Raft

by Alan Mills

It was intended as a family getaway.It became a nightmare of survival …Martin and Lydia Napier’s marriage is shaky. Fate has been cruel and they are both still reeling from the blows. When they are offered the use of a property in tropical far-north Queensland they decide to take a break, maybe get their relationship back on track, and give their eight-year-old daughter Ami a holiday. They leave Sydney and hit the road for what should be a taste of paradise …Initial misgivings about a cyclone hovering are allayed when the rain stops. It looks like the wet season is over. But just as they start to unwind, the river swells and rain clouds gather. With an escape from rising floodwaters thwarted, Lydia, Martin and Ami are caught up in the dramatic rescue of a policeman and his prisoner. Within hours the family find themselves marooned on the roof of the isolated farmhouse, with limited food and water, little hope of rescue, and a killer in their midst …Faced with horrors both human and natural, they must do what they can to survive. But who can they trust? And can they be sure where the dangers really lie?The Raft is a deft psychological thriller which shows the courage people summon and the sacrifices they make when their loved ones are threatened.

528 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2005

Reviews

[The Honest Book Reviewer · Rating 2 out of 5]

This novel is promoted as a thriller. It's not very thrilling at all.

Most of the novel is a slow and dreary tale, that throws a group of strangers together in a disaster situation. Queue the suspicion, fighting, greed, and other standard human traits that the author can exploit here. It would be okay if the author used the setting to ratchet up the tension between the people and throw in some real edge-of-the-seat moments, but they seemed few and far between.

As a debut novel, it probably hit some of the boxes for new authors. There was a clear hero that the reader roots for. There is a villain (or maybe multiple), but they really weren't strong characters. They seemed more a caricature than a real character. I also found the shifts to the comic book character, Zardan, more of a distraction than anything else.

The setting of the Australian outback was refreshing, but there a lot of dangers in the outback that the author didn't use in this novel. I think there were a lot of missed opportunities.

[Kara · Rating 2 out of 5]

Too many unbelievable moments.

[Pina Carrubba · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Raft has many no thrill mundane moments. For an idea where I could have turned pages on the edge of my seat from page one, instead I had to wait for page 359. Characters where interesting and believable. Least favourite is Martin Napier, the wimp living unrealistically through his comic character Zardan, while his wife Lydia wears the drive and balls of the family. My favourite is Tony the Croatian trick driver who has a back story of life before arriving in Ausralia that I would love to read more about. Not a bad read, more suspense and action before page 359 could have pushed it towards a great book.

[Vicky · Rating 4 out of 5]

3 1/2 stars.
Strayed a bit from what I usually read. As stated on the cover this story is in the style of Cape Fear, but in reality it's much less frightening.
Aussie book about a natural disaster. A family inadvertently gets stuck with a police officer and a possible prisoner being transferred when the natural disaster hits.

[Dee · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was many years ago that I read this but I have just spent the last week searching for the title and author as I would love to re-read it.