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WORK TITLE: Goliath
WORK NOTES: with Shawn Corridan
PSEUDONYM(S):
BIRTHDATE:
WEBSITE:
CITY:
STATE: FL
COUNTRY:
NATIONALITY:
http://oceanviewpub.com/authors/gary-waid/ * http://oceanviewpub.com/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/A-CONVERSATION-with-GARY-WAID-about-GOLIATH.pdf * http://www.thebigthrill.org/2016/10/goliath-by-shawn-corridan-gary-waid/
RESEARCHER NOTES:
PERSONAL
Born in San Diego, CA; married; wife’s name Patty.
ADDRESS
CAREER
Author. Operates tugboats and repairs yachts; has also been a roofer, a carpenter, a musician, a tractor-trailer driver, and a writer for magazines. Once a federal prisoner.
WRITINGS
SIDELIGHTS
Gary Waid and Shawn Corridan were childhood friends in Florida. Whereas Corridan went off to college and took on a “normal” lifestyle, Waid was arrested for smuggling marijuana and served eight years in a federal prison. Both men had spent their childhoods around the sea and boats, and when Corridan came up with the idea for the novel Goliath, he contacted Waid to write it with him. Goliath, like their second novel, Gitmo, began as a screenplay before being turned into novel form.
Goliath
In Goliath, the largest oil tanker ever built is on its maiden voyage in the Bering Sea. Only the captain knows that the ship is also on a secret mission. When a minor defect turns catastrophic, the ship is consumed by fire. Two hundred miles from the ship, Sonny Wade picks up the Mayday call and recognizes this as the opportunity that might save his failing salvage business. But Wade’s former employer and business rival, Dan Sharp, also hears the mayday call, prompting a race between the two men to recover the ship before it sinks or runs aground and pollutes the ocean with oil. However, there is a far more deadly contaminant on board and the men are racing right toward it.
Reviews of Goliath were positive, with a Publishers Weekly contributor writing: “Fans of nautical adventures will be enthralled.” A Midwest Book Review contributor called Goliath “A deftly written and riveting read from beginning to end,” and “an exceptionally entertaining thriller.” Bookloons website reviewer Mary Ann Smyth told her readers that they are ” in for a read of the thriller of the year.” Seattle Book Review website reviewer J. Aislynn d’Merricksson commented: “This was an enjoyable, fast-paced read. It engages the attention from the start and doesn’t let go.”
Gitmo
In Gitmo, ex-con Dixon Sweeney returns home from prison to find his house and his wife are gone, his wife having left him for his best friend. When a local gang leader accuses Dixon of owing him $65,000, Dixon is stuck. So when an old Cuban friend of his father’s asks him to smuggle his granddaughter out of Cuba, and will pay him a half-million dollars, Dixon reluctantly agrees, knowing he is putting his post-prison freedom in jeopardy.
Reviewers positively compared Corridan and Waid to Carl Hiaasen. A Kirkus Reviews Online contributor called Gitmo “an exciting read,” and wrote: “Waid and Corridan have constructed a tightly written, extremely entertaining caper with an engaging, witty protagonist. The story deftly balances comedy and suspense, with Sweeney wryly narrating his increasingly bizarre situation in a self-deprecating voice.”
BIOCRIT
PERIODICALS
Internet Bookwatch, December, 2016, review of Goliath.
Publishers Weekly, September 5, 2016, review of Goliath, p. 55.
ONLINE
BookLoons, http://www.bookloons.com (May 9, 2017), Mary Ann Smyth, review of Goliath.
Kirkus Reviews Online, https://www.kirkusreviews.com (July 12, 2012), review of Gitmo.
Seattle Book Review, http://seattlebookreview.com (May 9, 2017), J. Aislynn d’Merricksson, review of Goliath.*
A CONVERSATION
with GARY WAID about
GOLIATH
TELL US A LITTLE ABOUT YOURSELF, HOW AND WHEN YOU STARTED WRITING.
I began writing when I was on the run from the feds. In prison, I decided that I had a talent for it and kept
at it.
Google
“A Smuggler’s Tales From Jails.
” I was a hoot.
WHAT INSPIRED YOU TO WRITE YOUR NOVEL?
Shawn asked me if I could blow up a supertanker. I said yes.
HOW DID YOU USE YOUR LIFE EXPERIENCE OR PROFESSIONAL BACKGROUND TO ENRICH YOUR STORY?
In EVERY way possible. See above.
ANYTHING AUTOBIOGRAPHICAL IN YOUR NOVEL?
I suppose. The tech aspects are not easy to do for most folks without the background
I have. But 90% of the
story is Shawn’s.
ARE ANY CHARACTERS BASED ON PEOPLE YOU KNOW?
Almos
t all of them.
WHO IS YOUR FAVORITE OR MOST SYMPATHETIC CHARACTER? AND WHY?
Sonny Wade. He will need another few books, though, for us
to finish his story.
WHO IS YOUR LEAST SYMPATHIC CHARACTER? AND WHY?
Captain
Frank Brooks
of the Sharpe
-Shooter
. He
the perfect foil, letting things happen around him without
taking the heat.
WHAT PART OF WRITING YOUR BOOK DID YOU FIND THE MOST CHALLENGING?
There were many scenes with more than, say, three characters. They become exponentially harder for the
reader t
o get if you’re not careful. It all turned out okay, though.
WHAT DO YOU HOPE THAT READERS WILL TAKE AWAY FROM YOU BOOK?
The oceans are being inundated with rottenness. I see it every time I sail somewhere. And I don’t want to
leave a trash heap to our k
ids.
WHAT WRITERS HAVE INSPIRED YOU?
Ernest Hemingway, Irwin Shaw, Edward Albee, the short novels of John Steinbeck, a million others including
James Lee Burke and Michael Connelly.
WHAT IS THE WRITING PROCESS LIKE FOR YOU?
Wake up, drink a cuppa joe,
walk the dogs, do my boat chores, then sit down for a few hours and see what
comes up.
WHAT IS THE BEST PIECE OF ADVICE ABOUT WRITING THAT YOU’VE EVER RECEIVED?
Cool it with the big words. Do like Hemingway: short, clear sentences for the most part, and leave out most of
the ell
-why adverbs.
WHAT IS THE WORST PIECE OF ADVICE ABOUT WRITING THAT YOU’VE EVER RECEIVED?
Either do porn or romances, or get a real jo
b.
WHAT’S NEXT FOR YOU? ANY NEW BOOKS IN THE PIPELINE?
We’ll come and see you soon, but yes. In fact w
e have one finished (a
YA) and we’ve started another thriller
about a couple sailing the Caribbean getting over
-their
-heads in trouble. The woman is the hero.
ANY FINAL WORDS YOU WOULD LIKE TO SAY ABOUT YOURSELF, YOUR NOVEL, OR LIFE IN GENERAL
?
Yes. Thank you for reading
Goliath
. Maybe it will sell millions. Or at least begin a chain of events that ends
well.
Born a Navy brat in San Diego, Gary Waid has done almost everything there is to do in the water, from fishing to operating tugboats to repairing yachts. He has also been a roofer, a carpenter, a musician, a tractor-trailer driver, a writer for magazines—as well as a guest in the federal prison system. When he reunited with his friend Shawn Corridan, they coauthored their Goliath. Waid lives in Florida on a sailboat with his wife Patty and their two dogs.
Goliath
263.36 (Sept. 5, 2016): p55.
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2016 PWxyz, LLC
http://www.publishersweekly.com/
* Goliath
Shawn Corridan and Gary Waid. Oceanview (Midpoint, dist), $26.95 (336p) ISBN 978-160809-215-4
[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]
The Russian-built Bennkah (Russian for Goliath), the world's largest commercial tanker, is filled with five million barrels of crude and a far more dangerous secret cargo. Early in Corridan and Waid's riveting first novel, the supertanker catches fire in the southern Bering Sea near the Aleutians, and there's nothing anyone can do to stop it. The giant ship runs aground on an island, where the flaming hulk becomes officially salvage, leading to a race to claim her between good-guy Capt. Sonny Wade aboard the beat-up Skeleton, based in Dutch Harbor, and the greedy, unprincipled Dan Sharpe, owner of the ultramodern salvager Sharpe-Shooter in Anchorage. Sonny wins the race to the stricken ship, but soon finds a tsunami of troubles as he battles the still-burning fires, a threatening oil leak, his own rambunctious crew, a secret saboteur, and the unpredictable, vicious weather. Dan's arrival adds to his woes. Fans of nautical adventures will be enthralled--and pleased to know that Corridan and Waid are teeing up another outing for Sonny and his motley crew. (Nov.)
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Goliath." Publishers Weekly, 5 Sept. 2016, p. 55. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA463513535&it=r&asid=6783cf795ee96fc716fb15849702432b. Accessed 9 May 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A463513535
Goliath
(Dec. 2016):
Copyright: COPYRIGHT 2016 Midwest Book Review
http://www.midwestbookreview.com
Goliath
Shawn Corridan & Gary Waid
Oceanview Publishing
595 Bay Isles Road, 120-G, Longboat Key, FL 34228
www.oceanviewpub.com
9781608092154, $26.95, HC, 320pp, www.amazon.com
In the Bering Sea, Bennkah, the largest oil tanker ever built, newly commissioned in Vladivostock, Russia, is on a secret mission. On this maiden voyage, Captain Borodin is at the helm. He is the only one aboard aware of the mission. Soon an engineer discovers a defect -seemingly minor, but one with disastrous potential. Despite his attempts to correct the problem, a fire erupts, contained at first, then rapidly spreads out of control, consuming the behemoth ship. A Mayday call alerts Sonny Wade some two hundred miles from the burning ship. This could be the lifeline that Sonny and his rag-tag crew need to save their failing salvage business. But Dan Sharp, Sonny's nemesis and former employer (the owner of the largest salvage business in northern Alaska) also hears the call. A brutal race is on to claim the burning ship before it sinks or runs aground, contaminating the entire north Pacific Rim--and not only with oil. A deftly written and riveting read from beginning to end, "Goliath" is an exceptionally entertaining thriller that is very highly recommended for community library General Fiction collections. For personal reading lists it should be noted that "Goliath" is also available in a Kindle format ($9.99).
Source Citation (MLA 8th Edition)
"Goliath." Internet Bookwatch, Dec. 2016. General OneFile, go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=ITOF&sw=w&u=schlager&v=2.1&id=GALE%7CA475278045&it=r&asid=1ca34b1e11f8712335ce5654cd175cb7. Accessed 9 May 2017.
Gale Document Number: GALE|A475278045
GITMO
by Gary Waid, Shawn Corridan
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KIRKUS REVIEW
In Waid and Corridan’s debut novel, an ex-convict’s attempt to get back on his feet in his home base of Miami results in an unexpected and illegal expedition to Cuba.
Dixon Sweeney is not having a good week. He returns home from years of incarceration to discover that his house and wife are gone, the latter having left him for his best friend. To add insult to injury, a local gang leader threatens to kill Sweeney unless he repays the $65,000 he claims Sweeney owes him. So when an old Cuban associate of his deceased father approaches Sweeney and offers him a half-million dollars to smuggle his granddaughter out of Cuba, the desperate man reluctantly agrees, setting off a life-changing chain of events. Waid and Corridan have constructed a tightly written, extremely entertaining caper with an engaging, witty protagonist. The story deftly balances comedy and suspense, with Sweeney wryly narrating his increasingly bizarre situation in a self-deprecating voice. As outrageous and funny as the novel’s events can be, however, the authors ground their tale and characters in emotional reality. The desperation that drives Sweeney and Maria, the woman he rescues, maintains verisimilitude, even during the story’s most action-packed moments. The same can be said of the authors’ fully realized depictions of Cuba and Guantanamo Bay, which lend plausibility to the novel’s far-fetched turns, particularly regarding the unfolding love story. The novel also delivers several masterful twists that seem simultaneously shocking and, in retrospect, inevitable. In a few spots (one, unfortunately, is in a final scene), the narrative’s excellence is briefly undermined by juvenile prison-rape humor, but that aside, it’s an appealing, satirical, action-tinged adventure.
An exciting read that should appeal to fans of Carl Hiaasen, espionage thrillers and caper comedies.
Pub Date: Dec. 14th, 2011
Page count: 306pp
Publisher: Amazon Digital Services
Program: Kirkus Indie
Review Posted Online: July 12th, 2012
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 1st, 2012
Goliath by Shawn Corridan & Gary Waid Amazon.com order for Goliath by Shawn Corridan
Order: USA Can
Oceanview, 2016 (2016)
Hardcover, e-Book
* * * Reviewed by Mary Ann Smyth
Hold onto your hats, ladies and gents. You are in for a read of the thriller of the year. I have never held my breath for so long or so often as when I savored Goliath by Shawn Corridan and Gary Wade (who also wrote Gitmo).
It opens in the Bering Sea on the Bennkah, commissioned in Vladivstock, Russia, the largest oil tanker ever built. The behemoth is on its maiden voyage. The suspense begins when an engineer discovers a minor defect which quickly turns serious. A fire erupts which proves impossible for the engineer to contain. It grows out of control quickly.
A mayday goes out to any ship that might be nearby. Captain Sonny Wade is 200 miles from the tanker that is now burning fiercely. He decides to try to beat any other salvage claimant to the huge ship's hulk. Wade desperately needs it to save his business and pay his crew members, whose salaries have been long overdue.
Of course, nothing will go smoothly. His nemesis is another captain, Dan Sharp, who has decided to race Wade to the prize. Life did not treat the two men well at one time and they have become open enemies. The race is breathtaking. Wade needs the salvage to survive. And the oil - that might spill on the pristine coastline and create devastation that would linger and spread for miles of shoreline - must be contained.
There is another worry that lingers in Wade's mind. He doesn't allude to it but it will take your breath completely away when this is brought to light. I recommend Goliath highly. Buy two. One for yourself and another for that someone you know who will also enjoy this winner.
Book Review: Goliath by Shawn Corridan and Gary Waid
Posted on 2016-11-22 by Aislynn
corridanwaid_goliath__website
This book was reviewed for the San Francisco Book Review and Netgalley
With Goliath, Corridan and Waid have woven a gripping novel in the style of M Crichton and the duo of D Preston and L Child. It is a story of man against man, of the deceptions we play against one another, and the wounds we inflict on one another. It is a story of man against that most implacable of adversaries- nature. Impersonal nature, in all its ferocious glory, that heeds not the tiny concerns of man.
Sonny Wade is a man down on his luck. Owner of Skeleton Salvage, Sonny and his crew have just raised a sunken trawler. When it comes time to collect payment, the trawler captain pleads for a deferment til spring. He offers two thousand dollars, all the money he has at the time. Sonny, against his better judgement, allows the trawler captain his deferment, and let’s him keep the money, instead of taking the newly raised boat and selling it for scrap to collect payment.
Sonny’s decision is the final straw for his crew. They abandon him, quitting en masse. Skeleton Salvage ‘s death knell rang loud and clear. Following on the heels of the crew’s desertion, Sonny’s ships and home are repossessed. A lucky last-minute break comes in the form of an SOS from the Russian supertanker Bennkah.
Sonny manages to stave off repossession, and reassembled his crew. Despite the odds, Skeleton Salvage beats their competition to the great ship. What they find is a nightmare. The ship has run aground, and there is the very real prospect of crude oil spilling into the ocean. Even worse, the interior of the massive ship has been ravaged by fire. The dead litter the inside, bodies charred beyond recognition, or were found floating frozen in the sea. The Coast Guard has put out the inferno, though fires do still flare up. It’s up to Sonny and his crew to secure the ship and unground her. However, a deadly storm looms on the horizon, and there’s more to Bennkah than meets the eye.
This was an enjoyable, fast-paced read. It engages the attention from the start and doesn’t let go. The authors did a great job of doling out tidbits of Sonny’s life. I spent most of the book realllyy wanting to know what happened in his past. (You don’t find out til close to the end). My only qualm were the places where we jump perspective several times in a row, sometimes paragraph to paragraph.
🎻🎻🎻🎻 Recommended, especially if you enjoy thrillers by M Crichton, D Preston, and L Child.
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Goliath: A Thriller
We rated this book:
$26.95
With Goliath, Corridan and Waid have woven a gripping novel in the style of Michael Crichton and the duo of Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child. It is a story of man-against-man, of the deceptions we play against one another and the wounds we inflict on one another.
As the owner of Skeleton Salvage, Sonny Wade is a man down on his luck. Sonny’s crew abandons him, quitting en masse. Following on the heels of the crew’s desertion, Sonny’s ships and home are repossessed. A lucky last-minute break comes in the form of an SOS from the Russian supertanker Bennkah.
Sonny manages to stave off repossession and reassembles his crew. Despite the odds, Skeleton Salvage beats their competition to the great ship. What they find is a nightmare. The ship has run aground, and there is the very real prospect of crude oil spilling into the ocean. Even worse, the interior of the massive ship has been ravaged by fire. The dead are found littered throughout the inside, bodies charred beyond recognition, or found floating frozen in the sea. It’s up to Sonny and his crew to secure the ship and unground her. However, a deadly storm looms on the horizon, and there’s more to the Bennkah than meets the eye.
This was an enjoyable, fast-paced read. It engages the attention from the start and doesn’t let go. The authors did a great job of doling out tidbits of Sonny’s life. I spent most of the book really wanting to know what happened in his past. (You don’t find out until close to the end.) My only qualm was with the places where we jump perspective several times in a row, sometimes from paragraph to paragraph.
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Reviewed By: J. Aislynn d'Merricksson