Nautical Fiction Index

Knox, William (Bill) (1928-1999)

Books below may be shelved under his name or any of three noms de plume (Michael Kirk, Robert MacLeod and Noah Webster). Laird mysteries more likely under Michael Kirk and the Carrick books under Knox's own name

Andrew Laird marine insurance investigator mysteries:

1. All Other Perils. Doubleday, 1975 160 pages.

2. Dragonship. Doubleday, 1976. 174 pages

   When the freighter VELELLA survives a fire off the coast of Denmark Andrew Laird is sent to handle the insurance payoff, but a routine assignment turns sinister when a charred body is found in the hold, along with two firebombs and the burned remains of a replica Viking ship. A terrorist group, the New World Revolution, claims responsibility for the fire, but Laird finds out otherwise, with the help of a charming Danish policewoman.

3. Salvage Job. Doubleday, 1979. 184 pages

4. Cargo Risk. Doubleday, 1980. 177 pages

5. Mayday From Malaga. Doubleday, 1983. 179 pages

   Trouble is getting to be a bad habit with Andrew Laird, even in paradise. His latest case finds the marine insurance inspector in sunny Spain on what he had assumed would be a totally routine investigation. There is never anything routine about danger-especially when it involves a half-submerged freighter, a ruthless shipping tycoon, a mysterious cargo.and more than one corpse.

6. A Cut in Diamonds. Doubleday, 1986. 176 pages

7. Witchline. Doubleday, 1988. 178 pages

Scottish Fisheries Protection Officer Webb Carrick mysteries:

1. Blacklight. Doubleday, 1967. 188 pages

2. Figurehead (U.K. title: "The Klondyker"). Doubleday, 1968. 189 pages

3. Blueback. Doubleday, 1969. 186 pages

4. Seafire. Doubleday, 1970. 184 pages

5. Stormtide. Doubleday, 1973. 157 pages

6. Whitewater. Doubleday, 1974. 179 pages

   The traditional wedding flag is flying as the cruiser MARLIN enters Port MacFarlane on the west coast of Mull. But Port MacFarlane, a small and prosperous lobster fishing base, is no peaceful haven and the wedding flag becomes a signal which marks the start of murder and violence. Chief Officer Carrick discovers a maze of blackmail and threats in which death is the payment waiting those who seek too many answers.

7. Hellspout. Doubleday, 1976. 176 pages

8. Witchrock. Doubleday, 1977. 185 pages

9. Bombship. Doubleday, 1980. 182 pages

   When a sunken WW II ammunition ship starts disintegrating and releasing its deadly cargo near a fishing village on the west coast of the Isle of Lewis, the fisheries protection cruiser MARLIN is sent to the scene to help deal with the problem -- and so 1st officer Carrick and Captain Shannon can secretly investigate reports of modern-day piracy.

10. Bloodtide. Doubleday, 1982. 186 pages

    MARLIN is sent to Port Ard to investigate a warning sent by an old drunk who then turns up dead, apparently by accident. Investigating the death, Shannon is injured, leaving Carrick in charge of MARLIN, and a web of murder involving a Soviet fish factory ship that may be spying on the British.

11. Wavecrest. Doubleday, 1985. 181 pages

    Given command of the patrol launch TERN, off the Western Isles, Carrick encounters an oil slick, and the bodies of a couple that owned a lighthouse on one of the islands. As he investigates, the boat repair yard at Dumbrach burns to the ground, and yet another body is found in it. Carrick sets out to discover whether the bodies are related to an oil magnate in the area or a long buried monastic treasure.

12. Dead Man's Mooring. Doubleday, 1988. 180 pages

    Carrick, and TERN are sent to quell trouble at a fishing village on Skye where a Canadian developer who is establishing a fish farm has turned the natives against him because of the roughshod methods of his employees. Then a dead man turns up on a warning buoy in the area, and divers discover a dynamited yatch just offshore.

The Grey Sentinels. Doubleday, 1962. 185 pages

SANCTUARY ISLE in UK. Glaswegian police detectives Colin Thane and Phil Moss investigate the murder of the caretaker of an island bird sanctuary off the West Highland Coast.

Kobryn, A. P.

Poseidon's Shadow. Rawson, Wade, 1979. 243 pages

Renegade US ballistic missile sub ADRESTEIA goes up against the Pentagon, the Soviets and an American killersub. Skipper intends to expose nasty military scandal, but must stay alive in the meantime.

Köepf, Michael

The Fisherman's Son. Broadway Books, 1998. 293 pages

As Neil Kruger clings to a liferaft during a fierce storm recalls his life of commercial fishing off the northern California coast.

Koller, Jackie French

The Last Voyage of the Misty Day. Atheneum, 1992. 154 pages

Having reluctantly moved to Maine after her father's death in Manhattan, fourteen-year-old Denise forges a healing friendship with a boat owner surrounded by considerable mystery. For young readers.

Korel, Charles

Full Alert. Kensington, 1989. 286 pages

The Command One, America's most sophisticated submarine, is pursued by twin Soviet attack subs while en route to the Persian Gulf and Captain Donald Smith is faced with a choice between the safety of his country and the lives of his crew.

Krauss, Bruno [pseud. Kenneth Bulmer]

Seawolf series:

1. Steel Shark. Kensington, 1978. 175 pages

   Story of U-boat commander Baldur Wolz in action in the North and South Atlantic during 1940, commanding a new supersub.

2. Shark North. Kensington, 1978. 171 pages

   Story of U-Boat U45 in action in the North Sea and Norway during the winter of 1940. Wolz is on a misson to land a spy in a Norwegian fjord, and winds up in command of another submarine.

3. Shark Pack. Kensington, 1978. 156 pages

4. Shark Hunt. Kensington, 1980. 160 pages

5. Shark Africa. Kensington, 1980. 156 pages

6. Shark Raid. Kensington, 1982. 159 pages

7. Shark America. Kensington, 1982. 120 pages

8. Shark Trap. Kensington, 1982. 124 pages

Krutein, Manfred G. (1917-2002)

Hitler's Last Gasp : the Miracle Weapon. Amador, 1995. 193 pages

Encounter between an American OSS officer, a German U-Boat commander and a Nazi SS officer, who wants to become Hitler's successor. They fight for control of a super weapon, directed at the U.S. East Coast. .

Kubeck, James.

The Calendar Epic: A Novel of the Merchant Marine. Putnam's, 1956. 318 pages

Set during World War 2 on the West Coast and in the South Pacific and New Guinea. An account of the C-2 freighter CALENDAR EPIC's first -- and last -- voyage.

Kyne, Peter B. (1880-1957)

Cappy Ricks, or the Subjugation of Matt Peasley. Grossett & Dunlap, 1915. 349 pages

Cappy Ricks is a crusty yet soft-hearted Scots sea captain, a real go-getter, who owns the Dollar Steamship Lines.

Captain Scraggs: or, The Green Pea Pirates . Grossett & Dunlap, 1919. 308 pages

This sea yarn recounts the adventures of three rapscallion sea-faring men,—Captain Scraggs, owner of the green vegetable freighter Maggie, Gibney the mate and McGuffey, the engineer. Set in San Francisco

Cappy Ricks Retires, but that doesn't keep him from coming back stronger than ever. Cosmopolitan, 1922. 442 pages

Cappy Ricks Comes Back. Kinsey, 1934. 335 pages

The Cappy Ricks Special. Kinsey, 1935. 276 pages

A short story collection.

Kytle, Ray

Last Voyage. Dell, 1979. 219 pages

Two couples, off the Mexican coast in a sailing yacht, are suddenly attacked by modern-day pirates, who board for a day of rape, torture and murder. Sad to say, this kind of stuff happens in the Caribbean on a regular basis. U.K. title: Sea Stalk.

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