On Desperate Seas
By James Pattinson
A novel of man’s will to survive against all the odds.
None of the crew is particularly gratified when the British tanker Rosa Dartle is chosen to carry a cargo of industrial alcohol from Philadelphia to Russia. For these are the dark days of World War II when convoys are receiving the full attention of U-boats and the Luftwaffe. And when six American seamen are embarked to take passage to Archangel there is concocted a human mixture as explosive as the liquid swilling in the tanks.
The men range from Joe Kline, born in Chicago, with a tough life as a prize-fighter behind him, and full of the dangerous hatred of the small-minded, to Steve Carson, a man of different calibre, as tough as Kline, but without the anger. In between are a collection of characters as mismatched as any crew of sailors could ever be.
After prolonged attacks by submarine and aircraft this motley collection of men continue their fight for survival in an open boat, and later, on the mainland in pitiless Arctic conditions. But, in their struggle against the elements and each other the biggest question is who will win?
James Pattinson is a full-time author who, despite having travelled throughout the world, still lives in the remote village of East Harling in Norfolk where he grew up. He has written magazine articles, short stories and radio features as well as more than 100 novels.
