"The marina was full of all types of boats from simple fishing skiffs to live-aboard trawlers and sailboats. The tide was low, and the gangway that led to the floating docks was angled sharply downward. In front of a few of the boats were mailboxes and potted plants, and Varnum guessed the people who owned them lived there all of the time, just like a floating apartment. Varnum liked the fact that all of them had a waterfront view and no grass to mow."
Set in and around Pinckney Island National Wildlife Refuge, between Bluffton and Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, “Soundkeeper” is both the honorary title of local environmentalist Gale Pickens and her boat. On a survey around Port Royal Sound she comes across runoff from a development, and on investigating a struggling vessel, gets more than she bargains for.
Hall McCormick has been a Refuge Law Enforcement Officer with U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service for a mere 12 weeks, taking over from the long serving officer taking retirement. Not his first choice of career, Hall trained as a marine biologist but no one was hiring. Now he is in charge of a vast area of rivers and islands off the Atlantic Coast, checking commercial fishing vessels for compliance and pursuing illegal fishing wherever he finds it. Being a new “boy”, he knows all the regulations and the paperwork required, but his youthful enthusiasm is no match for experience, as he learns the hard way.
Varnum is a seasoned detective, who gets a tipoff from an informant of a ‘big deal” going down (from a client), no name but she gives him two licence plates numbers, which lead to a land deal and a shonky inspector.
The stories of these three mix and merge: Varnum on the hunt for a land developer in a shady deal; McCormick’s investigation into fish deaths overlaps with Varnum’s; Gale is presumed dead and is in fear of her life as she tries to escape her abductors.
"They had to be in Port Royal Sound, she deduced, but they were headed west and inland, not out to sea. She did not understand where they could be going. The Intracoastal Waterway ran closer to the ocean, up the river and north to Beaufort, south to Savannah. The rivers just got shallower and narrow the further upstream they went."
Author Michael Hervey’s career in law enforcement shines through, with the rich exerting influence to pervert the course of justice. But it is the marine and birdlife that got me in: commercial fishermen are favourably portrayed with most doing the right thing; recreational fishermen and tourists also, sharing in a declining resource. The book is not without its brutal moments, leading to the climax of a fight to the death on board a stricken tug at the height of a storm, and a poignant moment as Hall’s rescuer dies in saving him.
A wealth of detail on everything from the climate, tides and the vessels, even a map of the area, but the author is careful not to drown the reader with it.
Verdict: well worth a look, and I’ll chase up more of his work.
OPPURE
Scarica l'app Kindle gratuita e inizia a leggere immediatamente i libri Kindle sul tuo smartphone, tablet o computer, senza bisogno di un dispositivo Kindle.
Leggi immediatamente sul browser con Kindle per il Web.
Con la fotocamera del cellulare scansiona il codice di seguito e scarica l'app Kindle.
Segui l'autore
Si è verificato un errore. Riprova a effettuare la richiesta più tardi.
Iniziative "18app" e "Carta del Docente"
Questo articolo è acquistabile con il Bonus Cultura e con il Bonus Carta del Docente. Verifica i termini e condizioni delle iniziative.
Informazioni sull'autore
Segui gli autori per ottenere aggiornamenti sulle nuove uscite, oltre a consigli avanzati.
Le recensioni migliori da altri paesi
Alex Cantone
good, environmental thriller
Recensito in Australia il 30 ottobre 2020
Sherry Sage
Soundkeeper is a great read for all the crime buffs out there.
Recensito in Canada il 7 marzo 2014
Brett Faris
Great debut - not your typical crime mystery
Recensito negli Stati Uniti il 17 dicembre 2011