Major Holly Barker is the head of a platoon of MPs. She and another young woman lost in court trying to charge a commanding officer with sexual harassment and attempted rape. She knows she won't be able to advance further, and she plans to retire with her twenty years in and look for something else. Along comes Chet Marley, an ex-Army soldier who fought in Vietnam with Holly's father Ham, who's still in the Army. Chet offers her a job as his Deputy Chief of police at Orchid Beach in Florida, about an island about an hour away from Vero Beach and Fort Pierce. Chet suspects that someone from his department is feeding information to others. He didn't make Hurd Wallace Deputy because he doesn't trust him.
When Holly arrives at Orchid Beach, she calls Chet to let him know she is here, and he tells her he had a meeting with someone about the corruption in the force and will tell her about it first thing in the morning. Holly goes to work the next day to find that Chet has been seriously shot and in a coma. Later that day, Chet and Ham's friend from the war, Hank Doherty, is found with a shotgun blast through his head. Hank was the one person Chet would have trusted with what was going on and any evidence there would be for the investigation.
Another person Chet, Ham, and Hank fought with is the head of security at an exclusive housing development where no one enters without an escort—even Holly. The guards have machine guns and a lot of the staff carries guns.
As Holly searches for a killer, she finds the one person she can confide in, Jackson Oxencart, a public defender. Holly also picks up a pal in Daisy, Hank’s specially trained Doberman. Holly also has to find a way to keep the city council happy so she can keep her job.
This mystery is an edge of your seat adventure ride. You don’t know who to trust. It’s a real page turner. Holly is a tough woman in two male dominated fields who must fight to win respect. Jackson is an interesting character with a backstory that matches Holly’s braveness. Daisy is an awesome character and sticks to Holly and protects her. Ham is his own man and cannot be told what to do. This cast of characters really clicks together and forms a team ready to take on anything. I can’t wait to read the next book in the series.
Quotes
The airplane is a great seduction tool: by the time you get them back down, they're so grateful to be alive, they just fall right into bed with you.
Stuart Woods (Orchid Beach, p 156)
Link to ThriftBooks: https://www.thriftbooks.com/w/orchid-beach_stuart-woods/278124/?resultid=5da5d46d-225b-4859-a9c9-0e954d26c782#edition=2334047&idiq=24226208
No comments:
Post a Comment