Jack Dillon is a bookstore owner in midlife who decides to sail his 27' boat around the coast of Florida to research and write a coastal cookbook. His journey takes him to old friends and new strangers, always the writer's mind's eye. Early in his journey he meets and falls for Jewels, a beautiful but troubled woman who decides to join him on his trip. Shortly after, the two are kidnapped during a jewelry store robbery. The perpetrator is a violent murderer who is on a crime spree in the company of his wife and small son. Jack and Jewels manage to escape but not before Jewels takes the young boy, who she had seen abused by his violent father and a pitiful mother, both drug addicts. The two rejoin the company of Doc Beavers and his wife, who were introduced early in the story, and a life and death scenario ensues. The reader will be blind-sided by the memorable twist in the final scene. An adventure story with literary bones.
