Book Review: Red Tide by Mark James Miller

     Pete has always felt like he had something to live up to. A name, or in this case a nickname, given to him by his father: Pete. Pete was a fallen soldier with whom is father served during the war and who Pete has always believed had something to tell him. That being said, growing up can be hard. When there is so much around you that is confusing and you don't know what to do with it the stress of it all can get to you. Add in big secrets and it can send you over the edge. That is what has happened to our young Pete. Now we must strap in and begin the ride to see just how far he will go to find himself and put himself back together after all that he has witnessed.
     Tom has ran from his problems all of his life. When he wanted to do something he has always just done it. No fear of repercussions. When he meets Pete they instantly become best friends and when he convinces Pete to go into the tower that night he never imagined what they would discover. But, running away has always been what he has been best at. Now would be a great time to run from his problems and he has convinced Pete to go with him.
     Anjanette is also on the run from her past. As a prior prostitute she feels she has much to atone for. Leaving her daughter is one of those things and she hopes one day to be good enough to be a part of her life once more. She has made a pact with God that if he only spared her life she would get out of that life and never be with another man again. That seems possible until she meets two young boys who take her with them on a whirlwind adventure to Mexico.
     There you go. In what is above I have summarized everything that I found remotely exciting about this book. That took some doing. It took me a long and grueling 16 days to complete this book. There was nothing wrong with the writing itself. It was understandable, which is more than I can say for some books that I have read in the past.
     Initially I even wanted to like this book. After all, in a way it struck close to home for me. My grandfather's nickname is Pete. He was from California, blonde, loved to surf, and even got tied deeply into religion for a while. His home life was a mess, and he dropped out of high school. All things that our young Pete in this book also faced. Even down to playing around with older women and having his heart on a girl his age. So to say I wanted to like this book is easy.
        The problem is that there is just so much foulness in this book that I was disgusted. When I was not disgusted by this book I was bored out of my mind. I am by no means a prude; which anyone who looks at my blog can surmise. However, there are some lines that I will not cross and this book toed that line multiple times. Although the author stated to me that he does not intend for this book to be read by adolescents (and after having read it I can understand why) this book starts out following the lives of two 17 year old boys. If you, dear reader, are like some and read the age of the characters and believe that the book is safe for children then take this review to heart and do not let your teenagers near this book.
This book is available on Amazon at https://amzn.to/3bH2FYo for $2.99.