Apparent Wind — Dallas Murphy

Murphy's dour and reluctant hero Doom Loomis has come home from jail to inherit not only his father's yacht but an entire town, Omnium Settlement. Half underwater and still sinking, the strategically-located Omnium is a hot property wanted by two unsavory land barons-one of whom killed Doom's father. In no time Doom is contemplating revenge as well as dollars-and falling in love with a shapely environmentalist.

Suspenseful and hilarious by turns, APPARENT WIND is a brilliant journey through the shadows of a sun-drenched world: Black Caesar's Yacht Club (where a hundred dollars buys a slip and anonymity for a night) and the Flamingo Tongue Dockside Cafe, the coffee shop with a direct line to the state pen. Here is a crime novel with all the atmosphere of the best of John D. MacDonald, in which wit and action mingle like greed and money. APPARENT WIND is a compelling original, a fresh new current in crime fiction.