Untie the dock lines, cast off and
jump aboard Douglas Danielson’s book, entitled, Wet Dreams, also the name of a posh 70 foot Hatteras yacht adorned
with babes and booze, partying just off the coast of L.A. at Catalina Island. The reader’s voyage will take one upon
turbulent waters of a young lady missing from her “filthy rich” daddy, as Jake
Mortensen and Buddy Wright seek to find out the answers to the questions of her
whereabouts. Along the way, the story
tacks against the wind as Buddy receives a death threat from what seems to be
an ex-Vietnam-vet. Station a cop
character at the bow with a memorable name, Virgil Klean. Add the undercurrent of Jake’s attractive and
explosive exotic Chinese-American girlfriend, Toey Wong, losing her cool doubting
her relationship unjustifiably. What you
get is a mystery novel of extraordinary entertainment buoyancy floating in your
mind. Remembering, as some of the
characters are also true surfers, all landlubbing matters cease when the awesome
curls are breaking and “surf’s up.”
Stuffed with vernacular from the
boating world, Douglas Danielson writes in a very relaxed, conversational style,
as if you were having lunch with him at a Yacht Club and he was telling you the
story first hand. His depth of knowledge
about the intricacies of sea-fearing vessels, and his familiarity with the lifestyle
and people that command the wheelhouse and sleep in its staterooms, goes
fathoms beyond what might be known to an average reader. The skill of Doug Danielson’s writing is
demonstrated when he takes this information, which is of keen interest to him,
and makes it easily assimilated and definitely very enjoyable to others as well. His book takes a steady course building on
some of his interesting characters from his earlier work, Shore Loser, however Wet
Dreams stands on its own sea-legs as being a ship-shape novel.
The years of experiences and
knowledge Doug Danielson has amassed in the boating industry shines through in
his work, giving his characters a rather wise and expert analytical
quality. Knowing more about boating
details then assumably any reader, he respects the intelligence of his audience
by filling in the sentence structures to become very educational. In essence, I’ve learned quite a bit about
yachting from reading the descriptions Douglas Danielson wonderfully entwines
within his story. Aside from boating
lingo, his use of scene structure is also quite admirable, enabling an uncanny
efficiency in descriptions resulting in the reader’s clear imaging.
Wet Dreams would make a great movie. The picturesque settings of luxury yachts, the scantily clad sun-tanned eye candy characters, and the casual shorts and T-shirt lifestyle of Jake and Buddy no doubt would be enjoyable viewing. Also, filming just off the coast of L.A. would be fun for the cast & crew. The only detail I see would possibly need to
change is the title from “Wet Dreams,” as people might get the wrong idea when
driving past the marquee of the movie theatre, not knowing it’s just the name
of a yacht. At least on the cover of the
book is a photo of a surfer ripping through the pipe being chased by an
avalanche wave, as any surfer knows, dream waves, Wet Dreams.
Buy this book at Amazon.com
