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Something in the Water Paperback – January 1, 2000
Purchase options and add-ons
- Print length302 pages
- LanguageEnglish
- PublisherDown East Books
- Publication dateJanuary 1, 2000
- Dimensions6.2 x 0.64 x 9.08 inches
- ISBN-100892725176
- ISBN-13978-0892725175
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Editorial Reviews
Review
Peter Scott is a marvelous storyteller. . . . This is a cause for celebration. -- Christopher Buckley, author of THANK YOU FOR SMOKING and LITTLE GREEN MEN
Scott's characters come to life with the full scope of emotion, rich in old Maine colloquialism. -- Linda Greenlaw, author of THE HUNGRY OCEAN: A SWORDBOAT CAPTAIN'S JOURNEY
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About the Author
Product details
- Publisher : Down East Books; First Edition (January 1, 2000)
- Language : English
- Paperback : 302 pages
- ISBN-10 : 0892725176
- ISBN-13 : 978-0892725175
- Item Weight : 14.9 ounces
- Dimensions : 6.2 x 0.64 x 9.08 inches
- Best Sellers Rank: #3,884,719 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #44,824 in Contemporary Literature & Fiction
- #183,355 in Historical Fiction (Books)
- Customer Reviews:
About the author

Peter Scott is the author of one history and three novels (a fourth recently completed), including the 2007 published Barter Island (Down East Books), which has been praised by legendary fiction writer Tim OʼBrien as "tender, funny, sad and scary, and boy oh boy does Scott nail the setting". The Boy who Came Walking Home and Something in the Water, which the Boston Globe called "A thoroughly engaging novel", are prequels to Barter Island, and all of them deal with themes of war and peace. A veteran of the Vietnam War as a U.S. Army Officer, Peter was raised in Maryland. He earned his M.A. in 1973, and has published 15 short stories and numerous magazine articles. An English teacher at Hawken School, Peter lives in Chagrin Falls, Ohio.
Customer reviews
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- Reviewed in the United States on June 16, 2023Not going to lie, I almost stopped reading half way through. First off, the discussion of boat details was way over my head. And I was having some trouble keeping track of the various characters. Not the author's fault though. it was mine. I'd read right before bed time and my brain would get fogged so I couldn't remember the next night where I left off.
However, when I tried to focus on the book, about half-way through I found it to be spectacular. Not sure why but one of the ending scenes, the clambake on the island made me tear up. I'm from an island in Maine and it made me think of days gone by, of a simpler time. I know every generation says that. Of course we always remember the past with rose-colored glasses. Still. A great scene and one I'm very happy to have participated in by reading it.
The ending ticks me off too. Not at the author, but because of the waste of humanity in fighting wars. How many lives have been ruined fighting another man's battles? It's a sickness among humanity. There is no good war. None. And those that advocate it, can go pound sand.
- Reviewed in the United States on May 13, 2002...enjoy the story.
Peter Scott's "Something In The Water" often is characterized by genres ranging from WWII war novels to submarine warfare. Amazon's subject search includes: World War, 1939-1945; German naval operations; and submarines. Even the book's jacket focuses on hidden German U-2 boats and the Nazi threat. Such descriptions easily scare away most readers ~ and that's a shame.
The book offers much more than this first impression. It is a story about people, relationships and the inner-workings of small, coastal-Maine fishing town, forced to deal with the start of WWII and its encroachment into their way of life. The war is not the subject matter. Instead, characters, families and the fishing village itself are the central elements of the story. I thought more of "Our Town" than "Das Boot," and that is why you will enjoy the book.
Enjoy getting to know the characters and the community. Enjoy their relationships and other social customs prevalent at the time. Enjoy the nostalgia and the memories. Into that context, add the suspense of the subject matter: a stranger in a small town and German submarines off Maine's coastal shores. The ending may disappoint you. It is a bit stretched for my taste. However, the story telling is worth your time.