A Single Deadly Truth

The next book I read during my recuperation was John Urban's A Single Deadly Truth. This also involved a new adventure in reading for me. It is published only an as ebook; I found it here on Amazon. So I downloaded Kindle-for-PC from Amazon (for free) onto my netbook, and sat happily on the couch for some hours pressing the right Arrow key to page through John's book.

The story features Steve Decatur, professor and part-time harbormaster. He lives on a sailboat in the town of Harbor Point, Massachusetts. The nephew of a friend of Decatur's, a lobsterman and diver, is found dead off Cape Cod. When Decatur goes to retrieve the man's boat. he becomes entangled in a murder and an illicit international ring of treasure recovery, and more.

This book knits things together beautifully. The action was well done, the characters full and believable, and while it is full of boating jargon and I didn't understand some of the terms, they added to the flavor and didn't get in the way. A special bonus for those in the Boston/Rhode Island area is reading scenes set in familiar territory.

Decatur is clearly a competent "man's man." I also felt, as a woman, that I liked him and his tender/human side. One reason I often steer away from mystery/thriller books written by men is the constant focus on how women look, and I didn't find that in Urban's work. I can't wait to read the next Steve Decatur book.

Disclaimer: John is in the Salem Writer's Group, of which I am also a member. He had read most of this book to the group before I joined, and I had heard and offered critique on only a couple of scenes. I was very happy to get my hands on the entire story.

John posts on the group blog, Write on the Water, on a regular basis, always weaving his stories of boating in with his stories of writing. (Plus he's a really nice guy, and a great critiquer.)