‘Deadly cargo’ by James Patterson and Will Jordan - A review

In ‘Deadly cargo’ by James Patterson and Will Jordan, a dejected Coast Guard captain, Rick O’Neill, is about to submit his resignation when a distress call from a Russian cargo ship comes in. Then all communications go dark.

Putting aside his personal issues, not to mention the simmering hostility from several of his team, O’Neill and crew set off from their Alaskan base and into the Bering Strait in order to find the foundering ship.

The team eventually find the vessel, with nothing but the most basic emergency power on and no members of its crew in sight. Sensing something strange must have happened, in the dim eerie glow of emergency lighting, they search around, eventually finding the engine room crew trapped down below. But as they wonder just what happened there, and whether they could get the power back on, O’Neill realises he has made a mistake.

Now, this setup is quite interesting and at 122 pages long, I knew that even if it wasn’t great, I could get through it quickly. Now the low page count is because it is part of Patterson’s BookShots series, which, having read a handful of previously, I have found lacking. Yet, I still return.

Anyway, as with the other books in the series that I have read, it utilises more of an omniscient approach, allowing for head hopping and wider description. And while this works well here, it is not my favourite technique. This series also calls for a higher proportion of ‘telling’ that I often find in the books I read, and that sometimes has the effect of being almost condescending but in fairness to Will Jordan (who I presume wrote it), he gets the balance right and produce the best BookShots book that I’ve read.

I found that ‘Deadly cargo’ was a genuine page turner with wonderfully executed chapter breaks and expertly applied tension. The story itself, as with all modern Patterson books that I’ve read, is solid even if it comes across as a TV movie, but one in which you will happily become absorbed into even if its depths, unlike the sea, are superficial.

The characters, excluding O’Neill who is racked with guilt and suffering from indecision with deadly consequences, serve the plot rather than being people to invest time in, but this is hardly surprising given the length of the book.

Ultimately, ‘Deadly cargo’ knows that it is a quick throwaway read, and it delivers what it needs to in order to keep you reading and entertain and that is what this series should have been about.

Despite my apprehension going into this, its use of action, authentic language and terms (at least to my knowledge) and tension made this one hell of an enjoyable read.