"The Physalia Incident"

(Reviewed Judi Clark MAR 23, 1998)

The Physalia Incident takes place in Bermuda and does for jellyfish what Jaws did for sharks! Only this is a worse fear for me since I always see jellyfish when I'm swimming in tropical waters, although rarely man-of-war.

Anyhow, our protagonist, Alex Black, is the science editor for a Philadelphia newspaper.  He's asked to look into a story about a wealthy American who's been killed in Bermuda by a sting of a Portuguese man-of-war.  Black interviews the wife who doesn't believe that her husband was naive enough to swim into jellyfish and suspects murder.

All I can say is this is really worthwhile mystery read (especially if like them taking place in or near the ocean); if you see a copy, pick it up! I am sorry to find that it is no longer in print and that it is his only fiction.

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Bibliography: (with links to Amazon.com)

• The Physalia Incident (1988)

Non-fiction:

• Magazine Writing: the inside angle (1979)

 

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Book Marks:

• Official web site for Art Spikol

 

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About the Author:

Art Spikol is a Philadelphia writer, columist, and editorial consultant. He is the former editor and executive editor of Philadelphia magazine and the former art director of both Boston and Philadelphia magazines; anf ofr more than ten uyears he has written the "Nonfiction" column for Writers's Digest. Like the hero of the The Physalia Incident, Mr. Spikol is a techonology junkie. As far as I know, this is the only work of fiction that he has published.