4668. The Fire Ship, by Peter Tonkin (read 3 Feb 2010) This was publlshed in the U.S. in 1992 and tells an action-packed story of a tanker taken over by terrorists. Richard Mariner and his wife Robin and a couple others set out to recover the ship. There is lots of action and people die, but the ending disappoints since it is not clear who lives and who dies and the story is not cleanly wrapped up. I read the book because a Wikipedia article said Tonkin "has been compared to Alistair MacLean, Desmond Bagley, and Hammond INnes.' I have liked many of MacLean's books and Innes' The Wreck of the Mary Deare is a master work. But this book is inferior to those works and non-clarity in the finale really turned me off. ( )