cover image Island Life

Island Life

Michael W. Sherer. Five Star, $25.95 (385pp) ISBN 978-1-59414-633-6

Sherer takes a break from his Emerson Ward series (Death Is No Bargain , etc.) with this solid stand-alone, a mystery thriller set on an island near Seattle. Jack Holm, who’s just lost his PR agency job, has a lot more to worry about after his flight attendant wife, Mary, goes missing. An overly descriptive opening slows the action, but tension builds as Jack faces life as a single father with two unruly kids, 10-year-old Tyler and 15-year-old Kelsey, who fear the worst. Meanwhile, in therapy sessions, Jack reflects on an unraveling marriage, alcoholism, soccer brawls, a car wreck and other family woes that culminate in the discovery of Mary’s battered body on a Christmas tree farm. Earthy detective Ed Mankewicz suspects Jack’s involved, though after Jack’s arrest, the evidence against him isn’t clear either to Jack, his slick lawyer or the reader. Creepy-looking strangers lurking around the local school add suspense to an unrelenting tale of personal calamity that ends on a gratifying note of hope. (Mar.)