Wet Work

Impoverished college student Summer Cassidy just wants to earn her master's in hydrogeology. That, and hustle some foosball, chase a Frisbee, drink a few beers. Two months shy of her graduation, a corporation's desperate efforts to suppress her research into contaminants in its ASR wells upend her world. But nothing is going to keep her from pursuing the truth or her dreams. Not the end of her scholarship. Not the thugs who come after her. And especially not the enigmatic Ty Franceschi, even if he is hotter than the Florida sun in mid-August.

With memorable characters, a lush Florida setting, and our most precious natural resource at the center of its plot, "Wet Work" is an environmental thriller evoking a Carl Hiaasen novel, corrupt strip-mall investor replaced with crooked water-project developer.

Summer Cassidy prefers to shred the bad guys with science, but if that doesn't work she slings a book at a nose, whips a wrench toward a windpipe, or grabs the nearest gun. She is a bit of a bad girl, but one whose vulnerability will win your heart.

Reading "Wet Work" is like taking a group canoe trip into the lush wild world of natural Florida and rowing with a cast of characters who might kill you-or save you. And then, just when you figure out friend from foe, you hit white water. It will make readers think twice the next time they turn on their water faucets. In 2013 this manuscript won a Royal Palm Literary Award in a contest sponsored by the Florida Writers Association.