In this short time, he has already burned out and decides to take the summer off sailing the Caribbean in his newly acquired boat. The prior book would probably lend some insight into where the money to purchase such a toy came from as well as the ability to luxuriate in the summer sun.

Against all odds, some eighty-five miles from anywhere a nude female washes up against his hull. Dan rescues her, treats the hypothermia to find she has amnesia although she does remember being in the water for 26 hours. Gradually, her memory seemingly returns.

In reality her husband diplomat, Cesar Cardinal, threw her overboard and led people to believe she drank too much, was depressed and committed suicide. He then spirited their son off to a locked compound in the Dominican Republic. Prior to their sailing trip, Kate had told Cesar she was leaving him and taking their son Antonio with her.

Dan is a sucker for a pretty girl and especially if she is someone who is a victim of a tremendous injustice. So he decides to help her. Predictably he falls into love, but he has been in love before as the story begins with his latest being married to someone else in a huge society wedding.

Dan enlists the help of an old friend and starts plotting how he and Kate can snatch her son back. Ultimately, the plan seems to be to use himself as bait for Cesar to strike. The plot evolves as they move from one situation to the next, in a gritty but often witty style.

Dan is a multi-faceted character, although much of his depth or lack thereof was created in other stories. The chemistry is very good with his pal Petrie, and for a bonus infused with a tremendous number of literary allusions.

The author is clearly at home on the water and the time spent on the sailboat feels as authentic as it can get. Not so, the Virginia aristocracy parts. And love comes as usual for Shaw much too quickly.

Despite a sense of unreality from time to time, the novel does take some interesting twists and does not quite turn out as the reader would expect.

--Thea Davis