 |
|
Sign In
Categories
|
When a man is washed up on a rocky outcrop, he awakes without his memory in the Harpoon Bay hospital, a small town in economic trouble. He is named Rocky Smith and as he tries to build a new life with no memory of his past, he finds love and friendship. Realizing he has a strong business sense, he turns the town around and becomes a hero. Just as he finds a new love in Penny Reynolds he learns he is really Terry Phillips, a man wanted by the police as a suspected bank robber and murderer. Worse there is a crime king who wants him dead after he gets back the one million dollars stolen in the robbery. Rocky and Penny leave for the Gold Coast to find the truth and try to clear his mind but there is more trouble than he ever dreamed on waiting for him. EXCERPT He was past the point of exhaustion. How long had it been? Two hours. Three. He'd lost track of time. The first hour had been the worst as he'd tried to contain his panic. Now he was freezing cold and no end in sight to his ordeal. Initially the water had been fairly calm, but the wind had started to gust and create white caps on the waves. There was still no moon, and the inky blackness held him in its grasp, not affording him any sense of direction. If it hadn't been for the piece of driftwood he'd grabbed as it had floated past in that first half hour of desperation, he would have drowned. The odds were incredible that he'd been in the right place at the right time. That piece of timber, floating just below the surface, had enabled him to regain some of his strength. He'd been able to abandon his shoes and heavy sweater. Getting rid of his trousers had crossed his mind, but the thought of a shark eyeing his white legs made him reconsider that idea. Now all that seemed so futile because it looked as though his drowning was inevitable once hypothermia set in. There had been a gunshot just as he'd thrown himself off the launch. The bullet had missed its target, so he'd dived deeply and come up on the other side of the boat. Someone had called for a light, then let forth with a tirade of foul language. Even on the opposite side of the boat, he had been able to see the reflection as the powerful beam had scanned the calm waters of the Pacific Ocean, searching for his bobbing head. When the light had flashed in his direction, he'd dived beneath the surface again, holding his breath until his lungs almost burst. When he'd finally surfaced, they were cursing loudly, arguing whether or not to stick around until daylight or head back to shore. Then he'd heard the engine start and felt the backwash as the powerful boat had sped away at full throttle. His mind numbed, the cold now working its way through his body. Active thoughts swept through his head. Afraid his willpower would give up and he'd slip beneath the waves, he forced himself to think about the shock and betrayal that had put him in this position. Where the hell was the shore? There weren't any stars showing to help him fix a point. He was alone to face a watery death. Now totally exhausted and still clinging to his piece of driftwood, the coldness crept up his body. At the first streaks of light of the coming dawn, he vaguely noticed the sharp cry of the seagulls overhead and in his dulled senses he was aware of the noise of the wind and waves. Nothing made much sense, only the hope that he would survive. His fingers closed tightly around his slender support, unwilling to let it go. The power of the waves was too strong for him to fight, the water lifted and dashed his body forward at tremendous speed and he was thrown from the timber, tumbling over and over in the white water. His body again lifted and then dashed onto the edge of the rocky outcrop of the shore. The crashing wave produced a white bubble and froth of water gushing over rocks and swirling in eddies that mingled with tangled kelp. His head smashed against the hard surface and mercifully he succumbed to the peace and blackness of unconsciousness. "The opening of this novel grabbed my attention. I wondered who this man was, how he got into the water, what was going to happen to him...I loved the characters of Rocky and Penny. The mystery part of this book not only kept me wondering what was going to happen next but how it was going to impact their relationship...Cooke throws in a nice plot twist just as you think things are about to become plain sailing for Penny and Rocky. If you like romance with a heavy dose of mystery, put this on your to read list." Stephantois - Long and Short Reviews Rating = 4 Books "Compliments to Bruce Cooke and Desert Breeze Publishing on a fine publication, including the beautiful cover. Stranger in Harpoon Bay kept me reading eagerly and frequently returned to my thoughts for days after I finished. I am pleased to recommend the novel to readers of romantic suspense and adventure." Connie Chastain - Classic Romance Revival Reviews Rating = 4.5 Wings Visit Bruce's Author Page Try these related products: E-mail a friend about this item. Join the Desert Breeze Publishing EXCLUSIVE BOOK CLUB!
| |||||||||
