Official Review: The Dismal Tide by Michael A. DiBaggio

[rssllue]

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "The Dismal Tide" by Michael A. DiBaggio.]

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2 out of 4 stars

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The Dismal Tide by Michael A. DiBaggio and Shell “Presto” DiBaggio, is a science fiction/fantasy book that comes at the superhero genre from quite a interesting perspective. The heroes are written as real people and not simply superhuman perfection in all they do with their abilities. You will not find a Superman type hero amongst these pages.

The story takes place in an alternate reality from our own. Many key events that shaped their world did not happen in ours and vice versa. One of the biggest differences is the advent of the Talents who are able to do wondrous and conversely devastating things with the powers they possess.

The group that we follow throughout the story comes to be known as The East End Irregulars. At the start, it begins with just Sebastian and Alex, two best friends. Sebastian actually has two talents. His most effective one is where he can control liquids (hydrokinesis). He also has a lesser talent in which he has some form of psychic sight (psychometry). On the other hand, Alex possesses no “special” powers. He just really enjoys fighting and is quite good at it. The two teenagers sneak out at night to help protect their city from as many bad guys as they can. As the story progresses, they add to their number as Sebastian’s girlfriend joins their ranks. Evangeline brings the powerful Talent of pyrokinesis to the table for the group. The Irregulars also come into contact with a couple of other groups of Talents in the story. One of the groups is one that they end up believing is nothing more than a joke (especially when they discover that their leader has the seemingly pathetic Talent of controlling bodily functions in others). They oppose the ideology of some of the other groups of Talents. This eventually leads to a physical altercation as they battle those Talents who are harming others with their abilities.

The scenes of action in the book are painted really well in the writing of the authors. It has some great descriptions where the fights are kept gritty and real and never become cartoony in any way. They make it easy to put the reader into the shoes of the characters, flaws and all. They have a knack to engage quite well in those parts of the book.

This being the second book in the East End Irregulars series, the story harkens back to the first adventure that took place. In this, I felt as if there were too many details lacking from these moments to bring the reader up to speed on what has gone on before. Without having actually read the first book, holes appear in the story that never truly get filled in. It just left me with an itching feeling that I almost needed to read the first book if I were to fully enjoy this one.

There were a couple of other things that I did not like about the book. Firstly, the story really seemed to slow down quite often when the action scenes were not taking place. The other problem I had was with the heavy use of profanity throughout the book. It just seemed to be a bit excessive.

In the end, I have to rate this book at a 2 out of 4 stars. If we had a half point scale, this book would firmly be at a 2.5 instead of a 2. I chose to round down instead of up because of the reasons mentioned above. Still, I think that there are certainly people out there who might enjoy the story if they like superhero adventures or a bit of action mixed in with some romance.

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The Dismal Tide
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[gali]

Great review! The premise sounds intriguing. Too bad it fell a bit short in some areas.

[rssllue]

Thank you very much, gali!

[gali]

You are most welcome!

[rssllue]

[Gravy]

I've always thought that books (as opposed to comic books) about super heroes were an interesting idea. I've actually read some, but I've never found them to be what I hoped they'd be

[kimmyschemy06]

The premise sounds promising. Too bad about the flaws, especially the profanity. Great review.

[rssllue]

I've always thought that books (as opposed to comic books) about super heroes were an interesting idea. I've actually read some, but I've never found them to be what I hoped they'd be

I agree that it is a very cool idea. I also believe that it is very difficult to pull off in that format.

The premise sounds promising. Too bad about the flaws, especially the profanity. Great review.

Thank you very much!

[bookowlie]

What an interesting, insightful review. I love this comment - "make it easy to put the reader in the shoes of the characters, flaws and all." Although the book doesn't sound like my cup of tea, it certainly seems creative and unique!

[rssllue]

Thenk you very much, bookowlie! The book really does have that spark of creativity and I hope that others do find that they fully enjoy the story more than I did myself.

[bookowlie]

This genre has become so popular that I am sure the book will be a hit!

[LivreAmour217]

Great review! The book sounds interesting, but it's a shame about the plot holes and the profanity.

[rssllue]

This genre has become so popular that I am sure the book will be a hit!

I wish the authors blessings in this and future projects.

Great review! The book sounds interesting, but it's a shame about the plot holes and the profanity.

Thank you very much, LivreAmour217! I hope that future endeavors might have less of each. I would certainly enjoy the books much more in that instance!

[chytach18-]

I really enjoyed reading your review, rssllue. "The heroes are written as real people and not simply superhuman perfection in all they do with their abilities. You will not find a Superman type hero amongst these pages" - these sentences are my favourite. I think they say a lot about the genre. It seems that the book has some features of Carrie by Stephen King. Am I right?

[rssllue]

Thank you very much! Indeed, the pyrokinetic does remind me of some of the same things that Carrie went through in that story. Interesting observation.