Tapping the Source

Rating:
Summary: Tapping the Source
Review: It held my attention until the forced ending.. it made me want to go surfing though, so can't be all bad.

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Summary: Gritty, violent, erotic, surf noir
Review: Kem Nunn is a wonderful writer, adept at action, physical description, and strong dialogue. He reminded me a lot of Robert Stone. At the center of the book is 18-year-old Ike Tucker's search for his sister Ellen in the beach town of Huntington Beach in the early 80's. It's a trip to hell, and also a boy's rough journey to adulthood. The book has a strong sense of place and time; it really captures the drug-ridden 80's surf scene in Huntington Beach. The surfing passages, especially the descriptions of Ike's first attempts on a board, are thrilling. The book also works well as a hardboiled mystery novel. I plan to read other books by Kem Nunn, particularly his other surfing novel, The Dogs of Winter.

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Summary: Thank God this book is back in print!
Review: Tapping the Source is a great novel! Several years ago, I bought a copy and unfortunately lost it around the time it went out of print. Since then, I've done a nationwide book search to locate a copy - with no luck. Since Tapping the Source has been back in print, I haven't been able to put it down.

Rating:
Summary: a book that makes you feel like you're there
Review: tapping the source was a surprisingly nice change from the boring books i have been assigned to read this summer. what was most refreshing about it was the way kem nunn can transport you to california's beaches with his use of words. reading this book, you can feel the warm sun, smell the sea breeze and hear the ever present crashing of the waves. although it starts off a bit slow, the pace soon picks up throwing twists and turns into the plot that make you want to read on. the book does end a bit abruptly, and the climax was something i didnt expect, but i still enjoyed reading and it was nicely ended. i definetly recommend it. its a good summer read.

Rating:
Summary: a book that makes you feel like you're there
Review: tapping the source was a surprisingly nice change from the boring books i have been assigned to read this summer. what was most refreshing about it was the way kem nunn can transport you to california's beaches with his use of words. reading this book, you can feel the warm sun, smell the sea breeze and hear the ever present crashing of the waves. although it starts off a bit slow, the pace soon picks up throwing twists and turns into the plot that make you want to read on. the book does end a bit abruptly, and the climax was something i didnt expect, but i still enjoyed reading and it was nicely ended. i definetly recommend it. its a good summer read.

Rating:
Summary: A Source of Good Entertainment
Review: The growling Harley Davidsons and pier pounding surf make this a read easy to sink your teeth into. Intrigue is kept high with tweak after tweak of plot and scene. Kem Nunn brings to flesh characters that easily carry you away into a far out bad trip. At that age of young adulthood with so many confused love emotions, Ike (protagonist), shows us that relationships are about choices of commitment rather than blood.

Rating:
Summary: A Source of Good Entertainment
Review: The growling Harley Davidsons and pier pounding surf make this a read easy to sink your teeth into. Intrigue is kept high with tweak after tweak of plot and scene. Kem Nunn brings to flesh characters that easily carry you away into a far out bad trip. At that age of young adulthood with so many confused love emotions, Ike (protagonist), shows us that relationships are about choices of commitment rather than blood.

Rating:
Summary: tapping the cliches
Review: this is a pretty good surfing story but that's not saying much. anyone who knows surfing knows the movies and books about it are a joke. kem nunn needs to join a good fiction workshop. get rid of the excessive passive voice--ike was looking at the ocean becomes ike looked at the ocean-- and cut down on the description. the first time ike sees the ocean nunn pours on the description. what hemingway said about the iceberg is true. just give the reader a whiff of the pacific, and move the story forward. the reader will sense the ocean and it will be much more effective. instead nunn writers four pages of description. most of the characters are very close to being complete cliches. if i hear one more elder surfer trying to teach a younger surfer of the soul of the ocean, i'm liable to start singing kumbyya. i barely got through this book. his other book, the dogs of winter, is better, though still annoying and cliched

Rating:
Summary: Hauntingly great
Review: This novel will leave a deep and lasting impression. This is great literature, would make an excellent movie. Hard to put it down.

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Summary: One of the Better Thrillers I've Ever Read
Review: Too bad this little gem has been o.p. for so long. I read a lotta stuff in the hardboiled crime genre, and this is one of my all-time favorites. Great story, great characters, writing of true literary quality.