The Killing Sea By Richard Lewis Published by Simon and Schuster ISBN 978 1 416 92628 3 World disasters often throw up novels when the initial drama has died down but the event is still fresh in people's minds. Human tragedy is a rich source of ideas for a novelist, and it isn't surprising that a novel like The Killing Sea should follow in the wake of the terrible tsunami that struck Indonesia on Christmas Eve 2004. But novels homing in on disasters like the tsunami can be tricky affairs. This was a human tragedy on a devastating scale - how does an author put something like this into the pages of a piece of fiction and not betray the real horror? Richard Lewis does what most authors wrapping a fictional story around an actual disaster do. He focuses on a handful of characters and describes how the disaster affects their lives. It's easy enough to portray a real disaster, but the problem is how to make the fictional characters seem alive and important compared to the tragedy. Lewis gives it a good shot. Sarah is an American teenager on a sailing holiday with her younger brother and parents. Sarah doesn't get on with her mother, her brother Peter is annoying and her father is busy steering the boat. Ruslan lives with his mechanic father in a coastal village in Indonesia. He dreams of being an artist and spends his spare time either drawing in his room or working at the local coffee shop. Sarah and Ruslan have no idea their lives are about to be turned upside down. The reader, of course, knows what is going to happen, but Lewis does a good job of maintaining suspense. When the tsunami hits, it does so with incredible force thanks to some vivid descriptions. Two very different teenagers in the same place whose lives are torn apart by an angry, black wall of water. Both Ruslan and Sarah survive the giant wave but have a fight for survival ahead of them. Sarah and an injured Peter are separated from their parents when their mother is killed and their father swept away by the water. Ruslan's father is missing, too, and he begins a desperate search to find him. For the first half of the book, Sarah and Ruslan's stories are told separately in alternate chapters as one teen searches for a doctor to save her brother, and the other searches for his father. Sarah and Ruslan finally meet and agree to help each other. The novel now takes on a sometimes sentimental tone as the two teenagers grow close. The Killing Sea is a powerful and disturbing read, despite some false notes that smack more of fiction than fact. John Millen can be contacted on MillenBookshelf@aol.com