Rip Tide

Falls, Kat. Rip Tide. Book 2 of the Dark Life series. 2011. 320p. ISBN 9780545178433. Available at FIC FAL on the library shelves.

A few months after the events in Dark Life that allowed Gemma to find a new family, she has moved out of Ty’s family home and has returned to live on the surface at the trading station. Ty is disappointed, but Gemma admits she just can’t live in the ocean because she sees ghosts.

During one of his underwater swims off the continental shelf, Ty discovers a large underwater craft. The Nomad belongs to Surfs, and the ship itself has been sunk, and all of the doors have been chained … from the outside. The inhabitants were condemned to a freezing death far below the surface as their heat ran out faster than their oxygen.

At the same time, Ty’s parents are attempting to bypass the Commonwealth by securing a new market for their undersea agricultural goods. They have negotiated a deal with another group of Surfs that will allow farmers and Surfs to exchange goods and services, making each of them less dependent on the Commonwealth.

But when they are kidnapped by the same Surfs they were supposed to deal with, Ty and Gemma must discover where they are. Unfortunately, the first place to go look for clues is Riptide, a station filled with outlaws, criminals, Topsiders, and … the Seablite Gang. In a race against time, Ty and Gemma will need to make desperate choices and decide who they can trust. The lives of two communities depend on the answers they find ...