Eye of the Whale
A Novel
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- $13.99
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- $13.99
Publisher Description
Filled with “breathtaking scenes” and “vivid” (Publishers Weekly) imagery, national bestselling author Douglas Carlton Abrams’s riveting ecological thriller blends shockingly true facts with a powerful narrative that pulls readers into a dangerous race through a majestic and mysterious world.
Dedicated scientist Elizabeth McKay has spent almost a decade cracking the code of humpback whale communication. Their song, the most complex in nature, may in fact reveal unimaginable secrets about the animal world. When a humpback whale swims up the Sacramento River with a strange and unprecedented song, Elizabeth must decipher its meaning in order to save the whale and ultimately much more. But as her work captures the media’s interest, powerful forces emerge to stop her from revealing the animal’s secrets. Soon, Elizabeth is forced to decide if her discoveries are worth losing her marriage, her career, and possibly her life.
Working closely with leading scientists for his extensive research into humpback whales and the harrowing ecological challenges they face today, national bestselling author Douglas Carlton Abrams has created a unique and timeless story that will transform readers and their relationship with the fragile world in which we live.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Many breathtaking scenes of the beauty and majesty of humpback whales, including a vivid look at a whale giving birth, are lost amid Abrams's heavy-handed focus on issues in his overblown second novel (after The Lost Diary of Don Juan), a preachy ecothriller. For Elizabeth McKay, a scientist who believes the humpbacks' complex songs are key to understanding the animal world, her efforts to crack the creatures' communication code take priority over her personal life, including her marriage and her friends. Opposing her work are businessmen wanting to increase whale hunting and make whale meat an international delicacy. As McKay tries to help a humpback that has swum up the Sacramento River, she begins to realize that the change in whales' songs warn that pollution is causing an alarming rate of babies born with birth defects. Ecoterrorists, ecoactivists and the ubiquitous government link weigh down the action. Only the whales have real personalities.