Very good characters and a splendid setting get this series off to a good start. ( )

Having enjoyed reading Dougherty's Dungda de Islan', the author's true accounting of his sailing adventures about the Eastern Caribbean, I was excited to get into his novel, Bluewater Killer. He did not disappoint. I found myself admiring his ability, and opportunity, to take what he loves and knows and weave it into a story of mystery and suspense, a thriller that would have me wanting to catch the next flight to Antigua so I could hitchhike aboard a cruising yacht in exchange for hosting the mainsail or polishing the brass. In real life I would hope I wouldn't get knocked over the head and thrown overboard, that my host wouldn't be mentally deranged, at least no more than I.

Bluewater Killer was definitely worth the read. I look forward to getting into the next novel in the series, Bluewater Vengeance, anxious to learn more about Dani. Is Mike dead or alive? ( )

For the most part, I really enjoyed this book. I especially liked the description of life in the Caribbean islands aboard a sailboat. It's a world I don't expect to ever experience first hand, but if I had another lifetime to live, it wouldn't be a bad choice for a lifestyle. The characters had interesting backgrounds and the story itself was very compelling.

A few things fell short for me, most of them a good editor would help. There were some formatting issues, and some of the dialogue was so stilted and tedious that I wondered why it was included. For example, each character would continually refer to the other by name, back and forth in the entire conversation. My main disappointment was in the ending. Maybe the author's intention was to leave the reader hanging with the intent of picking up the story in his next novel. For me, it felt abrupt and incomplete, and left me both confused and annoyed with the author.

It's definitely worth reading, though. I'd recommend it in spite of its shortcomings. ( )