Shark Books

There have been some great "teenager growing up" books - and I thought this funny/sometimes sad book is a stand out in a very strong genre.

I know Robert Drewe is one of Australia's best, and best liked writers. It turns out he lived what seems an ordinary childfhood, in quite extraordinary settings. His father was the bombastic company man for Dunlop in West Australia - a regional big cheese, odious but tasty. That brings young Drewe into contact with interesting people such as the tennis stars Dunlop sponsors, like Hoad and Rosewall.

And also with a serial killer who was knocking off Drewe's friends, while working for his dad. Hell of a back drop.

The young Drewe is hardly the sensitive youth.He has the balanced perspective of a 16year old male who understands there is no more exciting prospect in life than copping his first feel.Maybe that gets to what I like most about this book -- Drewe's memories and insights of the ordinary things most of us recognise.

Sort of thing where you laugh out loud, look down and realise, hey that's also a knife he stuck in your gut.

It's a very enjoyable, satisfying book.He uses the serial killer skilfully to give it a wonderful construction.

I really liked this book, it was incredibly easy to read, not to mention enjoyable. A great little lesson in a piece of Australian history that is seemingly unknown by Generation Y (I'm 17, and had no previous knowledge of this tale), Robert Drewe uses his writing talent to the nth degree in a book which covers the funny and the saddening. I can recommend this book to anyone, more so overseas readers who want to discover a bit of Australian 'culture', if that's the word to use (probably not, but you know what i mean!).

I picked this up expecting an interesting true crime work, not realizing that the vast majority of the book is a pretty straightforward memoir of growing up in Australia in the '50s and '60s. The book starts very confusingly, with the author observing the court proceedings of a murder
trial, only to flash back to his early youth. Drewe was a young child when his father was assigned to the remote Western Australian city of Perth to be a branch manager for the Dunlop rubber company. The first half of the book is about his childhood, and as far as memoirs go, it's well done. I'm not a big fan of the genre, but Drewe is nicely selective in recounting his dysfunctional home life and is very adept at retelling the awkwardness of his first crush. his childhood is not that dissimilar from that of upper middle-class American kid of the same era. His father is more or less a company drone, and Dunlop business pervades every aspect of his personality and the family life. His mother is overprotective and retreats into religion with sometimes eerie intensity. Both parents were emotionally distant and unexpressive.

The raison d'etre for the book is that in the years Drewe moved from childhood to being an adult, a serial killer was stalking the suburbs near his home and Drewe's life intersected with the case in many ways. His father was friends with a policeman who would come over to their house and discussed the case behind closed doors. One of the murders is committed with a friend's garden axe. There's a peeping tom on the loose who may or may not be connected to the killings who late one night scares Drewe's mother by prowling out back. More ominously, one of the last victims is of one of Drewe's friends. But the coup de grace is that the killer turns out to be someone known to the family, someone Drewe even spoke to as a child. While the murders form a dark backdrop to his childhood, they are never dwelt on in any great depth, nor is Drewe particularly interested in recounting the case. That said, there are a few sections where he writes from within the killer, imagining his life. On the whole though, until the very end it's pretty thin about why someone would be killing random people on and off with knives, axes, guns, and even hit and run. It's a curious mix of a book, a very well-written memoir with slices of darkness sprinkled in.

The Shark Net is one of those rare memoirs that succeed in being almost as haunting to the reader as the events it describes are to the author himself. It is Robert Drewe's story of his childhood and early adulthood from the late `40s to the early `60s in the Western Australian city of Perth, then as now a city defined by a deep awareness of its geographic isolation.

The story that unfolds bears some similarity to John Berendt's Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil. Both books elegantly weave a tale of real-life mayhem into descriptions of the social fabric of an isolated city. The difference is that Berendt's tale of the anachronistic charms of Savannah, Georgia is far more light-hearted than Drewe's grim account. The Shark Net is built around a series of random serial murders that erupt into the narrative to create an overpowering sense of menace. It is also a much more personal book, in which Drewe tries to confront his memories of these murders and other tragedies that intruded into his formative years in sunny Perth. The killer and his crimes directly touched on Drewe's life at several points, not least of which is that one of the random victims is a close boyhood friend, despite it being Drewe who had once unwittingly met the killer.

Drewe also re-creates his family life, but not wholly lovingly. He documents with painful understatement the emotional inhibitions of his parents, and the decline of their marriage. His father was an emotionally unexpressive man whose few passions include a near religious dedication to his employer, the Dunlop rubber company. His only expressed reaction to the news that his son is about to become a teenage father is concern about the company's reaction. The book ends with Drewe being surprised by his eagerness to leave provincial Perth to work on a big city newspaper in Melbourne.

This is riveting book, that will grip Australian readers and those overseas. Its tone is of a man who in middle age is now compelled to look back on events with a mixture of sadness and greater understanding. It is quite complex in structure, with several flashes forward in time and interludes into the mind of the killer, but uses a clear prose style that keeps the story moving along effortlessly. It is also beautifully evocative of a time and a place. This is the book that Robert Drewe had to write for himself, and we should all be grateful that he has done so.

As an avid reader of Science Fiction, I must confess that there was a certain amount of reluctance to review this particular book. Because, you see, I am a fan of the Wild Cards series, and have been for many years. For those of you unfamiliar with the series, let me sum up. The series from number 1 to number 12 is based on the idea of what would happen if we had people with superheroic powers on Earth now. Then it goes further and says, well what if these people were given these powers by an alien virus, which could kill you or cause some kind of disfigurement? When you get the virus, one of three things happens. You die, which is what is called drawing the Black Queen, you can become disfigured in some strange way, like grow tentacles, or feathers or something wierd, then you draw the Joker. If you are really lucky, you can gain superhuman powers, which is called drawing the Ace. Now put all of this in our world as we know it and it gets a little strange. There has been a change in publishers and artists with the series. Baen Books has picked it up, and the new cover artist does a wonderful job. (Wish this one had been around when Tachyon was still around) There has been a fire at a church in what was the Bowery but is now called Jokertown, and a new fire inspector has been called in to investigate. What she uncovers is a web of lies, deception, and murder so entangling, that she is caught in the web. Now she must use all of her skills, and a few friends, to find answers.. But the truth is always more dangerous, especially when there are some who would rather not let it be known. If you like comic books, you will like this book, although I would reccomend that you run, don't walk, to get the series 1 thru 12 by Bantam Spectra, and then read this one. There are also graphic novels of the Wild Cards Universe, and other stuff.

This is actually the first book at a new publisher; there was another 12 novels released by another publisher. This is a pretty good Wild Cards novel. Just in case you've never read a Wild Cards novel, they are science fiction based on the earth where a virus was released back in the '50s. This virus killed 90% of the people infected, 9% of the people got a Joker (deformity with or without some sort of super-power) and 1% got an Ace (a super-power of some sort). This novel focuses on a search for a conspiracy against Jokers, a group that wants to eliminate all Jokers. Rather than several stories that are loosely or not related, this novel follows the recent pattern of a single plot tied together by several inter-related short stories. The novel includes several of my favorite characters: Croyd "Sleeper" Crenson and Jay "Poppinjay" Ackroyd. Several new characters are also introduced and add to the universe nicely. Of course, the story makes more sense by knowing some of the background from the previous novels, but they are not necessary. Especially with the ending which left me saying "Oh no" to myself.

The characters almost come to life as you read, and the storylines are great. A must-read for anyone interested in science fantasy or comic books.

I tend not to review a lot of children's book, however, this particular one warranted a complete review. As a former biology major and research scientist, I can say that this book presents a lot of good, accurate and interesting facts about sharks and isn't just fluff. It also has a glossary of terms and presents the content in imaginative and engaging ways.

For a time, I was a director of education and I understand that there are different types of learners, this book appeals to them all using text, puzzles, mazes, crosswords and other ways to present and reinforce concepts. However, it is in no way sterile or devoid of fun. In other words, it's not like a highly structured book that would be put together by an adult who doesn't have a lot of experience with kids.

This book will be FUN and EDUCATIONAL. The folks who put this together hand kids in mind and they did a wonderful job of targeting to the 9-12 age group. You can buy this for about $6.00 new and as low as $0.29 cents used. At either price, this is a bargain and will return hours of fun and education. I also like how it supports raising consciousness around these animals that for the most part endangered and about the environment in general.

Lots of good shark info for a shark lover like my son.

This book is great for kids who like to read about sharks. It is filled with fun activities for kids to learn from.

I'll keep it short.

Buy this book and read it, starting at the Preface and continuing, therefrom, to the end; it's a page turner.

Great stories based on the life of George Devol, written by Devol, a Mississippi riverboat gambler. If you are a poker player, you'll like this book. This book is not about how to play poker; it's about an even more interesting subject: the exploits of Grorge Devol (1829-1903).

Highly entertaining stories about gambling
in the mid 1800's on the Mississippi River.
The life of George Devol as gambler,fighter
& con artist & his insights into the men &
their character is also an insight into the
man himself. He was a master at
manipulating mens greed & vanity.The
accounts of his bare knuckle fights were
truly amazing

Loved the book, understand why the author has such a big ego- He lived in an awsome time and was at the top. Historic details filled in alot of gaps to my understanding of the mid 1800's. learned many things about the lives of people living in the Steamboat Era and was grandly entertained. laughed outloud.

We were fortunate enough to have my 6-year old's librarian read this book to the class, shortly after our dog had died. Jane Clarke, the author, who also later came to his school, left open what happened to Raymond, allowing the student to speculate. The book provided an opportunity for a wonderful discussion. Unfortunately, her second Gilbert book (The Deep) isn't quite as tight and of questionable lesson (Gilbert disobeys his mom but learns the unknown isn't necessarily scary/makes new friends). My 6-year old even had issues with the book but always finding the positive remarked that the illustrator to the Gilbert Books was fantastic

I have to admit that I am a sucker for a kids book that depicts sharks as sweet gentle creatures with a wide range of emotions. There just aren't that many books with sharks as the protagonists. But more than that, this is good book (not "great", but worthy of several night-time bed readings).

Gilbert the great white shark has a very best friend Raymond the ramora (also seen on cover). They share everything together ... and are shown enjoying one another in all sorts of activities. But one day, Raymond moves away with his family and Gilbert is left feeling all alone. He grieves the loss of his friend for quite some time, while several in the community try to cheer him up (including telling him that "there are plenty of other fish in the sea" ... chuckle, chuckle). But life just isn't the same without Raymond ... and Gilbert finds himself working through the grieving process. He gets angry at his loss, he blames himself for Raymond moving away, he feels guilt over their previous arguments, etc... until he reaches acceptance and begins to hope that Raymond is enjoying his new home. In the end, it is once he reaches acceptance that he discovers the joys of a new friend.

Good story for all - but a great stry for those youngsters who are grieving the move of a close friend.

I am 2 1/2 and I love this book. The pictures of the sharks are great and I like to find the stingrays. I am a big fan of all ocean life books so this is a great story.

A pretty good read but not as good as the first one.
The story is pretty much the same'A Shark after people.
and the shark gets it in the end. for anyone that has not read any Jaws books i would suggest you start with the first Jaws because it is without a doubt the best one.
now am off to read a new Elvis book!

It has been two years since The Trouble, when a Great White shark swam into the waters off of Amity and refused to go away, and the town is just starting to recover. What no one knows is that another shark has entered into the waters and is making itself just as much at home as the first one did. This novelization is adapted from the script by Dorothy Tristan and Howard Sackler. However Tristan had to leave the project when her husband, director John Hancock, was replaced by Jeannot Szwarc and Jaws screenwriter Carl Gottlieb was called in to do a massive rewrite, in the end only co-screenwriter Howard Sackler retained credit. While many events in the completed film can be glimpsed in this story (two photograph taking scuba divers attacked at the wreck of the Orca, the picture they take of the shark becoming an important plot point later, a water skier gets gulped and the speedboat blows up, a scuba diver bumps into the shark and shoots to the surface way too fast, a helicopter gets yanked under, and a group of shark bait kids are attacked and trapped at sea during a boat race), but their context within the discarded storyline are radically different. Author Hank Searls adds a welcome amount of detail to the story, some, such as getting into the mind of both the shark and a harbor seal searching for its lost child, foreshadow his masterful whale novel Soundings. The book is somewhat better written than Benchley's source novel, but it does not contain the visceral terror of the original, then again how could it? Nonetheless, Jaws fans should seek this out, just to see what could have been a far better sequel. Recommended.

I purchased this book off Amazon and couldn't wait to get it. When I got it, I read it in three weeks. I couldn't put it down. It was very descriptive and had a high atmosphere on terror and suspence. This book is based on an early script of Jaws 2 written by Howard Sackler and Dorthy Trisan. There are really cool subplots to the novel. Some of it has to do with the mafia. Some parts get very Tony Soprano like! This should have been the movie. When writer, Carl Gottlib, came in for rewrites, he butchered the script. I'm not saying the movie is bad, I'm saying the book is better. This book is also much better than the book of Jaws 1, not the movie Jaws 1, the book Jaws 1. The book Jaws 1 went into really stupid subplots. The author of Jaws 2, Hank Searls, did a great job on this book. It is too bad that the book went out of print. If you don't like the movie of Jaws 2, forget it, this is the real deal....! Hank Searls is also the author to Jaws: The Revenge which, like Jaws 2 was written after the movie. There was no book for Jaws 3-D. I haven't had a chance to read Jaws: The Revenge yet, but I have it. The book Jaws 2 came out the same year the movie was made. If you ever chance, pick up this book and buy it. It is a reading experience with a climax you will never forget. A novel of parylyzing terror that will grab you from the openign chapter... JAWS 2.

First of all, anyone interested in submarine warfare will find this a well-documented and constructed account of the development and use of submarines within the Kriegsmarine (KM) by the Germans during World War II. Like most books from the Naval Institute Press, among them the highly-sought first edition of Clancy's "The Hunt for Red October", one would be hard put to find flaws in the presentation.

The author does opine from the gathered data, much of it in the National Archives, that helps the reader track from year to year the rise and fall of the effectiveness of U-Boot (U-Boat) warfare, the reasons (especially increasingly effective Allied detection and bombing) for the end of the Battle of the Atlantic, and the failure of the unleashing of "total war" by Admiral Donitz. The book is rich with German terminology, which will facilitate reader understanding of other books, and films such as "Das Boot". For example, the term L.I. (pronounced el-ee in German) occurs frequently in that film, referring to the Chief Engineer (Lieutenant Engineer, on the Engineer track within the KM).

I find somewhat astounding one conclusion of the author, that most U-Boot sailors were German patriots and relatively unaware of the genocide occurring within the Reich. Although there is dictum that der Fuehrer compained of having a "Christian Navy", frequent trips back to the Fatherland when on leave, trips to Berlin for decorations, and so forth would seem to make it incredulous that these men did not know what was happening within the Reich. The author does not identify how many sailors in the U-Boot Waffe were NSDAP (Nazi Party) members, which would be a telling statistic. He states that Germans at home were more concerned with obtaining food during the Allied bombing campaign, which has come under some revisionist criticism ("German's Revisit War's Agony, Ending a Taboo", Richard Bernstein, New York Times, Vol. CLII, No. 52423, March 15, 2003, p. A3). However, this reviewer has studied the period 1918-1950 fairly extensively, and viewed in German newsreels shown in German theatres as early as 1940 which demonstrated the persecution of Jews and other "undesireables" and the unfolding of the plans stated in the book "Mein Kampf" (My Struggle), available in English in 1939.

Films such as "Das Boot" and "Stalingrad" do go a long way toward viewing the common soldier or sailor as somewhat of a victim of birth and citizenship. Standards both mental and physical for U-Boat personnel were astoundingly stringent (even volunteers with dental caries were rejected). These men fought in unimaginably deplorable conditions (no heat, one commode for a crew averaging 50, frequent exposure to the exhaust of diesel engines). However, this book doesn't convey that kind of feeling, compared to, say, Werner's "Iron Coffins" (the recollections of a U-Boat commander). Nonetheless, its statistical analysis is important--suggesting that upwards of 50,000 rather than the commonly accepted 40,000 sailors may have served on U-Boats. The casualty rate (75% or so killed) belies grand fealty to a doomed and errant cause, but as with our own Confederates, we can nonetheless appreciate the valor and sacrifice with which they served "their" country.

A very informative, in-depth look behind the scenes at the men who made up Germany's U-Boat arm. Mulligan has done his homework in researching educational backgrounds, regions where these men came from, training time, ages when they became captains, and a whole array of facts and figures put together in a way that is not boring, but rather enlightening.

Party affiliations are also discussed in great detail. Some commanders were fanatical Nazis, others started out that way only to change when they saw what it was doing to their homeland, and others were just there doing their job.

Admiral Donitz is also thoroughly discussed in this book, looking at his ideaologies at conducting the war, his strategies and his loyalties to his men and to Hitler. It makes me want to buy his book, "Memoirs" and read further.

A well-done, in-depth book. A lot of facts and figures put together in a nice package.

This thoroughly engrossing book by Timothy Mulligan is the first work to portray the officers and men of Germany's U-Boat arm in an attempt to understand not only why they fought, but what motivated them to continue to take their vessels to sea after 1943, when the loss rate in combat grew to an incredible level and each new mission grew increasingly suicidal. Mulligan's book goes far beyond a statistical tabulation of data, and the many nuggets of information he gleaned from his in-depth research refute most of the myths and legends of the U-Boat men popularized in the immediate post-war years in books and movies. The book overturns the common images of Germany's U-Boat men as being either fanatical killers or baby-faced sacrifices to Hitlerian ambitions. This is not a chronological history of the war at sea in WW2, although the author does describe in detail the major trends of the Battle of the Atlantic, the struggle for technological superiority, and the effects these had on recruiting, morale, combat performance, and motivation of the German submarine crews. All in all, this is an excellent book that puts a human face on a much-feared enemy, cuts through the stereotypes and propaganda images, and shows that the UBootfahrer were truly "neither sharks nor wolves"...nor sheep.

Scuba divers will be interested in Mr. Stafford-Deitsch's opening essay in which he discusses why he made all the dives in this book ALONE, in violation of the first rule of diving. His discussion of his decision to do this is certainly provocative.
The photographs are splendid and equally so is the range of shark species he finds and photographs.
Although I was intially interested in the chapter on Great Whites, which is excellent, I was left breathless at reading and seeing his adventures off Sanganeb Atoll in the Red Sea. He happened upon a rarely observed schooling formation of Hammerheads and was the first to photograph them.
I no longer have my copy as a student of mine a few years ago was so taken by it when I loaned it to her, I had to "spread the wealth."
A wonderful book.

There are photographs in this book to make even the most seasoned underwater photographer go "Wow!" On top of that, this particular author not only knows his subject but also has the most readable style of writing which enables him to make any point - no matter how technical that point may be!, easy for the layman to understand.

This is the first of two books from this author I have to review. Having read this one and studied it's content, I then glanced through the other one to see if the standard was the same. There I was going "Wow" again.

"Shark a Photographer's Story" is a hard back book in which the author describes every aspect of the Shark. Whether you are a diver, marine biologist or someone who is simply interested in the subject, "this" is the book to take home. This is the book where we can all learn something about these largely misunderstood creatures and, if finances are tight, this is probably the only book you really need on the entire subject.

Add to that the author's outstanding ability with an underwater camera coupled with his equally amazing encounters around the world and, well, you have a pretty incredible book from a man who knows his stuff..

NM

With more pictures than you can wave a frozen tuna at and enough detail about the adventures behind their creation to make Cousteau jealous, this tome on the wolves of the sea will satisfy the shark fan in your life. The chapter on the Great White Shark was my particular favorite with pictures lifelike enough to make me reconsider my upcoming dive trip to South Africa. In fact, the best compliment I can give this book is that the nightmares I have about sharks are illustrated with pictures from this book!

This book was a great book that I read. What made the book great was that it was mostly about sharks and I love sharks.

I am an educator at the Oregon Coast Aquarium. I teach about sharks and the marine environment because I think education is the best conservation tactic we have. My lifelong fascination with sharks and the ocean all began with this book. Eugenie Clark was an inspiration. This book did a marvelous job of conveying Dr. Clark's enthusiam and awe for not just sharks but for science. This book changed my life.

Unforgettable. I'd recommend it for children and adults alike. Reading of this woman's adventures had a great impact on how I look at the world. From the story of her childhood to some of her most exciting adventures with the sharks, the book is as masterfully written as any I've known. I can't believe this stuff actually happened.

I read the German edition of 2004. Having bought it in 2006 I thought it to be a new book. It didn't mention anywhere that it is much older. Actually reading this coffee table book recently, I found out from the context that it must have been written in 1986 or 1987. This German edition also printed the name of the publishing house in a way and instead of the author(s)'s name, so that even German amazon mistook "Karl Müller" for the author. In fact, most of the real authors aren't mentioned anywhere, just the editor. Ok, but that may be of less interest to non-German bilinguists, as much as the many typos of the respective edition. It remains inconclusive, wether the peculiar geography (Tsingtao in China supposedly being located in the eastern Pacific) is the result of a faulty or uncorrected translation...

No question, this is a great book. You learn anything from bulimia to womb cannibalism in sharks. However, more than two decades old, it isn't really up to date. The criticism about protective shark nets at beaches is still a bit tame. There's a double page about shark fin soup without the dire consequences in the ecology of the overfished oceans, not to mention the endangerment of shark species because of that. The nuclear test induced hyper aggressiveness of one formerly not particularly hostile shark species in the Pacific wasn't probably known back then. If I recall correctly, there's also no explicit mention of the sensory organ in the shark's palate, which is responsible for many shark bites, which are intended as something like: "Hello, who or what are you?"

Even though the book goes at great length to convince the reader that the bad reputation of sharks far exceeds their real life danger. Curiously, the largest section in this book - 66 of 240 pages, i.e. far more than one fourth - is devoted entirely to shark attacks, arranged according to geography. I find that a little bit a case of defeating the cause. As I did know about the worse reputation issue before, I am not entirely sure, wether the book really succeeded in taking away further or re-adding some shark phobia in me...

The bottom line is: Despite some criticism, get this book in addition to a more recent one, if the recent ones aren't as elaborate and/or as well-pictured as this one.

An excellent book written by some of the leaders in thier fields of expertise. The text is easily understood by those outside of scientific research and is complemented with numerous pictures and diagrams.

This is the most informative, detailed shark book that I have had the pleasure of reading and believe me I have read a lot of them. The book covers many different aspects of the shark, including its evolution, ecology, various species, shark attacks and the behaviour of the shark. It also distinguishes between what is myth and what is reality behind the sharks history. Overall this is a very interesting and educational read which should be a necessity to any shark enthusiasts.