Riptide (novel)

Riptide (German title: Riptide - Mörderische Flut ) is a 1998 adventure novel by the American team of authors Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child .

prehistory

The prehistory is based on the real history of Oak Island in eastern Canada . In 1795, young people on Oak Island discovered the entrance to a shaft in which they suspected pirate treasure. That was the beginning of a two-century treasure hunt that cost several people their lives or drove them into financial ruin. The unknown designers had created an elaborate system of tunnels deep below the surface of the earth, which repeatedly filled with sea water and thwarted all rescue attempts.

In the book, the island is called Ragged Island and is about six miles off the coast of Maine on the east coast of the USA.

Preston and Child describe another attempt to use the latest technology and almost unlimited funds to raise the suspected billion- dollar treasure attributed to the fictional pirate Eward Ockham . According to the authors, Ockam made the Caribbean unsafe in the 18th century. He brought up numerous ships of the Spanish silver fleet and plundered coastal cities. His most valuable loot was the also fictional St. Michaels sword.

action

The initiators of the treasure hunt are Captain Neidelmann, who owns a salvage company, and Malin Hatch, the owner of the island. On the basis of encrypted diary notes by the original architect of the tunnel system, both are convinced that the pirate Edward Ockam's hiding place is in front of them. Huge pumps are being installed on the island to remove the water from the shaft. However, this only succeeds after flood tunnels on the sea floor have been closed by underwater blasting.

During the work you come across a mass grave in which the remains of almost 100 pirates are located. Apparently they succumbed to an unknown disease. The rescue company also has victims to complain about. The pirates have secured their hiding place with ingenious traps. Over the course of the days and weeks, more and more workers become ill. The symptoms are similar to those of the deceased pirates. Hatch, the doctor in charge, is puzzled. The computers are also going crazy. Are psychic powers at play here?

Little by little, the diary entries are decrypted. More and more details about the structure of the hiding place come to light. Hatch finally realizes that one last big trap makes it impossible to raise the treasure and wants to break off the operation. A bitter dispute ensues with Neidelmann, who has invested his entire fortune in the company and must continue.

Eventually Hatch realizes that part of the treasure, the St. Michaels sword, is made of a highly radioactive iridium alloy. The radiation is responsible for the illnesses and computer failures and for the death of the pirates 200 years ago. He desperately tries to keep his partner from recovering the sword. While a heavy storm sweeps across the island, there is a dramatic showdown in the extensive tunnel system.

literature

• Douglas Preston, Lincoln Child: Riptide , Droemer Knaur (June 2001) - ISBN 3426619148