Mayday: A Jack Merchant and Sarah Ballard Novel

by Bill Eidson

Overview

Mayday is the second installment of an acclaimed new series featuring ex-DEA Agent Jack Merchant and boat repo contractor Sarah Ballard. This time they are searching for a man's wife and children, missing on the high seas.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781932112337
Publisher:	Justin, Charles & Co.
Publication date:	12/13/2004
Series:	Jack Merchant & Sarah Ballard Novels
Pages:	336
Product dimensions:	5.92(w) x 8.48(h) x 1.30(d)

Editorial Reviews

In Eidson's chilling second adventure to feature ex-DEA undercover agent Jack Merchant and boat repo contractor Sarah Ballard (after 2003's The Repo), the duo investigate a suspicious sailing accident off the Rhode Island coast. Prospective client Matt Coulter walks into Sarah's marine repossession company with a wild tale of a shipwreck, subsequent rescue and kidnapping that includes many amnesiac gaps due to his injuries. His version differs from newspaper and police accounts, which say that a grief-crazed Coulter simply couldn't accept the loss of his wife and two children who were sailing with him. Jack, who freelances for Sarah, skeptically agrees to help. Preliminary research into Coulter's hazy descriptions of the phantom rescue vessel suggests his nightmare may indeed be real. The viewpoint of a ruthless pirate, whose bungling, slapdash plans drive him desperately into Sarah and Jack's path, ratchets up the suspense, while the likable sleuths contrast sharply with a pair of expertly sketched and truly loathsome sociopaths. Jack and love-scarred Sarah's cautious relationship gels in the midst of palpable tension as they fight to save her boat and several lives. Complex and salty supporting characters add gritty authenticity to this taut mystery. Agent, Richard Parks. (Jan. 15) FYI: A past president of the New England chapter of the MWA, Eidson is also the author of One Bad Thing and other thrillers. Copyright 2004 Reed Business Information.

Publishers Weekly

A tragic accident segues into brutal murder in this second Merchant-Ballard sizzler. The sudden ocean storm was terminal for Matt Coulter's sloop Seagull, but his wife, son, and daughter somehow survived it. Or did they? Coulter swears his children did, but no one believes him-not the Coast Guard, not the Boston area cops. Coulter knows there's reason to be skeptical. Yes, all traces of Sean and Laurie have vanished; even now, weeks later, chunks of what actually happened remain lost to amnesia. He grants his wife is gone but insists the kids were rescued and alive on the deck of a boat when he last saw them. Now he wants Jack Merchant to find that boat. The skeptical ex-DEA agent hesitates, but he doesn't exactly have a crowded agenda, and he likes Coulter. More to the point, Sarah Ballard, the woman in his life, likes Coulter too. So Jack takes time out from not doing much and Sarah from her busy boat-repossession business to team up once again (The Repo, 2003) as ship hunters. And children hunters, and trouble hunters, with a pair of ferocious bad guys providing almost more than our heroes can handle. Jack's tough and tenderhearted, Sarah's brainy and sexy, the prose is clear and direct. Here's crime fiction the way it should be. East Coast author tour

Kirkus Reviews