Wreckers' Key: A Novel of Suspense

Great story I had not read any of the authers books until now , very easy reading the story is like a movie makes you feel like you are in the scenes.

Wreckers Key was everything I expected from this talented author, and a little more. I read this one straight through. She seems to get better with each publication and this one is the best, so far. Not only has her mystery writing matured, but I truly enjoyed the way she described and used the different area of Key West and her knowledge of Ft. Lauderdale. I felt very confortable with her use of Schooner's Warf, Stock Island, etc. It's obvious that she has "been there, done that". I am looking forward to her next installment.

Fort Lauderdale salvage and towboat operator Seychelle Sullivan finds herself in Key West during race week in Kling's fourth. She's come to tow a mega-yacht back to Lauderdale after its hired captain, her friend Nestor Frias, ran it aground. Nestor suspects the boat's obnoxious owner messed with the GPS but Seychelle, something of a luddite, thinks sailors who rely on technology make mistakes, period. Then Nestor dies in a windsurfing accident and his pregnant wife insists it's murder. While humoring her, Seychelle finds more reasons to suspect the yacht owner. And she discovers that one salvage company seems to be landing a suspicious amount of business. Before leaving Key West she also runs into a childhood friend who has shed his ugly duckling nerdyness for a buff and ready success as a handsome charter captain. But the boyfriend back home, B.J., uncertain as that all is, keeps her honest and soon she's headed back to Lauderdale with the yacht, a new crew member and a lot more worries. Kling keeps things moving and winds up the action with a terrific storm. Readers may figure the culprit before Seychelle does, but the beauty of the book is the water-oriented setting and salvage background and the salty descriptions of the Florida Keys and Lauderdale and their sometimes-shady history.

Five MESMERIZING Stars! "Wreckers' Key" by Christine Kling is a highly entertaining novel full of mystery, interesting people, and great scenery. Seychelle Sullivan is a tall unmarried tugboat captain with an artistic eye and deep yearnings inside. And she's got her strengths and vulnerabilities: man problems and legal problems, among them. She comes to Key West from Fort Lauderdale to assist a friend and tow a damaged boat back. Such is the background of this standout novel that starts out interestingly and then hits a high gear of intrigue when tragedy strikes and there is a death. And we are inside of Seychelle's interesting mind the entire way, as her past keeps catching up with her, the mystery deepens, and interesting men catch her eye-but what about B. J.? Quite frankly, the high level of Ms Kling's writing artistry was such that I couldn't put the novel down. And truth be told, Seychelle's life seems to enjoyably overpower the storyline at times, although it's subterfuge. But it's fun just to watch Sey 'navigate' through the storyline. Those familiar with the Key West part of the storyline will recognize places such as Duval Street, Turtle Kraals, Schooner Wharf Bar, the Dry Tortugas, the incredible sunsets from Mallory Pier and will feel right at home as she populates her landscape with interesting and unique characters both there and later in Fort Lauderdale. We are also introduced to a facet of boating that may be new to many of us who have visited there. And that's where the trouble starts and develops, and for Seychelle Sullivan it gets way too personal. The specific writing about the Gorda/Grady-White incident is spellbinding. In "Wreckers' Key", Christine Kling has conjured up a taut, carefully-plotted tale with interesting twists and turns that are the basis of an engrossing page-turner with a surprise resolution. But watch out! You may fall in love with the amazing Seychelle Sullivan. I did!! And the Florida Keys as well. Highly Recommended. Five MYSTERIOUS Stars!! (Note: this review of "Wreckers' Key" is based on an unabridged digital download in secure eReader format.)

Seychelle Sullivan is a butch bitch staking out territory in the testosterone laden business of boat salvage, whose gorgeous lover has developed an interest in an embarrassingly wussy profession. But random events in the storyline won't really tell you what this book is about. WRECKERS' KEY records the thoughts of a deft teller of tales, a boat captain, who learned her trade, the tricks thereof, and a lovely sense of justice from the folks who surround her- her family. This is her journey, nominally through murder and mayhem and pursuit of the bad guys, but really through the decisions she must make about her life. And I was glad to do that journey with her. Within a few pages, I knew I was in the presence of a skilled writer. WRECKERS' KEY, my first Christine Kling book, is a laudable example of words used economically without distracting descriptive clutter. In less than a couple dozen paragraphs, I met many players and learned their place in Seychelle's heart, met the author's wit, her pacing and her sense of beauty: effortlessly, like undersea plants swirling with the flow of water. [...] But you already know my opinion. Reviewer: Theresa de Valence