Undertow is another great work from Sydney Bauer. What commences as a simple teenage part quickly changes the lives of many people after one of the girls drowns while the other three are rescued. Then we see racial bigotry, conspiracies, attempted murder, black mail of several types and a surprise ending.

I listened to the audio CD version and while my wife was not impressed with Bill Ten Eyck character voices I thought he painted a wonderful picture of all characters in this book, especially assistant district attorney Katz, with his voice.

Undertow is Sydney Bauer’s debut thriller and is an equal to Matter of Trust. I hope Move to Strike is as good. If Ms Bauer can continue producing works such as Undertow and Matter of Trust, she will become, at the very least, my favourite Australian author.
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for a first book by an Australian author - I thought it was a typical American book, filled with American law terms and American ways of life that I feel I have read before - black versus white, American congressman and his rich wife lose their daughter to an freak boating accident , by her black friends mother and the court proceedings that follow - very boring and predictable - not that impressed .

Incredibly written, it is hard to believe that this is Sydney Bauer's first novel. This book had me from page 1. Ms. Bauer's ability to seamlessly blend the harsh realities of the modern world (corrupt politicians) with an ordinary life turned upside down (accidents do happen) is extraordinary. Her character and plot development were superb. This is a fast read that is guaranteed to make you think. ( )

I was pleasantly surprised by this, since I had never heard of the author before. Bauer has given us a story of hatred and bigotry gone seriously awry, but with a twist. It’s not often you hear a story of a black person being accused of a hate crime, especially a well-respected female lawyer who’s also a single mom. Overall, the story moves well and is mostly believable, but the climax of the trial was way way over the top. The theatrics employed would never be allowed in a real courtroom, and the judge grew very liberal about what was and wasn’t relevant, seemingly to satisfy his own curiosity. On the plus side, I didn’t expect the final twist, yet it fit perfectly into the story. I was able to pick up that the author is not American (she’s Australian); a few phrases that aren’t used here, like 'in hospital', snuck through.

I do have one teensy complaint about the audio production. It is absolutely rife with stereotypically bad Boston accents. Only select characters had the accent, regardless of if they’ve lived in Boston their whole life or not. Could’ve been toned down a bit. ( )

A tragic boating accident results in a mother charged with murder. A gripping story filled with corruption. ( )