Review of Northern Straits

[Mozi Ken]

[Following is an official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Northern Straits" by Robert J Whitfield.]

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3 out of 5 stars

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Piracy and hijacking are activities I haven't read much about in books for a while now. It was interesting to read about them in Northern Straits, written by Robert J Whitfield. This book told the adventure of Captain MacDonald and Engineer John Laurie as their ship was hijacked late at night.

The ship, Skookum Chief, delivered supplies to people. But while at sea, it was hijacked. This operation happened so easily. It didn't take much effort for three-armed Asians to do this. This ship had five crew members, but three were killed. Only the captain and John Laurie, the engineer, were left alive. This must be because they were needed to navigate the ship to the desired location where the pirates were going. Both John and MacDonald were shocked after having their breakfast and went to resume their duties. When they entered the room, guns were pointed at their faces, and they were told what to do. But why was this ship highjacked? Did John and MacDonald have any hope of being rescued?

This book was interesting to some extent. Some characters fascinated me. I admire an industrious woman when I read about one, and Catherine was one of them. I appreciated her diligence in her work. She did well in training the immigrants assigned to her. It was thrilling to read about how the detectives unraveled the mystery behind the three different bodies found in different locations. I found that part of the book suspenseful since I knew that it was a clue for them to know what happened at sea. I appreciated Catherine's help in solving the case. It was exciting and educational to tour the resort in the book with the guests.

Despite the things I liked about this book, there were things I disliked. There were a lot of characters in the book. They overwhelmed and confused me. I sometimes mistook one character for another. The storyline of this book didn't flow smoothly. The scenes were cut short in each chapter, and a different one was introduced in the next chapter. At first, I didn't understand how all the different scenes connected in the story until much later in the book. There was also much use of technical terms, which I didn't understand because I don't know much about ships and engineering. I often found myself going back to previous pages to get the characters and the story straight.

I rate this book 3 out of 5 stars. I found errors. The book was not professionally edited. Some readers might find it stressful to constantly revisit already-read pages to understand the current one being read. The plotline should be arranged in such a way as to be easily understood and to pique and maintain a reader's interest. I appreciated the short chapters and several pages. They kept me reading the book. There were also some things to be learned from it. I recommend this book to those with an interest in mechanical engineering and cargo ships.

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Northern Straits
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[Shedrack A]

I admire Catherine's zealousness in caring out the duties assigned to her. Nice review!

[Amy Luman]

You think of pirates as only being around long ago, at least I do. The fact that modern pirates use guns is surprising, but not so at the same time.

[Zillionaire_me]

Catherine did a good job worthy of emulation and I love that.
Nice review!

[Malthide Jones]

This appears to be an action/thriller novel. Catherine sounds like an interesting character who I'd like to learn more about. Thank you so much for this wonderful review.

[Agbata Trust]

I grew up watching most movies about shipping. And I love it so much this book seems like a script and I would love to read it. I enjoy your analysis of the review. Thanks.

[Chiamaka_Glory]

Northern Straits by Robert J Whitfield is an interesting book. I like books that talks about the sea. I felt really bad when the ship was hijacked. Nice review.

[Jay David Randall]

Pirates and ships are not the sorts of books I meet often. I would lie as well, I did enjoy this review and I am curious to know what happened to the Captain and John Laurie. Great review.

[Park Cherri]

I like stories about shipping. Most of them are always fascinating which I like. But the fact that there are a lot of characters to keep up with makes this less appealing. Great review!

[Judy O]

It's been a while I read about books on pirating too. I look forward to finding out whether these pirates were later captured and where initially they had in mind to go. Interesting review.

[Oluwa Tomisin]

Catherine seems like a really good character and they way you describe her is just so nice, I like industrious characters and industrious women too, seems this book is about piracy but I'm not into that. Well written review.

[Alinaib12]

Catherine happens to be a good character in this novel..she was very industrious and as well zealous with responsibility/ duties she is assigned to..