Southern Cross

Debrosse, Jim

ISBN 10: 0312110707 / ISBN 13: 9780312110703

Published by St Martins Pr, 1994

hardback book and unclipped dust jacket [$19.95] in fine condition,stated-first edition october 1994,SIGNED by the author. Seller Inventory # 319591

Synopsis:

An all-expense-paid trip to the Caribbean offers a much-needed distraction to Cincinnati investigative reporter Rick Decker. Justin Grammer, the black-sheep scion of one of Cincinnati's most socially prominent families, has disappeared from a cruise ship, and Rick and partner Rebo Johnson are to find out what happened. It's the sort of scandalmongering assignment Decker usually tries to avoid, but Rick recently went through a heartbreaking breakup with his longtime girlfriend and could use some distance between him and the memories Cincinnati holds.
Traveling incognito, Rick and Rebo book passage on the Southern Cross, where Justin was last seen. On board, they find a party in progress, but - appearances to the contrary - things aren't all fun and games. Justin's disappearance has tensions running high; the situation explodes when the ship's most glamorous passenger is brutally murdered. When Rick links the dead woman to Justin, he realizes that whatever the missing man was mixed up in isn't over. A killer is on the loose, and Decker, whose involvement has gone way beyond simply covering the news, may be in too deep.

From Kirkus Reviews: What better way for Cincinnati reporter Rick Decker (Hidden City, 1991, etc.) to recuperate from his breakup with long-term girlfriend Janet (they'd been on the skids ever since he displayed cowardice during a canoeing accident) than to go undercover with his photographer, Rebo Johnson, on the windjammer from which local heir Justin Grammer has just disappeared? Rick's cover fades under the Caribbean sun; all the eligible women know after two minutes that he must be a reporter, and his room is tossed before he can even unpack. But Rick cracks the case open by focusing on two mysteries: a videotape missing from the room Justin shared with supermodel Danielle Evans, and gym teacher Leslie Stanton's insistence that Justin returned to the Southern Cross from his last night ashore, even though nobody else saw him. The breaks come too late, though, to save Danielle's life. It turns out she and Justin were blackmailing a South Carolina congressman into dropping a bill that would allow insurance companies to reject patients with AIDS. Two questions remain: Where did Danielle hide the videotape that Showed All, and, given the congressman's long arm, are there any potential allies Rick can be sure aren't agents of his deadly damage control? A lightly tossed blend of detection, adventure, romance (Rick shakes off the old-girlfriend blues and his doubts about his own bravery), and paranoid social-consciousness. Perfect for readers who can't afford their own winter cruise: It even supplies tropical breezes. -- Copyright ©1994, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

Bibliographic Details

Title: Southern Cross
Publisher: St Martins Pr
Publication Date: 1994
Binding: Hardcover
Condition: Fine
Dust Jacket Condition: Fine
Signed: Signed by Author(s)
Edition: 1st Edition