Deep Impact by James Rollins
My Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
I read this for the Action/Adventure Aficionados group read this month, and I was fairly excited about it. That didn't last very long once I started it. The beginning is really awful in my opinion. I don't know if it's the narrator, but the characters seemed so thin and I was left to wonder why we were even looking at these people. Like who are they? I really hate when a book introduces characters with no relevance and then we never see them again. So that didn't set me up for high expectations.
As the story progresses, it does get better. I was willing to keep reading because I don't like to DNF books. When Jack is introduced, I wasn't initially that interested in him. As the story unfolded, I became a little more invested in his story. I understood the damage he carried. Ultimately, I did appreciate him as a lead, but he'd never be near the top of my list of favorite action heroes. I couldn't help thinking that, as an astronaut, he should have have more of a scientific mind. I realize that he was coming at it from a perspective as a Navy pilot, but I thought you did have to know a lot of science and mathematic principles to go into space. Feel free to post your thoughts if you know differently. Also, I don't know, but I thought the whole part with him and Lisa being past lovers was kind of unnecessary or maybe it was just how it was handled. It feel really awkward, especially when it was clear that Jack was really into Karen. Lisa felt like a throwaway character, in my opinion. I think I had a more immediate connection to Karen, probably because I liked the way her mind worked and I loved her friendship with Miyuki. Karen was smart, brave, quick thinking, kind and tough. I did like Jack and Karen as a couple though. I wish Miyuki had a bigger part. I loved Charlie. He was one of my favorite characters. I was disappointed that the doggie, Elvis wasn't in the story more. I freaking hated David. He was such an *&!@#%! Having said that, he wasn't all that memorable as a villain other than being a piece of crap.
Although thus far, my thoughts have been fairly negative, there were parts of the book where I did get pretty excited. The ending was quite effective, and some of the plot twists were very exciting. I checked and this was his third book. I can definitely tell, because there is a huge difference in the quality of writing from this book to Sandstorm. The characters feel flat and fairly lackluster. I am glad to see that this is something he has improved upon. I did think the adventure/action scenes were well-written, overall. I love how integral to the plot the science was as well. As I said earlier, the ending was really cool and I didn't predict or expect it at all.
I've always had a fascination with the deepest parts of the ocean, and I loved those parts of the story. The book has some great imagery of the deep sea. Honestly, I would have loved more underwater scenes. However, there was some great moments where characters interacted with deep sea life, and I am glad that Rollins used those varied possibilities.
Despite some disappointment I had with this story, I think it would be a good movie, with some good actors who can bring more life to the characters than they had in the book.
This was not a bad book, but I was disappointed with it overall. My biggest problem was the poorly developed characters. If that was better, I am sure I would have rated it higher. I wasn't that keen on the narrator either. He was just okay.
As the story progresses, it does get better. I was willing to keep reading because I don't like to DNF books. When Jack is introduced, I wasn't initially that interested in him. As the story unfolded, I became a little more invested in his story. I understood the damage he carried. Ultimately, I did appreciate him as a lead, but he'd never be near the top of my list of favorite action heroes. I couldn't help thinking that, as an astronaut, he should have have more of a scientific mind. I realize that he was coming at it from a perspective as a Navy pilot, but I thought you did have to know a lot of science and mathematic principles to go into space. Feel free to post your thoughts if you know differently. Also, I don't know, but I thought the whole part with him and Lisa being past lovers was kind of unnecessary or maybe it was just how it was handled. It feel really awkward, especially when it was clear that Jack was really into Karen. Lisa felt like a throwaway character, in my opinion. I think I had a more immediate connection to Karen, probably because I liked the way her mind worked and I loved her friendship with Miyuki. Karen was smart, brave, quick thinking, kind and tough. I did like Jack and Karen as a couple though. I wish Miyuki had a bigger part. I loved Charlie. He was one of my favorite characters. I was disappointed that the doggie, Elvis wasn't in the story more. I freaking hated David. He was such an *&!@#%! Having said that, he wasn't all that memorable as a villain other than being a piece of crap.
Although thus far, my thoughts have been fairly negative, there were parts of the book where I did get pretty excited. The ending was quite effective, and some of the plot twists were very exciting. I checked and this was his third book. I can definitely tell, because there is a huge difference in the quality of writing from this book to Sandstorm. The characters feel flat and fairly lackluster. I am glad to see that this is something he has improved upon. I did think the adventure/action scenes were well-written, overall. I love how integral to the plot the science was as well. As I said earlier, the ending was really cool and I didn't predict or expect it at all.
I've always had a fascination with the deepest parts of the ocean, and I loved those parts of the story. The book has some great imagery of the deep sea. Honestly, I would have loved more underwater scenes. However, there was some great moments where characters interacted with deep sea life, and I am glad that Rollins used those varied possibilities.
Despite some disappointment I had with this story, I think it would be a good movie, with some good actors who can bring more life to the characters than they had in the book.
This was not a bad book, but I was disappointed with it overall. My biggest problem was the poorly developed characters. If that was better, I am sure I would have rated it higher. I wasn't that keen on the narrator either. He was just okay.
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