La Quinta Cove

The Dark Tide

by Andrew Gross

The story begins when Karen Friedman learns that her husband has doubtless died in a commuter train explosion. She is shocked and horrified at becoming a widow in her 40’s after 18 years of marriage. She was now the single parent of two young children, who needed her comfort and support, when she felt she could hardly function, herself, in her grief. No body was ever found; therefore closure was made more difficult. Identifying the victims was nearly impossible the explosion was so devastating. The family was trying to cope with their loss when a detective comes to the home inquiring about a bicycler who was killed in a hit-and-run accident the same day as the explosion. The detective implies that it may not have been an accident and asks if Karen knows the man. It seems that a slip of paper in the man’s pocket had her husband’s name and phone number on it. He seems to think there may be some connection between the two deaths.

As the plot plays out, the connection proves out and leads to many twist and turns revealing that Karen never really knew her hedge fund manager husband or the people he did business with to provide the family with the luxuries they enjoyed.

Gross has co-authored several books with James Patterson and the pacing and plot twists are reminiscent of Patterson’s style. A very good mystery.