Review: New Twist, Old Tale
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 08 30, 2012
I've read a lot of Titanic books, and frankly, I thought I'd read every twist there could possibly have been, excluding vampires, werecreatures, and ridiculous stuff like that. But the Rakestraws threw another possibility into the mix, and the tale is unlike any other Titanic book I've read.Imagine...a company so greedy and deceitful that instead of folding and taking a loss, they decide to swindle their insurance company...resulting in 1,500 lives.That's their idea, and it actually comes across as plausible. Switch some paint, change some windows, kill a few people... I believed it.The story goes back and forth between modern day Michael and Titanic day Alice. The modern day hero, I have to say, I like the fact he isn't perfect. He has insecurities, doesn't make a ton of money, isn't ripped with muscle or super handsome or heroic. He's the kind of man you see every day in the grocery store. And to me, this made the book more realistic. I specially loved this part here:"They were contemporaries, and while neither could win a modeling contract, neither had left themselves go completely."I just liked that this book was about imperfect people. It's not something you see done much nowadays.Moving on. Michael finds his life NOW affected by events that occurred 100 years ago all because he finds a journal and starts a blog and asks some questions... The Occupy protests are even wrapped up in the modern-day plot. There's kidnapping, bombs, threats... but in the end, the truth of the Titanic must come to the surface.My only quibble is Alice's reaction after Thomas revealed a big secret. I found it really surprising that she wouldn't at least get angry. Nevertheless, it's such a small part.