Riptide by John Lawton

stoicism: an indifference to pleasure or pain

reprisal: a retaliatory action against an enemy in wartime

conduit: a passage which water or electric wires can pass

demarcation: the boundary of a specific area

peckish: somewhat hungry

lentil: widely cultivated eurasian annaul herb grown for its edible flattened seeds that are cooked like peas and also ground into meal for its leafy stalks that are used as fodder

the above are some of the words i learnt (and subsequently forgot) by reading the book. i like the book was written - generally easy to read and understand, with the occasional odd words thrown in to add class to the whole package.

riptide by john lawton

the story takes place in the spring of 1941, when the british were at war with the germans, and the russians on the brink of it. wolfgang stahl, a germany-based austrian spy working for the americans, suddenly disappears. US army's captain cal cormack, being the only man who had any sort of contact with stahl, was forced off to london to team up with spy-catching chief inspector stilton in a secret mission. the mission though starts to go terribly wrong, and captain cormack lands himself in boiling hot soup. saved by a righteous and clever sergeant troy from the murder squad, the two work together to uncover the mystery behind the disappearance of stahl.

cheap the book might be, the story is nevertheless a good one. when buying the book, i was mulling over whether to buy riptide or another book, which if im not wrong, talks about a man investing the death or disappearance of some fish species. i chose riptide over that book because of its well-written synopsis and the good reviews given by the critics (the other book has fewer reviews, and even has a negative one among them Oo) i think i made the correct choice.

just by reading the synopsis, one may feel the story might be full of gloom and fear, with people killing or getting killed up and down, left, right and center. but im very glad it is not like that. in fact i find the book pretty well balanced in a sense that there is space for some humour, love and humanity(?). surprisingly, theres even space for some bedroom actions! that doesnt turn the book into an erotic one though.

of course, there is still a big chunk of action and suspense, which was what kept me reading. the wartime atmosphere was very well captured.

if i were to come up with a bad point about the book, it would be the sheer number of names that was mentioned. theres the political figures, the american representatives, the british cops, the family members of various characters, the odd people making the cameo appearances... there wasnt a HELL lot of them, but there was enough for you to forget whos who if you were to take a prolonged break from reading. i stopped for a week or so and that was what happened to me.

reading this book actually reminds me of harry potter; the similarities are there. like harry potter, riptide is a book of mystery. captain cormack is like harry, the guy whos always thrown at the deep end. and lord voldemort... read and you will find out : )