DEADRISE - Robert Blake Whitehill

Set in the area of the Chesapeake Bay DEADRISE by Maryland Eastern shore author Robert Blake Whitehill is a thriller featuring former SEAL Ben Blackshaw. An oyster gatherer (I think that's the right word), Blackshaw discovers a lot more than he bargained for on one dive that changes his life, and the lives of a lot of people in the small community that he lives in.

Australian's are very aware that our slang is quite often impenetrable to people from other locations. Probably because of the amount of TV and Film watched from other countries, I'm often in the fortune position of being not too shabby at understanding much of the slang and colloquial language from other locations. Until DEADRISE. Where I have to confess I spent a truly staggering amount of time wondering what on earth everyone was talking about. This is a book that's set very firmly in its location, revelling in the uniqueness of both the environment, and the people that live in it.

The plot builds a number of different angles, although really, the point is that there's not a lot of honour and trust amongst thieves and villains and that goes about as high up in society hierarchy as you can get. I must admit I did find some of the baddies just a bit over the top on occasion and the level of random violence a little surprising. I also can't begin to tell you how firmly I had to sit on my disbelief over the sudden arrival into the mix of a dirty nuclear bomb. But it's a thriller and suspension of disbelief's not an unusual requirement and the pace of the story does give you more than enough to be going on with.

The strength of DEADRISE is the way that the setting comes alive (even with the confusion of the slang), obviously this is an area that the author knows, loves and wants to convey to his readers. The plot was okay, although there were some elements that just seemed a little over the top. My only real complaint is, being a huge fan of sparse lyrical writing, I would have been more comfortable with a little restraint, maybe some editing to get things to the point and hammer that point home.

DEADRISE however, is definitely one for readers looking for a real feel of the location and the locals.