The Last Breath

by Danny Lopez

Overview

For fans of John D. MacDonald and his coastal Florida mysteries, The Last Breath by Danny Lopez will rekindle the flame.

Unemployed newspaper reporter Dexter Vega is hired to investigate the drowning of Liam Fleming, the son of a wealthy real estate investor in Siesta Key.

Vega’s search for clues takes him from one end of this picturesque barrier island off the coast of Sarasota to the other. But nothing adds up. Liam was young, an experienced swimmer, apparently healthy—and drowned in four feet of water. And why was Liam living in a beach shack? Why was he buying properties and not selling them?

The police are getting nowhere as they identify every beach bum on Siesta Key as a suspect. But Vega narrows his investigation to two—one who disappears, and the other he’s falling in love with. Beach bums and hippies go missing, while greed, beachfront property, and drugs swirl in vicious loops—and when they converge, Vega puts his life on the line to find the truth.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781608092987
Publisher:	Oceanview Publishing
Publication date:	10/02/2018
Series:	Dexter Vega Mystery , #2
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	288
File size:	2 MB

About the Author

Danny Lopez is a pen name. The author was raised in Mexico, Texas, and Florida. He worked numerous menial jobs before becoming a photojournalist, which allowed him to travel around the US, Mexico, and the Caribbean and meet many of the characters that populate his stories. When he finally decided to get serious about writing, he went back to college for an MFA in creative writing. The Last Breath is the second in the Dexter Vega series.

Editorial Reviews

09/01/2018
Out-of-work reporter Dexter Vega spends his time bemoaning his fate while drinking in bars in Siesta Key, FL. An editor sends him to Bob Fleming, a wealthy retiree who hires him to look into the death of his son, Liam. The police closed the case, calling it an accidental drowning, but Fleming can't believe that Liam, a competitive swimmer, drowned in the shallow area of the Intercoastal. When he's attacked at Liam's house, Vega suspects something may be wrong. The investigating police officer won't return his calls; the police report is missing details. The beach bums and hippies Liam ran with know that he invested in property, but no one has details. When Dexter tries to track down Liam's elusive business partner, more people are attacked. Liam's death seems to be wrapped up in secrets, beachfront property, and local politics. VERDICT This suspenseful, issue-oriented follow-up to The Last Girl vividly showcases a Florida community suffering from a war between developers and those who treasure the beach lifestyle. Readers of John and Blaize Clement's "Dixie Hemingway" mysteries will enjoy this.—Lesa Holstine, Evansville Vanderburgh P.L., IN

Library Journal

08/27/2018
Set in Sarasota, Fla., Lopez’s so-so sequel to 2017’s The Last Girl finds self-pitying unemployed reporter Dexter Vega in desperate need of a job. At the suggestion of a newspaper editor acquaintance, Dexter gets in touch with Bob Fleming, a retired hedge fund manager who’s unhappy with the police investigation of the death of his 27-year-old son, Liam. A fit athlete, Liam supposedly drowned while kayaking in the calm Intracoastal Waterway, and Bob wants someone to find out what really happened. Besides learning that Liam lived like a beach bum, but was using his father’s money to buy real estate that he never sold, Dexter uncovers holes in the report of the police detective involved in the case. The odd behavior of Bob’s trophy wife, Brandy, raises his suspicions, but often he follows the wrong scent. More through luck than skill, Dexter bumbles his way toward unraveling the mystery of Liam’s death. Smooth prose compensates only in part for a familiar plot. (Oct.)

Publishers Weekly

"Readers [of The Last Breath] will be completely taken up by the dark view of Siesta ‘behind the veil of sun,’ where ‘creatures that frolicked in the sand found themselves in dark holes of their own making.’” — Booklist

“Fans of a low-key, amateur sleuth mystery may want to give The Last Breath a try." — New York Journal of Books

From the Publisher