PERILOUS WATERS

A smart, tough woman gets into big trouble.

Ever since problems with her alcoholic mother and drug-addicted sister washed her out of the FBI’s diver training program, Jessie Madison has worked as a dive instructor in the Bahamas. When her roommate, Shelley, is given a free weekend for two at a new resort on Trophy Cay, they hook up with boat captain Johnny Durand and his friend Nick Garnier, who seems too focused to be enjoying the tropical retreat. Johnny, who’s moving a catamaran for a wealthy couple, invites Jessie for a short night trip to a nearby cay. Soon after they’ve dropped anchor and begun to canoodle, three men in a powerboat board the cat and beat Johnny. When he refuses to give them what they want, Johnny and Jessie are tied together, wrapped in chain, and thrown overboard. Jessie’s training allows her to hold her breath just long enough to break free, but she can’t revive Johnny. Finding a battered windsurfing board, she manages to paddle back to the resort only to find that Shelley’s checked out and taken all her things, leaving Jessie dependent on the enigmatic Nick, whom she suspects of smuggling. Desperate, she finally tells Nick the truth about what happened to Johnny. In response, Nick vanishes, and the only way Jessie can get back to Nassau is by stealing the catamaran from under the noses of the killers and making the dangerous trip at night. Then things go from bad to worse.

A page-turning thriller with hints of romance and future adventures.