Book Review – Bluewater Vengeance by C.L. Dougherty

Bluewater Vengeance by C.L. Dougherty

Review by Diane Rapp

Modern Pirates of the Caribbean

Anyone who enjoys books featuring a strong woman lead character MUST read this novel.  It’s the second in the “Bluewater” series but I deliberately read it first—an experiment to decide whether the book stands on its own.  Yes it does!  The author expertly delivers enough information about Bluewater Killer during the first two chapters to make the reader comfortable in the current part of the story.  There’s enough left out that a reader is eager to buy the first book.

Dani is literally a kick-ass heroine.  She’s a petite pixy with short blonde hair but a capable street fighter under those sexy curves.  When Dani shops for a yacht, she scrambles to the top of the mast like a monkey while the yacht broker watches open-mouthed.  She later teaches Liz, her new partner in the charter business, how to shoot floating bleach bottles with an AK-47.  What a girl!   I’d hire Dani as a body guard any time, and not because she has a group of “retired” gun runners at her back.

Those friends make the “pirates” who plan to kidnap Dani look like idiots—well, dangerous idiots.  The leader of the bad guys seeks revenge for Dani’s rescue from his drug smuggling island, and has the bright idea to kidnap her.  He figures that Dani’s rich father will pay millions to get his daughter back—a donation to his retirement fund from the drug cartel—but doesn’t know he’s poking a hornet’s nest.  Other criminals are involved in the caper, getting in the way of their supposed friends.  Who can trust a crook?  I won’t say more because I don’t want to ruin your pleasure in reading this Caribbean adventure.

It’s obvious the author knows the Caribbean and sailing.  He describes various kinds of boats with the panache of a broker ready to take your millions, but at the same time his characters deliver dialog tinged with the rhythm of island Patois.  If they spoke full-fledged Patois—a blend of Spanish, English, French, and local idioms—the reader wouldn’t understand much.

This novel is complicated, like navigating a safe course through Caribbean waters, but the author knows how to navigate through both mediums.  I plan to give this novel to my husband, secure that he’ll enjoy it as much as I did.  Now I’ve finished the second book, I must read Bluewater Killer and enjoy the first part of the story.