Something in the Water

March 26, 2018
One minute London newlyweds Erin Locke and Mark Roberts are enjoying a honeymoon to die for—Bora Bora, five-star lagoon bungalow—and the next they’re being sucked into a maelstrom that might actually get them killed, in this captivating if credulity-stretching debut from Downton Abbey alum Steadman (she played Mabel Lane Fox). What changes everything is the couple’s discovery while scuba diving of a locked canvas duffel bag. Its contents would free both recently fired investment banker Mark and narrator Erin, who just started filming her first solo documentary (about three prisoners and their transitions postincarceration), from any financial worries—but almost certainly guarantee worries of a more lethal nature. Once the pair start down this perilously slippery slope, the threats and increasingly bad decisions accelerate with Bourne-like velocity, as do their lies to each other. Although not all of the plot gambles prove equally successful, daring choices, such as opening with a scene of the desperate Erin digging a grave, mark Steadman as a newcomer worth watching. Agent: Camilla Wray, Darley Anderson (U.K.).

June 1, 2018
Documentary filmmaker Erin Locke scores big when three high-profile convicts, including London gangster Eddie Bishop, agree to allow her to document their transitions back into society. But, as Erin's career soars, her fianc�e, Mark, struggles to replace the lucrative banking job he's just lost. Although they can scarcely afford it, Erin is convinced that their Tahitian honeymoon will set things right. It looks that way until a boating excursion leads them to a mysterious bag floating amid a plane's wreckage. Inside the bag is what appears to be an answer to their woes: millions of dollars in cash and diamonds. Erin and Mark boldly decide to disregard the accompanying cellphone full of increasingly threatening Russian texts and smuggle the contents back into Europe. But, when Erin secretly attempts to fence the diamonds, she's targeted by ruthless killers and must turn to Eddie Bishop to survive. This debut's opening hook, which jumps ahead in the story to reveal a shocking outcome, teamed with Erin's spunk and the threat of Russian mobsters, creates irresistible suspense?of both the what-will-happen and the how-did-that-happen varieties.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2018, American Library Association.)