Book Review...Shark!

The actual title to this is Shark! Killer Tales From The Dangerous Depths - by Robert Reid



The title page offered
\much,  but the book
didn't really deliver


In a concerted effort to a) avoid watching the TV and listening to the radio and b) drink myself to death, I have forced myself to read to get my mind off recent events. This one looked like a good book to read, and a break from the more recent books about subs and so forth I have been reading about (although, my next book is another sub one!).

This book is based on sharks tales around Australia, although it does make mention to the US and Papua New Guinea on frequent occasions. It starts with interviews with those who are in the 'trade' - from the conservationists such as Rodney Fox, to the film makers such as Ron and Valerie Taylor, to those who hunt them like Vic Hislop. Some of these reads are OK, if a little disjointed, but does set you up for more in-depth looks later on.
It then has a section dedicated to killer sharks, especially the 'big three' which again seemed disjointed and movie scripted.


What??? Now they f--ken fly too!!!

The photo section was both small and very disappointing - most were of some of the people in the first section in their twilight years. Not one of shark attacks and buggar all on the sharks themselves which seemed odd considering they were the reasons for the book. The next section started to get better, it outlined some of the shark attacks around Australia, state by state (which didn't make sense, felt like it was a Tourist Guide, "come to Tassie, we have less shark attacks than anywhere!") but some gripping accounts on shark attacks, both fatal and those who survived. This lead into some of the bigger stories about the more amazing shark attack survivors such as Rodney Fox and Brian Rodger. But the last section to me was the most informative, and best told - bizarre tales about sharks and shark attacks including the famous "Arm in the Shark Murder Mystery", "The Shark Papers" and facts on lesser known sharks, such as the Cookie Cutter Shark.

Not a first pick as such, not sure what other books are out specific to attacks, but I will find one for comparison.

2.5 out of 5.