There are times when some of us take the sanctuary of comfort reads, when we want to read something light and fast-paced with an interesting plot, but which doesn’t tax our mind too much. For many of us this comfort read is a cozy mystery. For me, it is the thriller.
Thrillers were a staple diet of readers during the Cold War era and even till the end of the 20th century. These days thrillers seem to have disappeared quietly (or it is possible that they are still popular but I see them less and less). The definition of the thriller has changed these days and today the word refers mostly to books which are similar in some ways to ‘Gone Girl’ or ‘The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo’. But once upon a time, a thriller looked different – there were ships and planes and spies and adventure and action. Sometimes the story happened in the middle of a war zone. At other times it happened in a peaceful world. These days there are movies that have these plots, but the traditional thriller novel seems to be mostly dead.
Hammond Innes was one of the popular thriller writers during the Cold War era. I’ve never read any of his books though. There used to be so many thriller writers around that it was hard to read even a sample of them all. I missed out on Hammond Innes. Sometime back one of my friends recommended Hammond Innes’ ‘The Wreck of the Mary Deare‘. It is probably Innes’ most famous book. As I always try starting the year with a comfort read, I decided to read this one.
A yacht is sailing in the sea. There are three people in the yacht. One of them suddenly spots a big ship coming out of the fog, heading straight towards them. They swerve and somehow avoid being hit. Later, after a few hours, they see the same ship. This time the ship’s engines are off and it is quietly drifting in the water. One of the sailors in the yacht suggests that they board the ship and see whether there is anyone there and if they need help. One of them boards the ship.
How many movies like this have we seen? There is an unknown ship which suddenly appears in the middle of the ocean. People board it and they discover that there is no one inside. Then bad things start happening! So we want to scream when this yacht sailor boards the ship. Our instinct says that it is not going to end well for anyone. So what happens after that? Is there anyone in the ship? Do bad things happen? You have to read the book to find out 😊
I enjoyed reading ‘The Wreck of the Mary Deare’. The first part of the story happens in the sea, the second part is a gripping courtroom drama, and the third part happens again in the sea. I read the whole book in one breath. The story was not at all what I expected. If you like ships and sea, this is a great book. This book has also been adapted into a movie. I want to watch that sometime.
I’ll leave you with one of my favourite passages from the book.
“It is difficult to be scared of something that is inevitable. You accept it, and that is that. But I remember thinking how ironical it was; the sea was to me a liquid, quiet, unruffled world through which to glide down green corridors to the darker depths, down tall reef walls with the fish, all brilliant colours in the surface dazzle, down to the shadowy shapes of barnacle-crusted wrecks. Now it was a raging fury of a giant, rearing up towards me, clutching at me, foaming and angry.”
Have you read ‘The Wreck of the Mary Deare’? What do you think about it?