The Island

Rating:
Summary: "Island" may leave you feeling stranded...
Review: "The Island" is yet another caribbean-based adventure tale of which Peter Benchley is so adept at weaving. The plot is fresh and original enough: a reporter takes his son on a working vacation as he tries to unravel the mystery behind an alarming amount of boat disappearances in the area of Navidad island, and ends up the captive of a band of pirates descended from the actual French renegade 17th century pirate L'olonois. The buccaneers live as they have for more than 300 years and their customs and brutalities are severe indeed. Maynard (the reporter) must devise an escape and rescue his son, whom the pirates have adopted as one of their own, before it is too late. Clean in prose and thoroughly researched, "The Island" is still a stylistic departure from Benchley's other works as it pits man against man rather than the unpredictable variances of the sea. The pirates dialoge is at time hard to follow and the action somewhat clicheic, yet overall the novel is a fine read and very entertaining. Not to par with Benchley's better known works (i.e., Jaws, The Deep) though definitely worthy of attention.

Rating:
Summary: Undecided...
Review: After watching Pirates of the Carribean i pulled this one off my shelf where it had been collecting dust for a decade...(I bought it after reading Jaws) The Idea of this book is pretty interesting: a man arrives at an island where the people have not "evolved" and are basically still living the life of pirates and do not conform to modern values...There is a hidden treasure of course... but not one we might expect... The problem with this otherwise fine boook is that too much time is speant on the relationship between the protagonist and his son and the troubles in their relationship and not enough time dealing witht he pirates and the seamonsters...

Imagine "Jaws" with Chief Brody's son on board bickering instead of "sharking" and you will get my point...
All in all not a bad read, but "Jaws" and "The Beast" are much more satisfying...

Rating:
Summary: better than BEAST
Review: awile back i was scouting some fun reading and happened upon peter's "beast". i thought it was a really fun read until about the last 40 or so pages when pete plagerizes himself (is that doable ?) and basically inserts his "jaws" ending into the the "beast" book . i had forgotten that as a boy , i had seen "the island" theatrically . i gradually noticed this as i read further and further into the book . it was really interesting and fun for me . i'm just a working stiff , not joe college , but pretty well read . i read the whole spectrum , from comic books to journalism to criticism to essays to fiction to non-fiction to grocery boxes . i know that this read was quick and involving and had peter's own distinctive voice as an writer (in spades) . it ain't tobias wolfe or raymond carver or zora neal hurston , etc ................but it's not meant to be . relax and enjoy .

Rating:
Summary: A disappointment.
Review: I found a copy of Benchley's the Island when helping my uncle clean out his mom's house. He said I could have it so I took it home and began to read; man was it great. I enjoyed every page of it, I even stayed up late to read it while I was on vacation at the beach. When I finished I was blown away by how far out the story was and decided to try some of Benchly's other stuff. Unfortunately, I found it to be drab and boring in comparison. I have to say that undoubtedly this is his best work.

Rating:
Summary: There be pirates!
Review: I must admit 'The Island' was a guilty pleasure to read. But I enjoyed it SO much! Peter Benchley has written a suspenseful story about modern-day pirates. Well, maybe not so modern-day, as the pirates behave in a decidedly archaic manner. The ending could have gone either of two ways, and I wasn't sure which way that would be. This kept the suspense going until the very last pages. I recommend this book for good escapist reading.

Rating:
Summary: Pretty atrocious
Review: Luckily, I first read Benchley's "Girl of the Sea of Cortez," which was a great story. Enticed by his writing, I proceeded to "Jaws," which I thought was well written. Then I decided for "Island" and regretted it. Although the book has the same basic structure as Jaws - it starts with a killing, then we learn about some people, then another killing - "Island" never stops killing. It's not suspenseful, because we can pretty much predict the next murders, it's really atrocious and I came out thinking that Benchley was off-kilter. The book is now available used for $0.01. Befitting price!

Rating:
Summary: Interesting concept, weak presentation.
Review: Peter Benchley's The Island certainly has an interesting idea, the pirates of old are still around and are largely responsible for most of the missing boats in the Bermuda Triangle. Benchley attempts to weave real history with contemporary fantasy, but the results are mixed. The beginning and ending are action packed and suspenseful, but the middle part drags horribly and the pirates way of life does not seem capable of real life survival outside the pages of a pulp novel. Watered down adventure from the author of Jaws.

Rating:
Summary: Genre pulp and fun read.
Review: Pulled this from my shelf when I had a seven hour flight and by the time I touched down, I reached my destination and finished a greatly enjoyable book. It's fast paced pulpy fun that's loaded with action. Yes, there are major holes and unrealistic circumstances. But think Clive Cussler, not Tom Clancy and you'll be fine. Benchley gets your heart going in the right places and at the same time giving you some great trivia about the Bermuda triangle and pirates. The characters are likable and interesting and the decriptive writing is wonderful. Keep in mind this book was written in the seventies and it does come across as dated in some spots. A staple in a used bookstore, it's easy to find. Grab it. It goes back on my shelf for another go in year or two.