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The Dark Tide
by Andrew Gross
Chilling
financial suspense with emotional depth
For
Charlie and Karen Friedman, one morning starts off like every other
morning except for the threat Charlie received, a threat he kept secret
from his family. One moment changes everything. When Charles takes his
car into the shop, he breaks his normal routine and takes the train
into his work. An explosion rips through the train station just as the
Metro-North train pulls into Grand Central Station. In the flash of a
moment, a nice domestic scene becomes a nightmare for Karen. Not only
does she have to have to deal with the uncertainty of her husband's
fate and comfort her children somehow, questions about her husband's
financial dealings intrude upon her grief, adding questions about the
man the man she loves and what secrets he has kept from her. Karen
never involved herself with her husband's work and financial dealings
before, but now she has no choice as others now pry into his past.
The day of the explosion, a hit and run accident interrupts the
tranquil life of Ty Hauck, once head of the Violent Crimes Unit on the
Greenwich police force. Having worked the information office when the
Trade Towers were hit, Hauck knows all too well what to do and he
begins collecting names of those now missing. A call comes in and
suddenly he must investigate a possible murder. Hauck's examination of
the body turns up a couple of possible clues, including a Post-It note
with the name Charles Friedman in the dead man's trousers. Hauck's
investigation leads him to Karen. With his past experience of 9/11,
Hauck understands Karen's dilemmas with a sense of empathy that helps
her give expression to her grief. When a year later, Karen uncovers a
shocking clue about the events of Charlie's last day, she turns to
Hauck for help. Together and separately, Karen and Hauck follow this
new clue all the way to its end with investigations into all the hidden
details of her husband's financial world and into the lives of families
affected by his past dealings.
A fast-paced thriller, THE DARK TIDE
pulls together seemingly unrelated events into a complex suspenseful
tale of international fraud. Andrew Gross weaves together disparate
threads in just the right measure as he looks into the families and
lives of all affected by shadowy figures and seemingly isolated events.
One decision here and another there by men often with a noble ideal or
purpose turns deadly when a decision threatens to unravel a financial
scheme. Relentless in his pursuit of justice, Hauck follows the trail
into every nook with a persistence and intuition others cannot match.
Only a man as determined as Hauck, only an officer willing to bend and
break some of the rules and procedures himself in the pursuit of true
justice can track down the ruthlessness of the villains who know no
limit to what they will do. Hauck's resolve motivates him to pursue all
the intricate connections to their shocking end.
Andrew Gross's brilliant characterization gives THE DARK TIDE an emotional depth
beyond a thriller with clever plot twists and turns as the mystery
unfolds. Hauck's past history makes him uniquely suited to the case at
hand. Hauck feels the pain of the victims and their families in ways
that touch them and enrich their lives in the midst of their despair.
Hauck's pursuit of villains is not just a job or a puzzle to be solved.
Hauck becomes a force beside Karen as she tries to uncover all the
secrets of her husband's life. By confiding in Hauck, Karen starts to
put her life back together again. Hauck stands by her, not pushing her
but allowing her to process the event and her loss as he hunts down the
clues. Andrew Gross gives just as much attention to the plot details,
the histories and the emotional depth of his secondary characters such
as the family of AJ Raymond, the hit and run victim. THE DARK TIDE provides an
unsettling glimpse into a corner of the financial world where greed
insinuates itself into characters, overshadowing all else. Andrew Gross
gives a chilling portrait of the denial used to justify financial fraud
and the consequences that one moment, one decision, can have for the
lives of his characters and the lives surrounding theirs.
Publisher: William
Morrow (March 2008)
Reviewed by Merrimon,
Merrimon Book Reviews
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