Book Review

Flush
By: Carl Haaisen

Reviewed by: Brianne N.

Rating:(4 1/2 out of 5)

Noah Underwood has had a somewhat normal life. But his dad has gone to jail multiple times! Now he's back in the clink and it's Noah's job to help him get out. He's caught up in a scheme of the gambling boat The Coral Queen. This books a thrilling tale of long lost relatives, fishing, and some icky poop.

I thought that this book did a really good job making a characters thoughts and personalities known. It brought the characters to life! There were also lots of cool plot twists and shocking details to keep me interested. I was riveted to the story.

I would recommend this book to a lot of different people. Because the plot is one I think is suitable for realistic fiction, thriller, and mystery! I'd say that an appropriate age range of readers would be anyone above 7, because there are some things in this book that might encourage someone to do bad things.

The Coral Queen

I'm seriously getting sick of this. First that jerk unplugged my pumps and made me sink, all the way to the bottom of the bowl! Do you know how long it's going to take me to get the mud stains out of my hull? Well then there was this thing where they pumped air into me to get me to float back to the surface. I had gas for hours after that.

Luckily they replaced my innards, all the old stuff was all wet and soggy. Then the boy of the jerk flushed all this gross purple stuff into my sewage tank. My arteries grown just thinking about it. All the commotion of the running and thumping made me sea sick. After all I'm not a swimming kind of boat. I just like to float around in my harbor. Then the people shut me down again, I mean seriously! Make me shut down, open me up again, then shut me down. Make up your mind already people!

Finally I think it's all over, and I'm going to stay open after all. Then the bosses son starts idiotic like the rest of them. He tries to be all macho thinking that no one's watching but I see everything that happens in my lobby and storage holds. And the dufuss lites my gas tank of fire! With his big boy cigar... Next thing I know there's fire all around me and I pass out from lack of oxygen. When I wake up I'm burned all the way down to my waterline. That's going to leave a scar.

Bull

Jasper was being really daring when he didn't say sory. I knew it was a mistake from the beginning. That pirate guy from the woods was just plain scary, with that guy around I'm never gonna pound Noah again, plus that weird guy from the bike, and his killer sister! I still have the bite marks on my ears from when she bit me! She's like half shark, she spends enough time near water to be. But that pirate guy, he's the worst I don't know when I'm safe with him creeping around.

So I went said sory, but then when I'm hanging out with Jasper, Jasper picks a fight again. Then Noah comes out the the SAME medallion that the pirate guy was wearing! I hope Noah told the pirate guy I said sory... And I'm not sure whether or not hanging out with Jasper is such a good idea. I'm starting to get the idea that he thinks he's better then me and that he'd ditch me without another blink, I told him not to start nothin' and he ignorede me.

Man, I'm supposed to be a basketball star! That's why I dropped out of school, and now I'm bagging at the supermarket. I know that all the kids at school are laughing at me behind my back.

Shelly

I was the fiance of a boat captain, then I ran off with his first mate. But Dusty's a jerk and so is his son, besides no matter how stupid and smelly Lice is I love him. And Dusty killed Lice, so now I'm gonna kill him. No matter what I'm gonna get him for getting my man. Fool was dumb enough to invite me back onto his floating turd.

So this idea the kid worked up might work, all the dye is in the poop, everything is the way it should be. The people didn't even notice the kid running through the room they were so busy losing their money. Still I had to go to the bathroom like SEVEN times, that's a long way for a gal like me to walk.

Aww shoot! Billy Babcock gave me a ten dollar tip. But how am I gonna get him to stay away from the Coast Guard for a day?

The Lovely Bartender,
Shelly

Abbey Underwood

Well, I had the tape that had Dusty on it. But apparently it's not good enough to send to the Coast Guard. Even though they said that they saw the tube I could tell that they really didn't they were just lying to make me feel better, and in the end it just made me feel worse. I could see the tube being put in the water and pumping the poo in, the picture was a little small and blurry but the FBI and the CIA have lots of equipment to fix that kind of thing. I'm sure if I sent it Dusty would get busted, I just know it! But if none of my family members see it, and no one will back me up, the Coast Guard won't listen to a little girl. So I just erased it, and so erased even the possibility of using it to bust Dusty.

Now Noah's got his new idea, we won't have any grown up help. So I hope we didn't inherit Dad's habit of getting caught, but do inherit his talent of making things that are wrong in the world write through acts of questionable legality.

Noah Underwood

That goodness my dad's home! But my mom's not going to be happy that he arrived still in his orange jumpsuit. Still we can't be sure if my dad's time in jail was worth it. Our one hope of having Lice help us is gone, and maybe he is too. And it's all because he tried to help our cause. I wonder what could happen to us, considering we're the one's that started it all. But we might be safe behind the wall of the media. People would get suspicious if we just disappeared, and the last thing Dusty wants is suspicion.

Then again Dusty isn't the only person I have to worry about. Mom's said the D-word TWICE! Once was to Mr Shine, that's O.K., but then she did it AGAIN, this time to Grandma Janet. Dad doesn't know how much trouble he's in. He thought he had it bad in jail, but at home he's got to deal with mom.

At first I was happy to just sit back and have my dad to the work. I helped my dad for his sake, talking to Lice and trying to catch Muleman in the act. But now I'm determined, Dusty's hurting Thunder Beach, and Jasper made it personal. I'm going to take both of them down. But how am I going to tell my mom?

Paine Underwood

Dear Journal,

Being in jail isn't so bad, though this isn't really a jail. It's more of a holding cell. But it's still hard to be away from Noah and everyone at home. I hope they're doing good. Noah didn't tell me if anything was going wrong, but I sense that he's holding back.

I know Donna wants to bail me out, but I need to be here and stand up for what I believe in. Dusty is dumping the sewage into the water. Even thought he's already gotten himself back on his feet and open for business again, I'm glad that I caused him some grief. That boat wasn't easy to sink after all, and I enjoyed watching it go down.

But the turtles needed me to stand up for them, and so did the kids. It's not just gross it's dangerous for everyone. The Coast Guard never had to close Thunder beach before The Coral Queen got there. Somehow I'm going to stop Dusty, I just hope Lice will help. After all he's got a reputation for drinking and smoking. I hope that he'll see that doing the right thing is worth it for once, or the skiff is enough to pay him. After all it's all I have to offer.

A Political Prisoner,
Paine Underwood