Robert R. McCammon - Night Boat

[vaughan]

This is a book that gave me joy - twice.

First off the plot for this one. Night Boat is the story of a Caribbean island, Coquina. During World War two the shipping lanes in the area had been plagued with German submarines, sinking all and sundry. Worse, it had shelled the docks on Coquina, killing many residents and destroying buildings etc.

And then - the sub disappeared.

Moving on 40+ years and David Moore is diving at 150 feet on a coral reef when he finds a buried depth charge. Pushing it into an abyss he frantically wims awa as fast as he can. The charge goes off - dislodging the long buried Sub from its maritime grave.

How has the sub survived intact for so long? And who, or what, is knocking on the hull?

Cue Nazi zombies, throat tearing, voodoo, and all manner of nasties!

This was an absolutely terrific read. I'd even go as far as to say it's one of the better horror novels I've read thus far. There's plenty of action, gore, and mystery. And there's a fine sense of place with vivid use of colloquialisms.

I highly recommend this book - excellent!

In research the author a bit I came across his first novel, Baal. It was like a timewarp. That is a book I read back in the 80's and had totally forgotten about, it was good to be reminded. I really must try and find it.

Anyway - go grab Night Boat, I think there's a good chance you'll like it.

[andydecker]

Robert R. McCammon – The Night Boat (Sphere 1982, 3rd reprint, Original Avon 1980, 284 p.)

From the living hell of her watery grave she rises again …

THE NIGHT BOAT

Deep under the calm water of a Caribbean lagoon, salvage diver David Moore discovers a sunken Nazi U-boat entombed in the sand. A mysterious relic from the last war. Slowly the U-boat rises from the depths laden with a long-dead crew, cancerous with rot, mummified for eternity. Or so Moore thought.

Until he heard the deep, hollow boom of something hammering with feverish intensity … something desperately trying to get out.




It sounds a bit like a fairy tale today. BAAL must have been really successful to start McCammon putting one after the other into the shops. Both this and Bethany's Sin were published in 1980. According to Wikipedia Night Boat was the second written. As his books started to becoming longer with Bethany's Sin, this is a natural progression.

[bluetomb]

Rather nice, this cross motif. Makes me want to collect them all. Was briefly concerned because I knew the paperback of Mystery Walk I have is Pan, but I checked and the cross carried over. Must have only been for the first few though, the Grafton I have of The Wolf's Hour has a wolf/swastika/flames design.

[Dr Strange]

I think the cross motif started with the Pan Mystery Walk (where it has some relevance to the story) and then got carried over when Sphere published his earlier novels. The Pan Mystery Walk was the first one I saw, and read - the others came out later in Sphere, but I don't think they came out in the order he wrote them either.

[bluetomb]

Ah, now that does make sense. What with the "Author of Mystery Walk" at the top of the Spheres.