Forget whatever you think you know. History has been rewritten.

In a future world where rising ocean levels swallow coastal cities and people scramble for resources on an overpopulated earth, the survival of the human race depends on biogenetic research to develop aquatic capabilities. The year is 2098, and it has never been more dangerous for the elusive Sirens to be discovered.

Until now, the Sirens have remained eclipsed from the eyes of the human world, inhabiting an obscure, undiscovered island in the Indian Ocean. In a burgeoning discontent among the restless youth, the Sirens, led by a headstrong Mello Seaford, decide to test the waters of open society by striking a deal with the U.S. megacorporation, DiviniGen Inc. And they risk everything to do it.

Has Mello led his people astray, jeopardizing their cherished island by guiding them into the hands of human greed? Will the risk prove worth it, or will the Sirens be forced to face the darkness of eternal isolation?

One person may hold the key to success. From across the ocean, budding scientist Lorelei Phoenix embarks on a dangerous journey into a hidden world, one in which she finds herself connected by more than just the ancestry of her people. Is she alone capable of bridging a centuries long gap between species?

When two worlds collide, the rising tide of love and acceptance will lift all boats… or sink a ship of titanic proportion. 

Trigger Warning: Scenes of violence and mentions of torture.

Rising Tide is a book with a very interesting premise. In a future that feels a little too real, mankind has caused destruction on a pandemic scale. Polar ice has melted, seas have risen, and the human race is somehow surviving. The megacorporation DiviniGen Inc. provides everything now, from food to clothing to drugs, and no one questions just how some of those items have come to be.

Dearest reader, in the course of reading a book have you ever felt the urge to reach through the pages and slap a character upside the head?

That feeling is something I experienced several times while reading T.L. Zalecki’s first book Rising Tide. On more than one occasion I had to suppress the urge to throw the book across the room because of something one of the main characters did, or rather did NOT do.

Every character in the book is motive driven; most times this is a good thing as a person generally needs a reason to drive their actions. It is when the motives become selfish that issues arise. And this occurs for almost every character. They throw caution to the wind and damn the circumstances.

Also, going from the blurb one would think that the Sirens are the main characters of the story. This is sadly not true, they are secondary characters at best. The only main character that happens to be a Siren is Mello, the rest of his kind are mostly mentioned in flashbacks. The real main characters are the humans like Lorelei.

It is difficult to write a review for a book when you were expecting one thing and were given another but I have tried. The idea behind Rising Tide is a good one and I think if the characters were more likable then I would be able to give it a more favorable review. As it is, I cannot and I advise my readers to skip this one.