Hank Searls (1922–2017)

God I love Jaws. I remember quite liking the first novel. This is by a different author and takes a slightly different path because here we get to see the world through the eyes of the shark itself, a female great white, and much larger than the male. Oh, and she's pregnant too. I can't really remember the movie too much but am pretty sure I do remember it being based around an underwater theme park that the shark attacks in a fit of revenge for it's mate(was it it's mate?) from the first movie. That's not what happens here at all, and her motivation is one of hunger and the driving need to feed her unborn babies.

So anyway, We open with the shark making a meal of two divers that come upon the wreck of the Orca, the same boat that sank during the first movie as Quint got eaten by shark number 1. Then it's onto a lovely young couple out water-skiing. Our shark comes up behind her and she's a goner pretty swiftish, quickly followed by her young man who manages to blow up the speedboat just as he's then snacked upon himself.

It goes on like this throughout the book with various fish, seals and people as well as giant squid copping it sooner or later. What makes it really interesting is that we see it all through the eyes of our pregnant female shark before getting the human view too for good measure.

It's not a long book and proceeds along a not unexpected path at quite a rate while the shark hunts for food, seeking to ease the hunger brought on by the several babies she's carrying and ends up attempting to clear the birthing area(as it were) of boats that are participating in the local race, or regatta, or ...whatever it is. Lots of mayhem and boat-munching takes place at this juncture and the usual blood-bath ensues. It's not all bad news though. There's a little seal that has been a cute little character throughout the book that gets away and finds a new mummy right at the very end after his real mum spends quite some time waiting off the coast for him, only to be eaten just before he ventures back into the ocean to find her(you'll see what I mean soon enough). Ahhh.... sweet!

Very good. I really liked it.
… (més)

Martin Brody hated the ocean. Any sane man would hate it. It was a cold surging hell, and all of its creatures were demons, and the devil had an ebony, blinded eye."


This was an average follow up to the original book. It was, by no means, stellar. I'm in the minority that I enjoyed the second movie a lot - despite its boring parts and some silliness, it was still a good follow-up to the original blockbuster film. The book is much of the same - some boring parts, but mainly interesting enough.

Unlike the movie, there was no implied revenge. The female shark mated with the original Jaws some time ago, and is now acting out of character and with a ferocious appetite because she's pregnant and coming near her birthing date. She doesn't have a personal vendetta, thankfully, and the POV of the shark is educational, kind of like a backseat reaction to the nature channel, which is the same as techniques used in the first novel.

Unlike the movie, the chief doesn't get fired, he stays a man struggling against a corrupt town. You thought the town was fishy before? The small town corruption has spread farther and into more dangerous pockets. I won't spoil it, but let's just say even the mafia is involved. Sounds silly but it was written okay. While the first book had a large side plot of the wife bonking the local shark expert, this one has the big story of a mafia involvement while the chief fights against corruption. I actually enjoyed the twist at the ending of that story where Ms Brody with her kind heart towards kids saves the day.

There are some deaths, of course, nothing shocking - the only deaths I cared about as much were two animals where the sympathy was high. We were in their head and the author made sure to make them as sweet as can be, damn him. I was rooting for their survival, but the jaws of nature are cruel.

This is a slower swimming fish. There's not a big rush of plot story. The finale battle at the end is only mere pages and does not impress with its intensity. No swift pace but still the writing style works. Searls whips out a writing style that is down to earth and casual, easy to digest while you read about starving sharks in a small town that is blessed by a flawed by realistic chief we all love.

The book is only worth seeking out if you're a die hard Jaws fan, for curiosities sake if you like the vintage movie cover and want it displayed on the shelf, or it's a dollar or less in a used bookstore. It's good, but not great. I'm glad I read it, but I don't see myself fishing out the rest of the series.

And now, since the review is dead, the shark metaphors in this review must end too.
… (més)

3.5 stars

It's been a few years since the shark terrorized the small town of Amity on Long Island. Martin Brody is still the chief of police. When Brody arrests a drunk man on the beach for shooting a seal, initially they also suspect the same man might be responsible for the disappearance of two divers and a married couple. Little does anyone know, but there is another shark off the coast of Amity...

This was one decent, but not as good as the first, I thought. Might have something to do with me listening to the audio for the first one, but I'm not sure about that. I have to admit I didn't find this one suspenseful like I did the first one. I enjoyed the parts that were from the point of view of the shark (and there were also POVs from a couple of seals, as well, that I enjoyed). I did find it interesting that this book was written based on the movie, rather than the usual other way around.… (més)