- Mass Market Paperback: 208 pages
- Publisher: Harper Trophy Canada; 1st Thus edition (Mar 25 2004)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0006485618
- ISBN-13: 978-0006485612
- Product Dimensions: 16.8 x 10.4 x 2.8 cm
- Shipping Weight: 91 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
- Amazon Bestsellers Rank: #129,306 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
Plenty of action, a pinch of romance and such up-to-date topics as pollution and computer-hacking speed along this futuristic thriller. In search of his runaway younger brother, athletic Paul leaves his tidy suburban home to plunge into the murky slum called Watertown. Various events lead Paul to believe that his missing brother is caught in something very strange indeed, something that has to do with the potent waters surrounding the shantytown. Watertown proves a magnificently eerie setting--so much so that it tends to upstage the novel's plot and its characters, both of which seem rather thin and unoriginal in comparison. Although it does not offer readers challenges on a level with those found in, say, Peter Dickinson's Eva , this fast-paced adventure contains plenty to enjoy. Ages 12-up.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
From Kirkus Reviews
A well-realized world of rotting docks and ramshackle buildings on the shore of a polluted lake forms the setting for this haunting character study. Summoned by his brilliant but frail brother Sam, Paul leaves his comfortable suburban neighborhood for unsavory Watertown--and finds that both he and his brother are being hunted by the quasi-legal Cityweb: Sam has discovered a mutated microorganism in the lake that, though eventually toxic, greatly enhances physical ability. But despite plenty of danger, narrow scrapes, and a lurid, violent climax, outward events seem almost incidental compared to Paul's inner struggles. Once complacent in his role as protective older brother, he's angry to see Sam growing up and away from him and racked by guilt to feel so; his turmoil increases when he meets a new Sam--preternaturally fast and strong, exultantly freed from his former metabolic disorder. Oppel explores the brothers' dependent love-hate relationship with some sensitivity, though the confessional tone gets heavy at times. Glamorous but deadly, the microorganism is like a drug, so the story can be read on that level, too; indeed, Oppel adds a subplot involving a streetwise young Watertowner searching for her lake water-addicted mother. A thoughtful story with an unusual combination of ingredients. (Fiction. 12+) -- Copyright ©1993, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.
--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
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Customer Reviews
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Most helpful customer reviews
4.0 out of 5 stars
a epic thriller,
This review is from: Dead water zone (Paperback)
I really liked this book. It was an interesting book. It was an intense thriller and very interesting. I would recommend this book to the age 12 to 13. evanp
4.0 out of 5 stars
reminds me of Heinlien's classic Sci-fi,
By
This review is from: Dead Water Zone (Mass Market Paperback)
This book is very different from anything else from Kenneth Oppel that I have yet read. It is a speculative fiction that reminds me of much of Robert A. Heinlien's works that I read years ago in High School, or Frank Herbert's non-Dune books. It is intriguing and sublimely written.The story is about Paul, a young athlete, has gone in search of his brother, a genius who has gone missing in Watertown, a dilapidated floating second city of those who live outside regular society. Paul is looking for Sam and keeps feeling like he sees him or feels him but has yet to actually find him. Paul meets a young woman named Monica who helps him navigate this world he has never known. Can Paul find his brother and save him? Does Sam want to be saved? Or will the Dead Water Zone consume everyone who enters its area of influence? No one knows where the Dead Water comes from, only that those who drink it are changed. They seem to be stringer, faster, have better eye sight and they also seem to go crazy. This book was an incredible read. With twists and turns you do not expect, and surprises around every corner, it has the flavor and feel of classic science fiction. It is a stunning story compressed into just under 200 pages. Like many classic science fiction stories this one deals with themes of evolution, ecology, politics, power and human survival. It reads like it could fit into Frank Herbert's The Eye's of Heisenberg, The Dosadi Experiment or The Green Brain. If it was written as homage to some of the masters of Science Fiction it achieves its effect in a spectacular way. Oppel draws you into a story that has layers you will not unravel until the very end. It is an excellent book by a great Canadian author.
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta) Amazon.com:
3.8 out of 5 stars (5 customer reviews) 3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Enjoyable,
By The Framer - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Dead Water Zone (Mass Market Paperback)
I found this book to be yet another highly enjoyable book by Kenneth Oppel. It is a quick read, but I found that this did not at all deter from my enjoyment of the book. I can recommend this book to anyone, especially fans of other books by Kenneth Oppel.
4 of 5 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
I love this book I recomend you get it,
By mike14y@aol.com - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Dead Water Zone (Hardcover)
I'm 14 and I have to read for school you have to get a certin amount of points to gaduate. I hate reading but after I read this book I love reading. So I recomend you get this book or Journy to the center of the Earth
2 of 3 people found the following review helpful
2.0 out of 5 stars
Not the author's best work,
By Marie Anderson - Published on Amazon.com
This review is from: Dead Water Zone (Hardcover)
I bought this book because I loved and adored Oppel's novel Airborn. Unfortunately, this much earlier work is not nearly so well-written. The imagery was pretty darn nifty, and the premise was moderately intriguing, but unfortunately that's really all it had going for it. The characters were uniformly static and the plot was generic. Try something more recent of Oppel's.
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