Mitchards Still Summer plunges into terrorBy Carol Memmott USA TODAYSecure your life preserver Tie yourself to the mast Its late August but its still summer and Jacquelyn Mitchard is taking you on a thrill ride you wont forgetMitchard made her mark in the literary world in when TheDeep End of the Ocean was chosen as the first pick for Oprah Winfreys now-legendary book club Since then she has written six other novels but none matches the suspenseful pitch of Still SummerIts a tale of terror on the high seas but this is no Pirates of the Caribbean wannabeReaders know something terrible is going to happen but Mitchard ratchets up the suspense by allowing her story to unfold at a leisurely pace She painstakingly fleshes out her characters because as readers will discover their temperaments and personalities are as crucial to the story as the mounting disastersTracy Kyle Holly Solvig and Olivia Montefalco lifelong friends in their early s charter a yacht and two-man crew for a sailing vacation that will take them from St Thomas to GrenadaThe trip starts out as an innocent adventure in paradise until two accidents in quick succession strand the women without their crew What else can go wrong In a word everything The engine conks out the sails are torn lack of electricity spoils their food and limits their drinking water - and then theres the injury to Hollys legNatures fury murderous drug dealers and possibly most deadly of all their own frailties and secrets are added to the listReaders will wring their hands with frustration weep with sadness and second-guess the choices these women make But since characters must do the bidding of the authors who create them we can only sit back - or sit on the edge of our seats - and let Mitchards terror-filled tale wash over us.
