FEATURED RELEASE!

GENRE: Thriller

Running for his life, surfer/sailor Rick Damiano flees a cadre of drug dealers, money lauderers and loan sharks from the towers of Panama City to the roaring surf on Panama’s Pacific Coast. In this third book of the Rick Damiano saga, Damiano once again faces exploits of danger and intrigue as he continues to attempt to do what is right, even when it means his own survival hangs in the balance.

Author of the gritty memoir CHANGING TIDES, Jeff Gardner once again shows his vast experience of sailing, surfing and the Caribbean in this third installment of the Rick Damiano series which began with EXTRACTIONS and continued with BOCAS TOWN.

EXCERPT


Scarabaldi lost all his patience and screamed in Sallie’s face, emitting more spittle from his cruel mouth. “OKAY, LAST TIME, MEATBALL. WHAT IS HIS NAME?” The angry Colombian raised the gun butt high above his head, threatening to smash the thumb on Sallie’s spread-eagled hand, which one of the thugs firmly held in place against the skiff’s seat.
Sallie realized that there was no hope for him to survive this ordeal, and the torment would escalate unless he did the one thing that he vowed to himself never to do. But fear manifests itself in many ways, and sometimes loyalty – even to family – gets compromised, especially when faced with the prospect of sadistically-driven torture. In a terrified, helpless, wavering scream, Sallie gave up the man he was trying to protect. “Okay, OKAY! HIS NAME IS DAMIANO, RICK DAMIANO, BUT PLEASE DON’T HARM HIM, BECAUSE HE’S REALLY INNOCENT. HE’S FAMILY. HE’S MY NEPHEW, FOR GOD’S SAKE!”
The inquisitor answered him unemotionally, in the manner of the true sociopath he was. He feigned pushing on an electric buzzer with his thumb and said. “BUZZZ! Sorry, Sallie, you took way too long to answer and showed me no respect, so now you will open door number two and experience the ride of a lifetime.” But first, the scarfaced man thrust down his fist that was holding the pistol in a decisive motion and the weapon crushed Sallie’s strangely-shaped bell-like thumb. The large digit doubled in width as the gun nearly made contact with the wood beneath Sallie’s hand. The jolly Italian uncle of Rick Damiano screamed in agony as the delicate bones splintered, some of the pieces piercing his toughened skin. Then the man with the gun club laughed with a maniacal, jackal-like sound, his rotted teeth framing the pungent cavity of his mouth, and nodded to the other three hombres.
Following the command of his gesture of assent, the three worker-bees stood, grabbed Sallie by the shoulders and ankles, swung him back and forth three times across the side of the skiff to gain maximum momentum and then flung him over the starboard side of the rapidly accelerating fiberglass launch.

FEATURED RELEASE!

GENRE: Thriller

Jeff Gardner has woven another exciting tapestry of sailing, surfing and raw fast-paced adventure in a romantic tropical environment. BOCAS TOWN is a novel bristling with thrilling action and social comment. Gardner uses his vast experience of twelve years before the mast, sailing in the Atlantic and Caribbean aboard his sailboat, Changing Tides, to continue his intriguing saga of mystery and mayhem
Rick Damiano and Roselle Blakeslee carry on their adventures in this exciting sequel to Extractions. The sailing duo struggle with the realities of their failing relationship while grappling with the actuality of a battle between the Bocas del Toro indigenous natives and the marauding swarm of expatriates, who turn the idyllic Panamanian island into a modern day replay of Cowboys and Indians.
CHANGING TIDES is Gardner’s gritty memoir of deception, treachery and mortal peril; EXTRACTIONS begins his Rick Damiano series, depicting the harsh truths of the cruising lifestyle; and BOCAS TOWN, this second novel of the series, continues these exploits of danger and intrigue.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

EXCERPT


Rick responded to Roselle’s warning and stroked for the depths of the bay. He could feel the concussion of the boat’s powerful motor and the impact of the shots fired into the water all around him. His lungs were on fire from the deprivation of the precious air that he didn’t have time to inhale before Roselle’s warning. He desperately swam to reach the dimming light of day and surfaced with the speed of a champagne cork on New Year’s Day, gasping for breath, sucking torrents of dirty, oily water into his lungs. He gagged on the water, and vomited his last lizard dinner. The taste in his mouth, a mixture of raw reptile, oil and saltwater caused him to heave some more, draining him of what little strength he had left.. He felt the pain in his shoulder and thought to himself, I can’t panic. I just need to stay calm and try to avoid this boat until they give up attacking me. It will be my only hope in helping Roselle. But who are these people and how did they know we were here? Rick had an endless list of unanswered questions. But his number one priority was his instinct to survive. He and Roselle had both gone this far and he wasn’t going to allow his attackers to succeed at this point. Then the fiberglass panga swung around and made another menacing pass at the helpless and tired sailor. Two men were standing at the bow of the craft, firing semi-automatic pistols. The projectiles were striking all around the defenseless man when, finally, another bullet hit home, and Rick sank slowly beneath the surface. The side of the speeding panga struck him on the head, although he had ducked. Luckily, the craft’s spinning propeller didn’t fillet him into chum for the local fish. He couldn’t hear Roselle’s piercing cry of fear because he had lost consciousness and drifted down into the turbid depths of the coastal water.