Beside a Burning Sea

From Hilary Hatton at Booklist It s the fall of 1942, and the U.S hospital ship Benevolence is cruising the waters of the South Pacific when it is torpedoed by the Japanese Only nine people survive, and they eventually wash up on an island the captain Joshua, and his wife, Isabelle, a nurse Isabelle s sister Annie and a woman named Scarlet, both nurses Ratu, a teenage Fijian stowaway Jake, a black engineer Nathan and Roger, two officers and Akira, a wounded Japanese soldier.Okay, first of all, l [...]

I really enjoyed this book John Shors is the perfect writer for me, because his books so far are based in Asia and have strong female protagonists which both appeal to me very much I would give Beside a Burning Sea four and a half stars, but that s not possible on I didn t love it quite as much as Beneath a Marble Sky mostly because in that book I learned so much about Indian history and the building of the Taj Mahal But I couldn t put this book down and was desperate to discover whether everyon [...]

I loved, loved, loved this book When their hospital ship is torpedoed, nine escape including one Japanese POW and take refuge on a lovely island Unfortunately one of the nine is a traitor who enjoys tormenting and killing While with the group he tries to act civilized but he is soon suspected especially by the Japanese Akira A child, Ratu is also with the group He had stowed away in search of his father While the traitor communicates with the Japanese bringing them to the island, the survivors t [...]

This novel takes place during World War II in the Pacific When the hospital ship Benevolence is torpedoed by the Japanese near the Solomon Islands, only nine people survive by swimming to a nearby uninhabited island The captain of the ship, Joshua, is devastated over the loss of so many Isabelle is married to the captain and she and her sister, Annie, also survive Annie is recovering from a bout of malaria and is saved and brought to shore by Akira, a Japanese prisoner Akira is haunted by his fa [...]

Interesting book My mother worked as a code breaker during WWII and always talked about discovering a Japanese Hospital Ship carrying ammunition I couldn t help reading this book because of the concept of a Hospital ship carrying war supplies The book is a fun, light, summer read.

LOVED this book This is my first foray into John Shors novels, but it definitely will not be my last On the face of it, this one is a pretty predictable story of a small group of survivors from a bombed WW2 US hospital ship, who find their way to an island and await rescue by the American military, or discovery by the Japanese However, it s the richness with which the author draws his characters, and their relationships with one another, that ultimately makes this novel a real shining star I rea [...]

In the end I found myself wishing the Japanese would storm the beach, kill everybody and put me out of my misery The plot could have been so interesting had it been written by somebody that can actually write It was much too wordy with inane dialogue between all of these cast aways The characters weren t particularly likable, and there were too many stereotypes, coincidences and contrivances I found myself skipping big chunks of it just to get the story to move along The captain, Joshua drove me [...]

This is such a beatifully told story The characters are all so fully realized, I can t believe the book is not longer You really come to care about the folks stuck on this island It s a great read for history buffs, but also for anyone who likes a good adventure tale Very suspensful, but so poetically done I m sorry I m not better at writing reviewsI really enjoyed Shors previous book about the Taj mahal, and this one confirmed that he s an author to keep reading I can t wait for his next book H [...]

John Shors has done it again His novel, Beneath a Marble Sky was a wonderful, historical read Beneath a Burning Sea is much the same Once I began reading, I don t want to put it down It follows 9 people marooned on an island in the South Pacific after their ship has been bombed in World War II The characters are well developed and the story is intriguing

I loved Beneath a Marble Sky, so I was really looking forward to reading this and was sorely disappointed Repetition and head hopping jerked me out of the story at far too many points It seems as if this is a second or third draft of what would have been an excellent tale, had it been edited properly.

Wonderful Engaging Timeless Surprising Thought provoking Beautifully written, the right amount of everything make this book a must read It was a pleasure to read and enjoy Just a wonderful story and characters except Roger.

The novel opens in September of 1942 in the Solomon Islands where the ship Benevolence, a U.S hospital ship of five stories high is cruising through the South Pacific at a speed of twelve knots per hour.The ship held five hundred beds which were full of soldiers who suffered injuries and psychiatric disorders There were several dozen navy doctors and nurses caring for them The smell was unbearable from the unclean bodies, disinfectants, bleach and burnt flesh In total, there were five hundred an [...]

I loved Shors s debut novel Beneath a Marble Sky and though I can t say I fell for his second endeavor, Beside a Burning Sea, quite as hard, I did enjoy it.A historical, set during the most strategic time of WW2 in the pacific theater, BABS is a gripping story of a group of mostly strangers stranded on an obscure island in the pacific after the hospital ship Benevolence is attacked and sunk to the bottom of the ocean.In the heat of battle, two sisters stationed as nurses on the Benevolence are l [...]

Beside a Burning Sea chronicles the fate of nine survivors of the sunken World War II hospital ship Benevolence The survivors wash up on one of the deserted Soloman Islands and each chapter represents one of the eighteen days on the island The novel opens aboard the ship, where nurses and sisters Isabelle and Annie are dressing the wounds of Japanese soldier Akira They are discussing Isabelles husband Joshua, the ships captain, when the explosion occurs Unbeknownst to the nurses, Akira can speak [...]

While I liked this book very much, I am glad I did not read it right after reading Beneath a Marble Sky This is a very good read I like stories centered around WWII but this story didn t feel like a war story I also liked the South Pacific setting bc so many stories about the war are set in Europe Most people don t even realize or they forget that a war was going on in Asia Shors has a great talent for being a gifted storyteller He is able to describe places so beautifully you really can see the [...]

I enjoyed reading this historical novel, Beside a Burning Sea I learned a bit about WWII history but I really enjoyed the interaction and love development between the survivors of the medical hospital ship, the Benevolence, which was attacked and sunk by the Japanese There were three relationships well deveoped by the author, One was between Ratu, a young Philipino stow away who was in search of his father who was away at war aiding the Americans and an black American soldier who took Ratu unde [...]

I wish there were negative stars to rate the books, that s how much I disliked this book Truly awful writing I do not understand the heaps of praise given to this book on the cover, etc Do they not use editors any This book could have used one, or two The dialogue was atrocious to the point of being unintentionally hilarious I also think that an author should know the difference between affect and effect apparently this one does not I only finished this book because I wanted to make my goal for [...]

This is the second book of John Shors that I ve read If there is one thing that I can say about them, it is that they were written with the intention to show that goodness abounds.Beside the Burning Sea tells of the struggles of survivors from a fallen hospital ship during World War II Nothing fanciful, nothing extreme, but endearing, and heartwarming, and emotional, and suspenseful all the same It s a fictional account of people during a very important historic event, and so the familiarity, th [...]

Incredibly average For me no surprises or anything to make me really think The dialogue did not seem realistic and apparently the author has never watched an episode of Survivor since his castaways were faring extremely well Not bad enough to give it one star though, I made it through 260 pages or so before I just lost interest and skipped ahead to read the last 15 pages or so something I NEVER do any.

I really liked this book I enjoyed the charactors The villian was villiany in all the right spots and the lovers were lovey in all the right spots if not a little too sugary sweet This story of the castaways in WWII was a good easy read I do have to say that this authors first book, Beneath a Marble Sky, captivated me though.

Outstanding This book isn t my normal kind of read However, it sounded intriguing so I thought what the heck It got my attention in the first 5 pages and didn t let go 9 people are stranded on an island after a bombing of their ship Of course there are such different ranges of characters Such description I felt I was there with them Pick up this book today, you won t be sorry

A wonderful book to get swept up in and read away some dreary winter days I love Shors style, and he does a great job with the voices created in this novel I enjoyed the dual perspective Another excellent story from Shors looking forward to his next novel.

John Shors showed again that he is an amazing writer Although I still like Beneath a Marble Sky better this book showed the skill he has It was a wonderful story about loss, sacrifice, love, acceptance, and betrayal The characters were easy to fall in love with and sad to lose Beautiful story.

A fantasy soap, 1.5 stars It was readable, but I got to resenting every word.

I thought this book a good, but I didn t love it I thought it was a little predictable, and the love story was cheezy It did keep my interest, but wasn t great.

Slowly the author draws the reader into the lives of his characters The plot moves well and carries the reader through expectations and surprises JS struggles with what type of novel writing an action, romance or Christian novel, but manages to touch all three with acceptable grace.

This had all the elements of a great read, but the plot was outdone by the over the top falling in love scenes Historical fiction set in the Pacific, The Benevolence is an American medical ship that is torpedoed and sinks Nine survivors end up on an island one is bad newsry predictable.

This was quite a story set in WWII aboard a hospital ship and the friendships that are formed I thoroughly enjoyed this novel

A solid read Enjoyed the story.

When a boat with military personnel, prisoners and medical staff is bombed, the people get stranded on a island during WWII.