Publishers Weekly
Readers with a high tolerance for coincidence and implausible plot twists will best appreciate this stand-alone thriller from bestseller Patterson (Double Cross) and collaborator Roughan (You've Been Warned). Katherine Dunne, a 45-year-old New York City heart surgeon, has more than her fair allowance of emotional baggage-her philandering husband, Stuart, died four years earlier in a scuba diving accident; she had a fling with Stuart's younger brother, Jake; and her three children suffer from varying degrees of dysfunction. In an attempt to repair her family, Katherine plans a relaxing cruise on a yacht captained by Jake. Her new husband, Peter Carlyle, a top Manhattan criminal attorney, claims he has to stay behind because of an important trial, but once Katherine and family set sail, it soon becomes clear Carlyle has his own agenda. The cruise turns into a struggle for survival, including a predictable shark encounter and a less predictable, if no less silly, giant snake attack. If the lead characters were more than walking clichés, their struggles and changing relationships would leave some impression. Still, the action is all that really matters, and Patterson delivers what his audience wants in spades.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.
From the Publisher
"Narrators Dylan Baker and Jennifer Van Dyck deliver an outstanding reading, offering sympathetic and, most importantly, realistic characters that will draw listeners into the story. Baker is the star here, narrating in a firm, unwavering voice that does wonders for the story itself. The stakes are high and the characters, fighting for their lives, become real people listeners will relate to."—AudioFile
People
"Patterson knows how to sell thrills and suspense in clear, unwavering prose."
Larry King - USA Today
"The man is a master of his genre. We fans all have one wish for him: Write even faster."
BookLoons.com on Sail
"This headlong thriller will keep readers eyes' glued to its pages . . . the perfect beach read."
RebeccaReads.com on Sail
"I absolutely, fantabulously loved and enjoyed SAIL . . . suspense at its Pattersonish best."
BlogCritics.org
"SAIL runs before the wind as a perfect beach read."
Larry King
The man is a master of his genre. We fans all have one wish for him: Write even faster.
— USA Today
AUGUST 2008 - AudioFile
Katherine Dunne plans a sailing trip with her three kids as a way to bring them closer. But from the beginning, the trip is fraught with danger in the form of mechanical malfunctions, storms, and other seemingly random problems. Katherine and the children work together to overcome adversity on the seas. The suspenseful tone is captured well by the production’s pair of narrators. Dylan Baker excels, in particular, with a snarky, whiny tone and a deeper, slightly raspy voice for the two evil plotters. Jennifer Van Dyck varies the pitches for Katherine's children. While the narrators do a fine job overall, the book's sole problem is an organizational one. Several characters are voiced at different times by each narrator. For consistency's sake, that could have been avoided. But it doesn't mar the listener's enjoyment. M.B. © AudioFile 2008, Portland, Maine
