Ship of the Damned

Rating:
Summary: More than just a bit lost at sea ...
Review: Being a bit of a closet afficianado (sp?) on the Philadelpha Experiment, I picked up SHIP OF THE DAMNED with high hopes ... and perhaps that was my undoing. Had I left my expectations at the door, I might've enjoyed the read a bit more than the 2-star rating, but, unfortunately, the author composes very short, almost terse chapters that do little to stimulate the imagination; rather, he just pushes the plot along. As his prose and storytelling style has been placed on par with Tom Clancy by some reviewer, I think it's a dramatic overstatement. Mr. David attacks his story with an almost "look, ma, I can write" mentality, giving very little depth to his characters or the events they fantastically find themselves caught up in. It's high on plot and low on facts and science, so leave the brain at the door if you want to enjoy this ride on the SHIP OF THE DAMNED.

Rating:
Summary: One of the Summer's Top Action Titles
Review: For those who crave crisp plotting, engaging characters (including the bad guys), and above all, originality, I commend all three of Mr. David's published novels to your attention. If he hasn't skyrocketed to well-deserved fame comparable to Cussler or Koontz, it may be because he's constantly challenging us with new ideas and fresh treatments of old themes in a way that requires some thought on the reader's part...an effort those willing to make will find amply rewarding.

I shorted David a star on this one because, for the first time, he's treading on more familiar ground...speculation concerning the Philadelphia Experiment. Using some of the cast from his previous novel "Fragments," he embroils them in a sinister government plot to murder the motley crew stranded in a pocket of space-time created when a Navy crusier was enveloped in a high-strength magnetic field in 1943. Why kill them? Because the exiled individuals have developed psychic powers of great destructive power...and are looking to break out into our defenseless world...

David's writing here is far more choppy and action-packed than his previous works, which for some will be a plus. For me this approach takes away from his proven ability to create characters we care about and gradually drive up the tension as a seemingly benign situation grows gradually more threatening.

But I quibble. The bottom line is I recommend this book highly. Even when not at the top of his game, David's unique mix of SF/horror/technothriller is as good as your likely to find until his next book.

Rating:
Summary: Mediocre book
Review: I didn't read the apparent prequel to this book, but I don't think that should be a requirement.
The book is a disjointed jumble of one-dimensional characters and "action" (repeated over and over) -- one improbable conspiracy theory piled on top of another.

Rating:
Summary: Uniquely Creepy
Review: I love the way James F. David can take some bizarre little real life blurb from history and turn it into a thrilling creep show with a unique perspective. It's a wild ride and loads of fun with Ralph (I adore him!) at the wheel of an other dimensional go-kart, and Jett along for the ride. But Jett (the kind of bad boy girls swoon over - think Vin Diesel in Pitch Black) is more than just a really good secret agent... like those he's been sent to destroy, he's "Special". If you like a story with great characters, a thrill or two, and some psi-power stuff thrown in for fun, you will love Ship of the Damned!

Rating:
Summary: Uniquely Creepy
Review: I love the way James F. David can take some bizarre little real life blurb from history and turn it into a thrilling creep show with a unique perspective. It's a wild ride and loads of fun with Ralph (I adore him!) at the wheel of an other dimensional go-kart, and Jett along for the ride. But Jett (the kind of bad boy girls swoon over - think Vin Diesel in Pitch Black) is more than just a really good secret agent... like those he's been sent to destroy, he's "Special". If you like a story with great characters, a thrill or two, and some psi-power stuff thrown in for fun, you will love Ship of the Damned!

Rating:
Summary: I Wonder What Language The Others' Copy Was Printed In...
Review: I loved this book. I thought that the plot was very intriguing and it kept up at a nice clip. The characters were great, especially the big, dopey guy Ralph. I can just see him when he was in elementary school, walking down the halls, the little kids just tossed their milk money at his feet. He'd probably just marvel at the shinyness of all the dimes on the floor. He's "special" and he assists Jett & his team to bring down the "Specials" (ones with teleketetic/psychic powers).

Once again, I'll tell you that I thoroughly enjoyed this book, and you will too if you like sort-of mind-trippy material.

Rating:
Summary: BETTER LOST AT SEA
Review: In concocting this imaginative book, author James David falls into a hole many successful writers encounter: the book is so bloated and overwritten, that it ultimately ends up being a book you can't wait to finish, but it's hard to stick with it. The plot is meandering, and there are so many characters that one needs a scorecard to keep up with them. Taken in small doses, the challenged Ralph would be all right, but he's so redundant and predictable, his impact is lessened. Likewise, Nathan Jett, a potentially interesting character whose lack of fear belies his deep sensitivity especially where Ralph is concerned. There's a group called The Specials, then there's the Crazies, and as always, some kind of religous fanatic. Borrowing heavily on the supposedly true Philadelphia Experiment, David offers two more ships vanishing, and an incredibly drawn out sequence of dream sequences and chase scenes. Had the dialogue been more terse and not so rambling, SHIP OF THE DAMNED may have been a novel worth recommending, which alas, after plowing through its' banalities, I cannot do so.

Rating:
Summary: 2nd good work from James F. David
Review: Seven different people have the same reoccuring dreams. A special team of psychologists tries to study and help these people as the dreams slowly start to kill the dreamers. The dreams themselves invlove a navy ship which was unsuccessfully teleported back in 1943 and became stuck in time and space.
Elizabeth Foxworth, who studies the dreamers, along with the help of a very special dreamer must enter and save the dreamers, solve the mystery of the connecting dreams and prevented another such disaster, where a nuclear ship has disappeared in a similar situation.
James F. David proves again that he's a very original and a good writer.


Rating:
Summary: Author is making progress.
Review: This book is a definite improvement over James David's last novel, "Fragments." The author's skills as a horror/thriller writer are definitely improving. There is a little more attention paid to character development, although part of this is due to fact that many of the same characters from "Fragments" are present in this one.

"Ship of the Damned" does stand well on its own though. The world that the author creates, the bubble universe in which the ship of the title resides, is compelling and draws you in, as do the people who have been trapped there. It does beg the question of what would happen if a group of people developed psionic abilities. You definitely find out here.

While the author has refined his skills somewhat, I believe he can refine them further. I would recommend that he observe the way that authors such Stephen King, Robert McCammon, Anne Rice and Clive Barker create characters. While I admit that King and Rice can get a bit long winded some times, on the whole they get you emotionally invested in the characters and let you get to know them as people.

If James David can fully master this trick and couple it with his very original concepts, he'll be golden.

Rating:
Summary: Book of the Damned
Review: This is a fabulous story! I bought it at the train station before a long trip and was so happy with my decision. I could not put this book down. The story is fresh and captivating! A must read.