Devil's Harbor

June 22, 2015
At the start of Gilly's thrill-a-moment first novel, Nick Finn and his well-meaning but slightly dim brother-in-law, Diego Jimenez, both Marine Interdiction agents, are patrolling the sea off California's Santa Catalina Island early one morning in their 39-foot Customs and Border Protection vessel. When a man aboard a sport fisher refuses to identify himself and fires on Nick and Diego's boat, Nick shoots back and kills the man. It's all downhill from there. The CBP is ready to throw Nick under the bus, he starts drinking again, and his lawyer wife moves out of their L.A. home. Then Diego washes ashore with a bullet hole in his forehead. Meanwhile, Diarmud Cutts, an ex-IRA and French Foreign Legion trafficker in drugs and worse, forces Nick to transport narcotics from Mexico to save the life of a child. The ending is an unexpected nail-bitter that crackles with tension. Readers will look forward to seeing more of Nick. Agent: Farley Chase, Chase Literary Agency.

April 15, 2015
A routine patrol turns into a nightmare for alcoholic Marine Interdiction Agent Nick Finn. Patrolling the California coast, Finn and his partner and brother-in-law, Diego Jimenez, spot a boat with no running lights. When they approach the suspected smuggler, the boat takes off. Once it's stopped, the man on board attacks them with an automatic weapon, and Finn shoots him dead, plunging himself deep into hot water. His boss gives him no support when the government is sued by the victim's family, which claims he was an unarmed fisherman. Although Diego backs up his story, there's no other supporting evidence because the gun went overboard and trace evidence was washed away. To make things worse, a search reveals no indication of smuggling. Finn's wife, Mona, a lawyer specializing in defending underdogs, is furious that Finn has been targeted. Their marriage is already cracking under the strain when Finn's beaten and robbed of his gun, which is apparently the weapon that was used to kill Diego, neatly framing Finn. Even as he seeks refuge in the bottom of a bottle, Finn has a feeling that the case is tied to the unusual number of floaters recently recovered. Identifying one of them leads him to the Pacific Belle, a fishing craft partly owned by attractive Linda Blake, who has a daughter with medical problems. Once Finn learns that Linda had reported no catches, he suspects her of smuggling. But his sympathy for a mother desperate to save her child launches him into a dangerous orbit that could easily end his life before he can prove his innocence. Gilly's debut is a real page-turner filled with thrills, chills, and unexpected surprises.

COPYRIGHT(2015) Kirkus Reviews, ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

Starred review from May 1, 2015
The temptation is to dodge reviewing this splendid crime novel and just bark orders: Buy it! Recommend it! Push it on anyone who loves suspense and action served with hard-boiled style! The writing is exuberant yet controlled, the plot is twisty and devious yet easily tracked, the characters are freshly imagined. The lead is Nick Finn, a marine interdiction agent for Customs and Border Protection in the water below San Clemente, and we have the pleasure of watching a pro at work as he moves on a sinister sport fisherfirst with a flash-bang shell, then a mooring line, finally an M4 carbine. A fine action scene. Things get even better. Finn has a bourbon problem in his past and a smart, tough wife in his present, and they intertwine as Finn is punished for his lack of professionalism. His attempt to clear himself only makes things worse, until he understands he is an actor in a playthe only one who hasn't read the script. The boat chases are the best since the early Bond novels, the revelations are startling, and the bourbon scenes make you thirsty.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2015, American Library Association.)