Quicksand Novels

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Viridian
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Joined: Wed Apr 15, 2009 10:03 am

Quicksand Novels

Postby Viridian » Sat Jul 30, 2022 12:42 am

"The Last Aztec" by Charles L. Hinds
What if Montezumaƒ-s lost treasure really existed?

What if, nestled in a hidden cave in the side of a Mexican mountain, a 400 hundred year old gallant Aztec warrior protects Montezuma's treasure. Frozen in time, he waits for the one descendant to lead his people from their misery.

And what if that clever descendant--Aguila--learns of the treasure and how to get it. He restores the Aztec sacrificial religion and cons his people into believing and accepting it. But his altruistic goals weakens. Only greed remains. Two gold statues are keys to the hiding place of the treasure. He steals one from a seaside fishing village protected by an American, Adam Foster.

Adam Foster is no greenhorn when it comes to protecting his adopted people. He knows how to fight. And won't give up until he prevails. He finds help from the strangest people and places and follows Aguila toward the hidden cave. Tortuous jungles, captivity, fights to the death, deadly rivers, knife duels, deserts, beheadings, and overcoming obstacles on the way that would stop the average man, are the main element of this story that leads Adam to his final rendezvous with Aguila . . . and THE LAST AZTEC.


There is one quicksand scene in the novel. Protagonist Adam, his femme fatale ally Lorena and their local guide Humberto are navigating through the jungle. Lorena and Humberto go out ahead and scream for help. Adam finds them sinking in quicksand.

The entire scene, except for the final rescue, is available as a free preview (Chapter 21):
https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/The_Last_Aztec/-0Rn_j5ED4AC?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=the+last+aztec+charles+hinds&printsec=frontcover

The "sinkiness" rating for me is 4/5. it is a very good sinking sequence with a respectable length and scope for what is a small plot point. The setup is subtle and well written with a good distraction to surprise us with the quicksand. We get the hot female character describing herself sinking from her waist to her breasts, and a snappy dialogue exchange between the characters as Adam enjoys watching them sink - knowing that they won't go under as long as they know how to float.

Unfortunately the free preview misses the final bit where he rescues them. Otherwise, the novel looks like a promising Tomb Raider / Uncharted -style novel.
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Viridian
Posts: 1587
Joined: Wed Apr 15, 2009 10:03 am

Re: Quicksand Novels

Postby Viridian » Sat Jul 30, 2022 12:42 am

"The Chosen" by Theresa Meyers.
The Chosen: a prophecy older than dirt and more dangerous than death. Even as they perfected steam-powered gadgetry and rounded up varmints from Hell, the Jackson brothers didn't believe in it. But when the chips are down, three brothers named for weapons aren't going out without a fight. . .

A Walk On The Wild Side

Attorney by day, demon-hunter by night, Remington Jackson is used to being on the sunny side of the law, even in the Wild West. But it's showdown time, and Remy and his brothers are getting desperate. They don't have the relic they need to slam the door shut on evil--so Remy is going to have to find and steal part of it.

Enter China McGee, shapeshifter, thief, beauty, and current prisoner. When Remy offers her freedom in exchange for a little light-fingered help, she's pretty sure she's going to end the association with a good old-fashioned seductive double cross. But there's something about fighting through a jungle full of Mayan ruins that makes you want to settle down together. China could change. Remy might be special. But none of that matters if the devil takes them all. . .


There is one quicksand scene in the novel. China and Remington are navigating through the jungle with a mechanical walker. China stops the walker in a sandy clearing and gets out, and realises that she's sinking in quicksand! Remington rescues her, but they lose the walker.

The entire sequence is actually a free preview: Chapter 14 - https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/The_Chosen/vU1OXU4CRq0C?hl=en&gbpv=1

"Sinkiness" is 3.5/5. The setup is classic QS jungle fantasy - hot female lead, hot guy, jungle streams hinting at the peril in the clearing ahead. The progression and pace is what we'd expect from a QS short story with good dialogue, reactions and references to depth. It's the sort of scene that is well visualised, but leaves the QS fetishist in us thirsting for more.
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Viridian
Posts: 1587
Joined: Wed Apr 15, 2009 10:03 am

Re: Quicksand Novels

Postby Viridian » Sat Jul 30, 2022 12:43 am

"Once Buried" is a novel written by Blake Pierce, Book 11 of her "Riley Paige" series focusing on a female FBI investigator uncovering serial killers. The blurb reads:

A serial killer is killing victims with rapid speed, and in each crime scene, he leaves an unusual signature: an hourglass.

Its sand is designed to fall for 24 hours—and when its empty, a new victim appears.

Amidst intense media pressure, and in a frantic race against time, FBI Special Agent Riley Paige is summoned, with her new partner, to crack the case. Still reeling from the fallout with Shane, trying to sort out her family life, and to help Bill get back on his feet, Riley’s plate is already full. And as she enters the darkest canals of this twisted killer’s mind, this just may be the case that sets her over the edge.


I have bought and read through (some) of the novel - the bits that might pique our curiosity. The antagonist of this story is a serial killer whose modus operandi is based on burying his victims alive in sand. As the story progresses, the killer adapts his methods to include trapping his victims in quicksand, then burying them with regular sand.

There are three quicksand scenes:

The first is his initial test of his quicksand pit on a young woman. He kidnaps her, then pushes her into the pit where she sinks.

The second is the climax of the story. One of the secondary characters, a female FBI agent, finds the killer's next victim already up to her waist in a quicksand pit. The FBI agents steps in without realising the trap and faces the killer.

Later, the main character Riley finds the women in the pit and attempts to stop the killer, which results in them grappling and falling into another quicksand pit.

The "sinkiness" of the scene, as far as our specific QS fetish goes, is a 4/5. It isn't written from the POV of a QS fetishist. However, some big points are scored in how the author describes the quicksand experience both from the killer's twisted mind and from the terror of the victims. The scenes are relatively short and fast-paced rather than slow and sinky, but they do take up several chapters. The intense style goes well with the scenes, though the focus is more on moving the plot forward instead of describing the sinking itself.

Overall, this was a surprisingly pleasing novel for a QS reader, probably one of the more detailed QS inclusions given the specific subject matter.

Digital copies of the novel can be bought on Amazon and Google.
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Viridian
Posts: 1587
Joined: Wed Apr 15, 2009 10:03 am

Re: Quicksand Novels

Postby Viridian » Sat Jul 30, 2022 12:44 am

"PBR: Sea Daddy - The Crash of Flight 4216" by Steve Mungie.

SEA DADDY . . . is a name which many sailors used (very derogatory) in reference to their first line supervisors
The one thing that all service members looked forward to, was the "Freedom Bird", the flighton which they would leave Vietnam and
return home! What if . . . what if, the "Freedom Bird" never made it home? What if somehow, for some unknown reason, it crashed? How
would the survivors make it home?


The premise of the novel is a squad of returning soldiers flying back from their tour in the Vietnam War. Their flight crashes just off the coast of China. The survivors have to navigate through the jungle to find a way to escape.

There is one quicksand scene, in the chapter aptly named "quicksand".

The scene involves the group having to cross a dry stream bed. The protagonist guesses that it might be quicksand and tries to avoid it. However, they have no choice but to cross it. They rig up a rope swing and get the survivors across. The final survivor, the hot actress, panics and falls in, forcing the men to dive in to rescue her.

The "sinkiness" rating is 2/5. The scene is set up fairly well with good descriptions and teases of the quicksand hazard. The telling of the sinking sequence is fairly flat. The female character falls in, struggles, then gets pulled out in a couple of paragraphs. The scene itself is forgettable and serves to heighten the tensions in the group, cementing her as the unlikable spoiled model.

The rest of the story is actually fairly good. The plane-crash survival scenario that involves a veteran soldier with a group of scantily-clad women with plenty of sex scenes and some good action sequences.
Last edited by Viridian on Sat Jul 30, 2022 12:50 am, edited 1 time in total.
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Viridian
Posts: 1587
Joined: Wed Apr 15, 2009 10:03 am

Re: Quicksand Novels

Postby Viridian » Sat Jul 30, 2022 12:50 am

Rogue Angel: Treasure of Lima by Alex Archer
For archaeologist and TV show host Annja Creed, a restful vacation in Costa Rica is as elusive as a rare artifact. Days into her sojourn, Annja's peace is interrupted by a woman with a mysterious?and enticing?tale. Weeks earlier, her husband led an expedition into the rain forest, in search of the lost treasure of Lima, and hadn't returned. The priceless hoard was smuggled out of Peru during the country's nineteenth-century revolt against Spain. But it disappeared when a ship captain went mad with greed.


There is one quicksand scene.

The expedition is lured into investigation several items that are planted to lure them into quicksand. One of the male members falls into the trap and sinks to his chest. The group attempts to pull him out with ropes but fails. Annja volunteers to crawl over the quicksand and free him. They manage to escape and clean up.

Sinkiness Rating: 3.5/5

The scene is a classic and well-narrated jungle peril. The description of the quicksand is detailed and rationale, as understood by the Tomb Raider-esque protagonist. Length is reasonably good and the suspense is just right for this part of the plot. The only thing lack for the QS reader is that it is a Male scene. The Female protagonist partially gets into the quicksand but most of us probably really want to see her get stuck.
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Viridian
Posts: 1587
Joined: Wed Apr 15, 2009 10:03 am

Re: Quicksand Novels

Postby Viridian » Sat Jul 30, 2022 12:57 am

Cato's Return by Matilde Asensi
What could the Silk Road, the Sewers of Istambul, Marco Polo, Mongolia and Holy Land have in common? That's what the main characters of "The Last Cato", Ottavia Salina and Farag Boswell, will have to find out, putting their lives at risk yet again to solve a mystery that begins in the first century AD.


There is one MASSIVE quicksand scene.

The expedition have to undergo a series of trials. After conquering one, they find a cave with a spring, which they desperately head over to. The entire floor of the cave breaks apart to reveal quicksand. They freeze and immediately slow their descent. They use this time to drop their equipment and puzzle over the clues to the challenge. They realise the key is to lay on top of the quicksand and swim their way out. However, the cave is so wide and dangerous that they literally have to sleep on top of the quicksand's surface to rest, and spend nearly two days crossing the quicksand. They later return to it and risk entering the quicksand again to get water.

Sinkiness: 5/5
This is one of the best quicksand scenes written in modern novels. It is the epitome of the quicksand peril as a climax. The pacing is very good and the scene is VERY long. The author does not rush the sinking sequence and prolongs it for suspense. This allows her to go into the thought process behind overcoming the trap as they are slowly sinking into it.
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Viridian
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Re: Quicksand Novels

Postby Viridian » Sat Jul 30, 2022 1:02 am

The Breath of Spanish Oaks - Sue Clifton
Cayce McCallister and sister Harri Wellington, fifty-year-old "magnets for trouble," live by the philosophy of their father, giver of their gift of seeing into the past. Through a bloodstained cookbook in Natchez, Mississippi, restless spirits channel Cayce and Harri, beckoning them to follow the path leading to Spanish Oaks Inn in south Mississippi.

Here the sisters come face to face with spirits of slaves related to the current owner and his distant cousin, the resident fortuneteller. Joshua Devaux, present owner of Spanish Oaks, is smitten with one of the sisters and becomes ghost-hunter-in-training as he joins Cayce and Harri in solving the mysteries haunting the plantation since the 1840s.

But can they unravel the disappearances, murder, and thefts in time to save Joshua's daughter from a terrifying death in the swamp at the hands of a modern-day monster?


There are multiple references to quicksand as the setting is around a Mississippi swamp. There is one climactic quicksand scene involving three females.

The villain of the story forces the other two women to retrieve a bag with an expensive necklace that was throw over a branch hanging over quicksand. The women have to work together to roll a log over the quicksand, then wade into it, becoming stuck while the villain holds them at gunpoint. The villain is herself knocked into the quicksand and they are all pulled out by their rescuer.

Sinkiness: 4/5
The all-female cast is a bonus. The big points come from the long scene and the set-up involving forcing the characters to retrieve the relic from the quicksand. There is a lot of suspense around what will happen to them when they become trapped.
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Viridian
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Joined: Wed Apr 15, 2009 10:03 am

Re: Quicksand Novels

Postby Viridian » Sat Jul 30, 2022 1:31 am

Whispered Kisses by Janelle Taylor
Texas heiress Laura Leigh Webster thought she was prepared for the perils she might face on her first African safari. But the beautiful blonde never dreamed her biggest worry would be a beast of the two-legged variety--Jace Elliott, her handsome, sensual guide. Every instinct warned her that Jace was a dangerous man she dared not trust. . .or love. But now that fate had placed her in his strong hands, Leigh was stunned to realize there was nowhere else she'd rather be!


There is one quicksand scene.

The protagonist Leigh leaves the safari camp to bathe. She finds herself lost, alone and far away from everyone else. She stumbles into quicksand, goes through a brief personal crisis, and manages to free herself using a vine. The quicksand incident is a plot point for the rest of the story, as it is one of numerous attempts on Leigh's life.

Sinkiness: 3.5/5
Classic jungle safari explorer quicksand sequence. This one works well because it lends very well to our imagination. However, it is a fairly brief scene without much detail.

The entire sequence is available as a free preview:
https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/Whispered_Kisses/45FxTkN4EagC?hl=en&gbpv=1
Viridian @ deviantART: http://viridianqs.deviantart.com/

Viridian
Posts: 1587
Joined: Wed Apr 15, 2009 10:03 am

Re: Quicksand Novels

Postby Viridian » Sat Jul 30, 2022 1:50 am

Leap Through Time by Harold Leonard
Imagine if you were given the chance to step into a machine and journey through the barriers of time toward any moment in the past. Where would you go? What would you want to find out? After a lifetime of apprenticing under a professor and father figure whose theories made building such a device possible, Ben Stone was suddenly presented with the opportunity. His choice was one that many would make - to travel back to the crucifixion of Jesus and finding himself sealed in the tomb. What he experiences is not at all what he expected. This is just the beginning of his adventures! Join Ben as he leaps through time to discover some of life's biggest mysteries.

There is one very brief quicksand scene.

Amelia, the pilot, is alone in the plane wreckage stranded on the beach when it suddenly sinks into quicksand. She panics and the rest of the team tell her not to jump in. They place a tree across to her, which she uses to climb out while she sinks to her shoulders.

Sinkiness: 2/5
The scenario is a great one, and the suspense is good, but it's a blink-and-you-miss it scene with minimal description and is over in a page.

The preview contains the scene:
https://www.google.com.au/books/edition/Leap_Through_Time/2IsqDAAAQBAJ?hl=en&gbpv=0
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quagmire_uk
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Re: Quicksand Novels

Postby quagmire_uk » Sat Jul 30, 2022 10:47 am

Wow, marvellous work!


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