Gale Force

March 26, 2018
McKenna Rhodes, the heroine of this melodramatic nautical thriller from Thriller Award–finalist Laukkanen, blames herself for the death of her father, Randall, the maverick captain of the salvage tug Gale Force, who was lost at sea during a risky operation. Three years later, McKenna, who has inherited the Gale Force, hopes for a big payday after the Pacific Lion, a Japanese freighter full of brand new cars, founders off the Alaskan coast. Her success hinges on the involvement of Court Harrington, her former lover, who’s a gifted naval architect. What McKenna and her team don’t know is that the Pacific Lion also carried millions in bearer bonds stolen from the Yakuza, making that vicious organized crime gang, and the thief, her adversaries, in addition to the perilous waves. Readers expecting the clever plotting of Laukkanen’s Stevens and Windermere crime series (The Forgotten Girls, etc.) will be disappointed to find only predictable action tropes. Author tour. Agent: Stacia Decker, Donald Maass Literary Agency.

Karissa Vacker's narration never intrudes on this story; her delivery is understated but so perfect that listeners can lose themselves in the the action. When the ship PACIFIC LION founders, McKenna Rhodes, captain of GALE FORCE, finds herself in a race to win the LION's salvage contract. Tormented by guilt over her father's death, she is struggling to keep his beloved ship in business. To succeed, she must beat other contractors and battle the elements. As if that weren't enough, there are Yakuza gangsters armed with machine pistols who are determined to stop at nothing to retrieve their stolen bearer bonds. An enjoyable maritime adventure that will excite any listener. C.A.T. � AudioFile 2018, Portland, Maine