on the edges of their seats. (Aug.) |
