Rating: 
Summary: Sea Change
Review: I thought this was a great book! I couldn't put it down. Which female charactor would end up with Brock? Would she live til the end? Would they save the world? Who else would die? It was great. At the end of the book there was an intro to James Powlik's next book. I can't wait to read it.
Rating: 
Summary: A Great Read
Review: As a resident of the Pacific Northwest I enjoyed the setting of "Sea Change" immensely; as a marine biologist I especially appreciated the excellent depiction of the ocean and all its creatures in a realistic yet interesting and exciting thriller. Anyone looking for a fresh new voice in science fiction need look no further than Dr. Powlik.
Rating:
Summary: Excellent thriller
Review: A friend suggested I take "Sea Change" along on a recent trip to Europe -- while I didn't have much of a choice (I was stuck on an airplane), I honestly could not put this book down. I found it to be a great thriller wrapped with interesting characters and a spectacular setting I have also been fortunate enough to visit. I highly recommend this one for any Xmas readers who enjoy a compelling mystery with a sea-faring tale to carry it along.
Rating:
Summary: Environmental thriller is great
Review: I quite enjoyed Sea Change--it was a change of pace from many others in the eco-thriller genre. I loved the female characters and the fact that they are presented as proactive thinkers and doers and not just as victims of some catastrophe for the hero to rescue!
Rating:
Summary: Sea Change Works!
Review: This book kept me riveted from beginning to end. The characters are believable and the science is just edgy enough to scare you into thinking a menace of this kind could really materialize. Yes, there is a lot of back and forth explanatory dialogue among the characters, but the issues are complex and the author doesn't dumb down the plot just to work in an explosion on every page (there is plenty of that anyway). I think the settings and pace of the story work well to give the reader the feeling of being on the inside of the action. I not only know what is happening, but I know why. The suspense builds nicely AND you end up caring about what happens to the characters at the end. I am looking forward to reading James Powlik's next one.
Rating:
Summary: Amazing debut
Review: Imaginative scenario with a solid scientific basis. This was a fun and engrossing book to read. For those of you looking for great dialogue, go read Hamlet. For those of you looking to curl up in front of the fire with a light read, this is the book for you. Loved it and looking forward to Mr Powlik's next effort!
Rating: 
Summary: Poor Dialogue, Poor Science Hamper Story
Review: I frequently buy books of this genre for beach weekends or long plane trips and, while they are sometimes cheesy, this is the first I thought about dumping in the trash without finishing.There is no question that Mr. Powlik's choice of "deadly terror" is novel or that there is reason for legitimate concern over the beastie in question. Where the book fails is that what starts out as good science is pushed to the point of absurdity (and that's saying a lot for this genre). In fact, the science isn't even consistent within the book. While I could provide several examples, I fear that doing so would be considered a "spoiler" since much of the plot revolves around the unique properties of the beastie. But what really got me was the dialogue, which was usually acceptable but frequently dove to depths not even reached by the sea-going cast. The worst was the "snappy banter" between characters, the nadir of which can be seen in this segment between two main characters: "This projection is seriously flawed," she said, indicating the computer. "It doesn't calculate the effect of using Commander William Garner to avert the disaster." "That's because it's designed to be very precise," Garner said. "I'm just making this up as we go along." "Well, then, Walt Disney should have had your imagination," she said. "Walt Disney is dead," Garner said. "The rest is just Mickey Mouse." Ugh. I actually stopped reading at this point but, knowing that my soul would not rest easy unless I warned others of the danger, I later decided it would be unfair to write a review (my first) without completing it. All I can say is, I wish Mr. Powlik better luck on future attempts.
Rating: 
Summary: Chris Dufrene
Review: SEA CHANGE is well written for being James Powlick's first novel. The storyline is very believable. The problem is that the plot lacks suspence. Also, the technical jargon decreases the reader's interest. I do however, look forward to reading his second novel to see if his writing style has improved.
Rating: 
Summary: Not a page turner
Review: This book is fairly well written, the science is accurate and the characters are well enough developed. There is just one problem. The author has no idea how to develope any suspense or even any real interest in what happens. I am in the middle of reading this book right now and I could care less how it ends. A good thriller will make you want to keep reading all night to see what happens. At no point in the first 270 pages have I ever even wanted to read the next page to see what happens. The author just doesn't have a knack for story telling. I am surprised that anyone other than a marine biologist would call this one a page turner.
Rating:
Summary: I wanted to like it, but...
Review: While I appreciated the author's extensive research and obvious knowledge of his subject, he simply does not know how to write exciting fiction. The first few chapters started off with promise: inexplicable deaths. An ER doctor's horrifying loss of a child patient. A spooky ship far out at sea. And, yes, some funny repartee between characters. But from there, it became a tedious story of "telling, not showing," whereby the author tells us ABOUT what happens, but doesn't really show us the events with much vividness of language or even much dialogue. For instance, there's a scene toward the end where one helicopter loses altitude, crashing into a chopper below it. Crash! Lives lost! Sorry, but it was the most ho-hum description of a disaster I've ever read. I didn't bat an eye. Perhaps the most serious problem with this book was the nature of the "villain" itself. A microbe. Much as the author tries to infuse it with evil, it remains just that -- a microbe. And the heroes must race to -- well, kill it. That's it. Alas, not very exciting.
| 
