Dark Ocean, The-Jack Vance mystery novel, book review

Dark Ocean, The-Jack Vance mystery novel

The Dark Ocean is a 175 page mystery novel that was written in the late 1960s but was not published until 1985 when it was released in hardcover by Underwood Miller.  In 2002 it was published as part of the hardcover Vance Integral Edition and in 2012 the Subterranean Press released it along with three other Vance mystery novels in a hardcover edition titled Desperate Days:  Selected Mysteries Volume Two.  Spatterlight released the first paperback edition in 2017. 

The Dark Ocean is somewhat similar to Vance's novel The Deadly Isles in that most of the story takes place on a ship. Instead of a yacht in the South Seas near Tahiti, The Dark Ocean is set on an Italian freighter that leaves San Francisco on its way to Italy with stops in Los Angeles, El Salvador and Panama. It is an engaging and easy to read novel with a rather straightforward plot that is not very complex or subtle. At times it is also not very realistic or believable.

The main character, Betty Haverhill, lives in an upscale area of Menlo Park near San Francisco with her mother who keeps trying to introduce her to wealthy young men her mother thinks are good marriage prospects. Her mother is shocked when Betty flunks out of pre-med school at Stanford and accepts her father's offer to travel around the world by herself at his expense. Being independent minded and rather rebellious, Betty wants as colorful an experience as possible so decides to arrange passage on an Italian freighter out of San Francisco. When she boards, however, much to her surprise and disapproval, she finds that a young man whom she had been dating has also booked passage.  He says he purchased a ticket because he wanted to accompany her to protect her and to convince her to eventually marry him. Betty does not love him, does not want to marry him and deeply resents his presence which she considers an imposition on her freedom and independence.

While on board Betty flirts with a wealthy Dutchman, Mik Finsch, who is very charismatic but has a rather shady past. When Finsch attempts to rape Betty, her would be boyfriend comes to her defense and a fist fight breaks out.  When her "boyfriend" suddenly disappears from the ship, leaving a typed suicide note, Betty suspects Finsch of foul play. She does not leave the ship when it stops at port in Los Angeles, however, even though Finsch remains aboard and she now has to share her cabin with another woman. Other mishaps occur and Betty again suspects and tries to prove that Finsch is involved. If the story itself is at times unrealistic, Vance does make up for it to some degree with his vivid prose and excellent writing style so that the writing is better than the story.  Overall I found The Dark Ocean to be only mildly interesting and suspect it will probably appeal mostly to dedicated Vance fans.  I’ve read it three times and rate it a 3 “Liked it.”