Black Water Transit

by Carsten Stroud

Book Overview

"New York Times" bestselling author Carsten Stroud writes with a brutal intensity that mesmerizes readers as it brings them onto the front lines of high-stakes police work. Now Stroud has written his... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0385335784
• ISBN13: 9780385335782
• Release Date: August 2001
• Publisher: Delacorte Press
• Length: 368 Pages
• Weight: 1.45 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.2" x 6.5" x 9.6"

Customer Reviews

Stylish, Gritty

I loved Stroud's book and thought Black Water Transit was one of the most original plots that I have read in a long time. Jack Vermilion, the main character is successful businessman and the owner of Black Water Systems a shipping company. He enjoys the sucesses of his life except for his dissapointing son, Danny, a thief and drug addict. In federal prison, Danny calls and begs for help. In an effort to help his son, Jack turns informant on a client, Earl Pike, who wants to ship some guns to Mexico. When feds move in to yank the shipment, several agents are killed and of course Jack is blamed and not Pike. Pike, a former army colonel and sniper feels he has been betrayed by Jack and starts his own personal vendetta. The edgy writing of the story gives it the added substance that some writers lack. The characters were razor-sharp and very believable. This is the type of book that you won't want to put down until you are finished. Although, I initially had some problems with going back and forth in the chapters with the different story lines and characters, in the long run it was one hell of a read!...

Fast paced action drama

Kept me up past my bedtime - need I say more? Will be enjoyed by those who like a good Bruce Willis action film.

Wow

This fellow can write. This book makes even Thanksgiving with your inlaws bearable. It is funny, poignent, and irresitable. The characters are real, you will feel their pain. I just wish dialogue in real life was quite as apt.Five stars, a terrific book.

Just wonderful!

I don't know how I missed Stroud's first two books, but I couldn't be happier that I did find Black Water Transit. Stroud is an enormously gifted writer, with exceptional plotting skills, a fine gift for characterization, and a Damon Runyonesque sense of humor. It takes a lot to make me laugh, but some of the observations (placed in darker moments, which makes them all the more laudable) had me merrily, appreciatively chortling away. Nothing in this book is predictable; none of the characters are cliched, but are original and entirely memorable. There's not a wasted word; there's no unnecessary padding. The narrative takes off in high gear and never lets up for a moment. This is a book not to be missed! I'm now off to order Close Pursuit and Sniper's Moon.Most highly recommended.

A thrill a minute

When Jack Vermillion returned home from serving his country as a marine in Viet Nam, he came back with titanium for a spine and the drive to become successful as a civilian. Jack takes a tiny shipping firm, Black Water Transit, and soon turns it into a multi-million dollar giant. Perhaps because he has always been a workaholic, Jack's only failure is his son, a resident of the Feds in Lompoc Correctional Facility. Frantic to help his desperate son leave Lompoc where he is choice meat, Jack finds the avenue when US Army (R) Colonel Earl Pike hires Black Water to illegally ship a gun collection to Mexico. Jack cuts a deal with the Feds to move his son to a less secure facility in exchange for Pike and his collection. However, law enforcement organizations fail to communicate as New York State police officer Cassandra Spandau goes after Pike at the same time. The subsequent shoot-out between the AFT and NYPD leaves several cops dead and everyone blaming Jack. BLACK WATER TRANSIT is an action-packed police procedural thriller written with intelligence and wit. The story line never allows the reader to blink as Carsten Stroud paints a strong but gloomy look at a government's dirty tricks and Lady Macbeth levels of ambition; no one in authority seems to mind whether an innocent is grinded into chopped meat. Dark humor adds to the edge yet also eases some of the tensions of this powerful plot. Mr. Stroud deserves sub-genre attention because this is one terrific novel.Harriet Klausner