A worthy addition to the thriller genre. The setting on an isolated island in Maine evokes a mysterious and claustrophobic mood. The place has a history of corrupt behavior by local fisherman who have had their livelihoods threatened by fishing regulations. The mystery grows out of a series of killings of politicians on a yacht. The main characters are complex and generally well-realized. However, a few were a little cartoonish (i.e., a corrupt cop, and a brutal alcoholic father). Koryta keeps the tension high and the pages turning, but a few of his outcomes seem a little too predictable. ( )

Who shot everyone on the yacht?
Set on a Rocky Maine island, The story of an honest ex-con who discovers the bodies. He investigates becoming entangled with a young teen age boy running from an abusing father. Politics and human trafficking get into the mix. ( )

Israel Pike boards the Mereo, a yacht that was adrift and rudderless off the coast of Maine. Aboard, he finds 7 men, shot to death. He is then drawn into a mess of sex trafficking, drugs, child abuse, and corrupt men that run a politically important Maine island.

“Israel Pike was a killer, and he was an honest man. They were not mutually exclusive.”

I loved Dar, especially how she dealt with Corey Rankin! I didn't like Israel as much, but it was a fun, quick read, and I did like how the author rapped it all up!

“Money and morality might not be close friends, but they are not mutually exclusive either.”

“The greatest power always seemed to be sourced by invisible engines.” ( )

Israel Pike has a prison record, convicted of killing his father. Israel has returned to Salvation Point Island, Maine, where he never thought he’d return. Only one other person knows the reason. However, that reason may unravel at a frightening speed after Israel is the one to discover and report the death of 7 men on a yacht to the local sheriff who despises him, his father’s brother.

The 1st thriller I read by Michael Koryta a few weeks ago was spine-tingling. I didn’t think he could ratchet up the suspense beyond that novel. I was wrong. Each chapter is a roller coaster ride, and the adrenalin is pulsating without a sip of caffeine, simply the turn of the page. I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough as I had to know what the next twist in the investigation would be, and yet I wanted to read slowly enough, so I didn’t miss a clue. As the conclusion came, I was still in the grasp of the gritty ending even as I realized what was coming.

These are characters that grip you within their stories. Their reasons for the actions planned and taken, or are spontaneous in the heat of the moment and taken, stir your emotions and make your heart pound. Don’t miss adding it to your tbr.

Thank you to Mulholland Books and Novel Suspects for the opportunity to read an ARC of this novel. ( )