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The Black Tide
Book by Innes, Hammond
564 pages, Hardcover
First published December 1, 1982
12 people are currently reading
70 people want to read
About the author
Hammond Innes
134 books105 followersRalph Hammond Innes was an English novelist who wrote over 30 novels, as well as children's and travel books.He was awarded a C.B.E. (Commander, Order of the British Empire) in 1978. The World Mystery Convention honoured Innes with a Lifetime Achievement Award at the Bouchercon XXIV awards in Omaha, Nebraska, Oct, 1993.
Innes was born in Horsham, Sussex, and educated at the Cranbrook School in Kent. He left in 1931 to work as a journalist, initially with the Financial Times (at the time called the Financial News). The Doppelganger, his first novel, was published in 1937. In WWII he served in the Royal Artillery, eventually rising to the rank of Major. During the war, a number of his books were published, including Wreckers Must Breathe (1940), The Trojan Horse (1941) and Attack Alarm (1941); the last of which was based on his experiences as an anti-aircraft gunner during the Battle of Britain at RAF Kenley. After being discharged in 1946, he worked full-time as a writer, achieving a number of early successes.
His novels are notable for a fine attention to accurate detail in descriptions of places, such as in Air Bridge (1951), set partially at RAF Gatow, RAF Membury after its closure and RAF Wunstorf during the Berlin Airlift.
Innes went on to produce books in a regular sequence, with six months of travel and research followed by six months of writing. Many of his works featured events at sea. His output decreased in the 1960s, but was still substantial. He became interested in ecological themes. He continued writing until just before his death. His last novel was Delta Connection (1996).
Unusually for the thriller genre, Innes' protagonists were often not "heroes" in the typical sense, but ordinary men suddenly thrust into extreme situations by circumstance. Often, this involved being placed in a hostile environment (the Arctic, the open sea, deserts), or unwittingly becoming involved in a larger conflict or conspiracy. The protagonist generally is forced to rely on his own wits and making best use of limited resources, rather than the weapons and gadgetry commonly used by thriller writers.
Four of his early novels were made into films: Snowbound (1948)from The Lonely Skier (1947), Hell Below Zero (1954) from The White South (1949), Campbell's Kingdom (1957), and The Wreck of the Mary Deare (1959). His 1973 novel Golden Soak was adapted into a six-part television series in 1979.
Innes was born in Horsham, Sussex, and educated at the Cranbrook School in Kent. He left in 1931 to work as a journalist, initially with the Financial Times (at the time called the Financial News). The Doppelganger, his first novel, was published in 1937. In WWII he served in the Royal Artillery, eventually rising to the rank of Major. During the war, a number of his books were published, including Wreckers Must Breathe (1940), The Trojan Horse (1941) and Attack Alarm (1941); the last of which was based on his experiences as an anti-aircraft gunner during the Battle of Britain at RAF Kenley. After being discharged in 1946, he worked full-time as a writer, achieving a number of early successes.
His novels are notable for a fine attention to accurate detail in descriptions of places, such as in Air Bridge (1951), set partially at RAF Gatow, RAF Membury after its closure and RAF Wunstorf during the Berlin Airlift.
Innes went on to produce books in a regular sequence, with six months of travel and research followed by six months of writing. Many of his works featured events at sea. His output decreased in the 1960s, but was still substantial. He became interested in ecological themes. He continued writing until just before his death. His last novel was Delta Connection (1996).
Unusually for the thriller genre, Innes' protagonists were often not "heroes" in the typical sense, but ordinary men suddenly thrust into extreme situations by circumstance. Often, this involved being placed in a hostile environment (the Arctic, the open sea, deserts), or unwittingly becoming involved in a larger conflict or conspiracy. The protagonist generally is forced to rely on his own wits and making best use of limited resources, rather than the weapons and gadgetry commonly used by thriller writers.
Four of his early novels were made into films: Snowbound (1948)from The Lonely Skier (1947), Hell Below Zero (1954) from The White South (1949), Campbell's Kingdom (1957), and The Wreck of the Mary Deare (1959). His 1973 novel Golden Soak was adapted into a six-part television series in 1979.
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Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews
April 30, 2023
Really great read, nicely paced (except for the sudden and slightly confusing ending) with lots of adventure. Two quibbles: some slightly dubious male comments from Trevor re Pamela, especially considering his wife has just died and that's why he's involved in this whole thing; and Hals' pollution-inspired motives are a bit unclear, but besides that I definitely enjoyed the story.
January 7, 2020
Trevor Rodin is one of Hammond Innes' more interesting protagonists. Like many of the previous "heroes" in Innes' fiction, Rodin is very much a flawed character. But in the case of The Black Tide, that extends to his final image. It's much more ambiguous, Rodin's fate and psychological state much less clear. No happy ending, here. And that is a change, especially from Innes' earlier works, where he hewed to the guidelines in place for adventure genre fiction. With this effort, however, Rodin is left somewhat adrift. His potential romance is a failure, a rejection, which fundamentally alters the expectations of the genre, the goal being to overcome hurdles and tasks to win the favor of the chosen woman. Trevor Rodin ends up a much more mature individual, taking stock of himself, his deceased wife, and the impact his initial thirst for revenge has had on others.
As an adventure story, The Black Tide does lack the pace and thrill of earlier works. But Innes is also trying to deliver an environmental message, a warning, in this 1982 novel. It's a reaction to the Amoco Cadiz disaster and a foretelling of the Exxon Exxon Valdez catastrophe. In the era of supertankers and massive oil spills, Innes describes what could well happen when environmental extremism joins with international terrorism. Despite all that, the book works for the most part. The story has its own momentum and but for a couple of environmental rants at the beginning and the end, Innes doesn't really let politics or ideology get in the way of the tale, although politicians, lawyers, officialdom do come in for a large amount of criticism and disgust.
As an adventure story, The Black Tide does lack the pace and thrill of earlier works. But Innes is also trying to deliver an environmental message, a warning, in this 1982 novel. It's a reaction to the Amoco Cadiz disaster and a foretelling of the Exxon Exxon Valdez catastrophe. In the era of supertankers and massive oil spills, Innes describes what could well happen when environmental extremism joins with international terrorism. Despite all that, the book works for the most part. The story has its own momentum and but for a couple of environmental rants at the beginning and the end, Innes doesn't really let politics or ideology get in the way of the tale, although politicians, lawyers, officialdom do come in for a large amount of criticism and disgust.
January 28, 2025
A slow paced complex thriller.
October 1, 2019
This is a good conspiracy thriller that is quite fast paced in places with slower moments where the story gets a little bogged down in detail as one conspiracy is laid on top of another, weaving a complex story across the continent from the coast of Wales to the oil fields of the Middle East. The story starts off in a beautifully dramatic fashion with an oil spill off the south Wales coast devastating local wildlife and resulting in an explosion that destroys the ship and more. The writing is good but it did get too detailed in places, which slowed the story and made me lose interest in places and there was a certain old fashioned-ness about the characters and the story to a certain extent with the men-folk being very much in charge and making the decisions while the female characters toed the line and went along with things, with the exception of the opening chapters where this is not quite the case. Overall not a bad read but could’ve been simpler to make for a more engrossing story.
January 18, 2022
In the Black Tide the subject is oil tankers and the pollution hazard they pose. The main character is Trevor Rodin, a professional seaman, who is thrown into a whirlpool of action when an oil tanker runs aground on the coastline in front of his cabin. The tempo is swift, Lloyds of London gets into the act as insurers, and Rodin has to investigate.
Hammond Innes was a fine writer of suspense, especially when the background is the sea or extreme climes. The Black Tide displays his usual excellent writing skills. I would have given a fourth star but for the rather abrupt ending.
Hammond Innes was a fine writer of suspense, especially when the background is the sea or extreme climes. The Black Tide displays his usual excellent writing skills. I would have given a fourth star but for the rather abrupt ending.
August 7, 2011
I am not quite done with this book yet but I am far enough alone to give it a good first impression before I forget.
Let me start off by saying I am disappointed with this book. That is not to say it is a bad book, I am enjoying it a lot! However it could have been so much better. I am not joking when I say that Part one of this book is among the the best I have read, yet it has all been downhill from there.
The book is written from the first person, which I am not used to despite this it is easy to read and I have very few complaints to how it is written.
If I had to point to what makes me disappointed it is the lack of movement in the middle of the book. Without giving any spoilers I think this would be the best way to explain. The first part of the book is like the sea during a storm, its rough and exciting. The second part is the calm after the storm and lets just say its to calm for too long. That is just my personal opinion and many would probably not agree but it was a drag to get through and the story is picking up again and I hope that It reaches how good it was in Part one again.
I would recommend this book despite my current disappointment. It certainly is worth a read and truth be told I am probably giving to much emphasis to what I didn't like, it's not like I disliked reading the calm after the storm, it just comes off bad after how much I enjoyed Part one.
Let me start off by saying I am disappointed with this book. That is not to say it is a bad book, I am enjoying it a lot! However it could have been so much better. I am not joking when I say that Part one of this book is among the the best I have read, yet it has all been downhill from there.
The book is written from the first person, which I am not used to despite this it is easy to read and I have very few complaints to how it is written.
If I had to point to what makes me disappointed it is the lack of movement in the middle of the book. Without giving any spoilers I think this would be the best way to explain. The first part of the book is like the sea during a storm, its rough and exciting. The second part is the calm after the storm and lets just say its to calm for too long. That is just my personal opinion and many would probably not agree but it was a drag to get through and the story is picking up again and I hope that It reaches how good it was in Part one again.
I would recommend this book despite my current disappointment. It certainly is worth a read and truth be told I am probably giving to much emphasis to what I didn't like, it's not like I disliked reading the calm after the storm, it just comes off bad after how much I enjoyed Part one.
February 9, 2013
The only way I can describe the experience of reading any Hammond Innes book is to say it feels like I'm reading a 1950's black & white movie. A very good black & white movie.
Want to read
October 2, 2013Helen Campbell
August 9, 2014
Fair. Gave it a 3 because of some parts. I wouldn't spend money on purchasing this book.
Displaying 1 - 9 of 9 reviews