Mini-Review: Into the Cruel Sea

I’ll put this behind a cut, so those of you who don’t wish to read it don’t have to scroll through it.

Wade Thomson always felt an affinity for the fish in the ocean, and an undying love for his girlfriend, Beth Weller.  Set in Bermuda, Into the Cruel Sea is a tale of love, murder, and healing.

Beth’s father, a U.S. Customs officer, is abusive, while her mother is standoffish.  As the tale begins, Wade’s parents are murdered, and Wade disappears into the ocean, presumably to drown, accompanied by a strange sea creature.  The note he left on the beach near his clothes read simply “I will always love you Beth Weller.”

Beth herself is a bit of a disobedient, wild child, still in high school who plays hooky to guzzle vodka and smoke cigarettes with her friends.  Her character development is sufficient enough to make me dislike her almost until the end of the book.  Other characters are less well developed, but they don’t really need to be.  For instance, it’s enough to know that Beth’s father crashes through her bedroom door to give her a whipping for sassing him; we don’t need to know why he is like that.

Other folks on the island are murdered, all of whom are connected somehow to Beth. Interestingly, it is Beth who makes a decision at the end regarding which of two monsters to kill to save the other.  The sea creature is vaguely reminiscent of the Creature from the Black Lagoon.

I would recommend this book to anyone interested in a tale about horror in paradise.  It was a quick, but enjoyable read.  Mr. Ristow does a good job of moving the story along at a quick pace without neglecting details, such as getting around on foot or by moped, that provide local color that anyone who has been to Bermuda will recognize.