The Mourning Islands
A silhouetted figure is unaware he is being watched by an ominous figure, making the novel’s tagline “The danger lies not in the water” even more eerie.
The Mourning Islands is a riveting story of mystery, betrayal, ambition, passion, and violence featuring a flawed, conflicted central character.
The plot is engaging and fast-paced, perfect for readers of mysteries, crime novels, action novels, and literary fiction—genres in which author Douglas Wells has received numerous literary awards.
In The Mourning Islands, readers meet Talmon Bonnett, a veteran of the 1993 Battle of Mogadishu in Somalia who can usually hold his PTSD at bay. When a wealthy couple hires him to spy on Rusty Wing, the man responsible for building the Mourning Island’s new resort, Talmon injects himself into Rusty’s inner circle. Lying about his intentions, Talmon gets to know Rusty’s troubled fiancée Claire, his sinister Cuban first mate Santos, and Marlene, Rusty’s alluring sister.
Talmon and Marlene begin a torrid affair; then someone is murdered, and Talmon learns that two Cuban mobster brothers are the money behind the resort. Talmon forces the couple to divulge the real reason they hired him. Everything is connected to the murder, Rusty’s circle, the mobster brothers, and Claire’s vanished father, who might know something vital.
Talmon’s lie threatens the life he envisions with Marlene. Violence erupts because of a dispute between the brothers, with Rusty’s circle as targets caught in the middle. Talmon desperately seeks Claire’s father, while the two brothers maintain their collision course.
The Mourning Islands is an electrifying story that fuses mystery, passion, and tragedy against the serene beauty of Florida’s coast.