Well. I might as well finish off the Rook series with “Swimmer” which is the fifth book in this great journey we embarked on by following Jim Rook, an English teacher from Los Angeles. I know there have been more titles written with Jim as the main protagonist but I haven’t gotten the chance yet to find out what these journeys are about and what monsters we come to face.
The novel starts as off with a terrifying accident at a swimming pool. A small boy, son of Jim’s past student gets drowned by a vengeful demon and only Jim is able to notice its presence.
Desperate mother of that poor boy ask Jim for help in getting rid of the wraith lurking in the pool. There isn’t a lot of time available as the demon continues with its killings which become more and more frequent and all Jim’s friends are finding themselves in a great danger.
It seems as the story follows the same script and it might feel old and worn out but following some unexplained events in the story as it progresses, it unveils one of the biggest surprises of the whole Rook series so it’s not the type of reading that one might think one had seen it all read it all.
Graham Mastertons allows us to get to know Jim Rook even better in this title and it gives us another platform to explore how deep his feelings and motives are.
In “Swimmer” we get the fight between the horrid being and Jim, we find out about that mysterious secret and we realise that Jim is trying to get seriously involved in the romantic relationship with his fellow teacher. It all gets really complicated and messed up due to the never ending threat of immediate death from the “hands” of this vicious entity that is probably the worst creature that Jim has so far come across.
I think the main points selling this book is the continuity we get in development of Jim’s character and the beast he faces. I have really enjoyed the series as I found it as a refreshing change of usual Masterton’s brutal climate that still offers plenitude of Masterson’s character and great dose of humour. It wasn’t till recently that I realised there is actually more of Jim’s world and perpetuations to go through and I must get on right track of chasing it all up. There’s just too many books and too little time.
Marcin's Corner 