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Book Cover |
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Excerpt |
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Onboard the Quest
I braced my feet and pushed my back harder
against the steel bulkhead as Quest began rolling from side to
side in the increasing swells. Deep rolls turned to sudden pitching and
slatting as we crawled by the breakwater that lined the west side of the
channel. It would be rough for only another minute or two, I thought, as
I gazed beyond the rocks spewing spray, out to where the surface
glistened like polished silver.
A crash on the port side and a lurch toward
the rocks felt like quite a heavy wave had caught us broadside, but when
it was followed by a loud, "What the fuck?" from the wheelhouse, I
jumped to my feet and scrambled inside to see what the problem was.
Something was obviously terribly wrong. Dane Stevens looked more than
worried as he pushed the throttles up to full ahead and turned the wheel
to the left, putting the rudder hard to port. I glanced out the windows
on our port side to see the top of a boat.
I hurried across the wheelhouse for a better
look at what was happening. A lobster boat had its stem against out port
bow and was pushing us rapidly toward the breakwater. Even though
Quest was at full power, we were losing ground quickly. Quasar came
in from the work deck and screamed, "Oh my God! What's he doing?"
"He's forcing us onto the rocks, and there's
not a fuckin' thing I can do about it." Dane held the wheel hard to
port, easing the throttle, and shifting into reverse in what I supposed
was a desperate attempt to let the lobster boat slip by our bow. It was
no use; this resulted only in increasing our speed toward the breakwater
as the lobster boat persisted in propelling us closer to where the
violent surf pounded. Dane put the engine back to full-speed-ahead mode,
and we watched the distance to the menacing shore grow smaller still.
"Quasar! Get the survival suits!" The scientist was paralyzed with fear.
He didn't bulge, and it didn't matter, I thought. There wasn't time to
climb into the clumsy survival gear. I knew I had to do something fast,
or we would be pummeled against the breakwater until the ship broke up
and sank. "Quasar! Come on, snap out of it! Fifty-four-degree water!"
This time the captain had shouted even louder at his friend, who was
still unable to move.
That did it for me. I tore my gun from its
holster and charged out onto the foredeck, where I was nearly
face-to-face with a dark figure behind a windshield glaring from the
sun. The other boat was truly right upon us, like some kind of demon.
Aiming to the right of the figure at the helm, I squeezed off a shot
that blew a hole in the Plexiglas the size of a nickel. Shifting my bead
to the left, I hesitated before firing again. But the warning shot had
done the trick. The lobster boat that had been driving us into the rocks
suddenly drew away. And as she turned, I caught the name on her stern:
Spartacus.
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Synopsis |
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In Green Haven, Maine,
deputized marine insurance investigator Jane Bunker works for Eastern
Marine Safety Consultants and enjoys the country life. Not missing being
a homicide detective in Miami, Florida anymore, she love the tranquility
of the beautiful Maine coastline. Her assignment is to inspect some
damage done to a ship named Quest over in Cobscook Bay.
Jane
takes a ride over to Cobscook Bay on Sea Pigeon, which is owned
by her friend, Cal Dunham. Upon arrival, Jane meets the owner of
Quest, Dane Stevens and his friend, Quasar Molnar, an archeologist.
They have been surveying the bottom of the ocean floor for North
Atlantic Shell Farms in hope of creating an oyster farm. Some of their
equipment had been vandalized during the night and she is there to
investigate.
Later that day, on the way back to Green Haven on Sea
Pigeon, they spot a lobster boat going around in circles. Upon
approaching Eva B., they discover that there isn't anybody aboard
the boat. After calling for the Coast Guard, some boats approached the
Cal's boat and one of the men turns out to be the brother of the owner
of Eva B. He informs Jane that his brother, Parker Alley, did not
know how to swim and that he never wore a life jacket and that he
assumes that his brother is dead.
Jane learns that Parker's son, Jason,
had recently died of a suspected overdose. Jane runs into George Paul,
one of the tribal chiefs of the Passamaquoddy Indians. He claims that
the government is preventing his people from harvesting sea life from
the ocean and that they should not be encumbered by federal and state
rules. He sees the threat of an oyster farm and feels it is his right to
do something about it.
Jane Bunker now realizes that not only may there
be drugs involved, but a murder too.
Fisherman's Bend is a the second mystery book starring Detective
Jane Bunker and is written by Agatha Linda Greenlaw.
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Review |
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I do love a good mystery, and that is
what Fisherman's Bend is . . . a good mystery. I did enjoy the
nautical setting of this book, as most mystery books I have read take
place on land. As for the main character, Jane Bunker, I never really
warmed up to her. I feel that a reader needs to make a connection with
the main character so that they will care what happens to them, and this
never really occurred with me.
The storyline is a good one though, and
it will keep readers wondering what exactly is going to happen next. The
only other issue I had with this story was the paragraph format. I know
that it seems weird to talk about something like this, but it really
bothered me. As you can see from the excerpt above, the paragraphs seem
long with dialog on the middle of them. From my experience, the
paragraphs should have been broken up with the dialog on a new line to
make the story flow a little easier. It just seemed kind of weird to me.
Now, bear in mind that my copy was an advanced uncorrected proof, so
this may have been fixed in the final revision. This may all be a mute
point.
Overall, Fisherman's Bend was a good mystery that could
have been better. I know I would have liked the story more if I had made
a stronger connection with the main character. Still, the story has
merits that a reader will enjoy, especially if you love ships and the
ocean . . . oh, and of course . . . murder.
I rated this book a 7½ out of 10. |
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