Black Coral: A Thriller

by Andrew Mayne

Overview

A Wall Street Journal bestseller.

For a police diver in Florida, solving a cold-case mystery brings a serial killer out of hiding in a deep, dark thriller by the Wall Street Journal bestselling author of The Naturalist.

Sloan McPherson and the Underwater Investigation Unit have discovered a van at the bottom of a murky Florida pond. Sealed inside the watery tomb are the bodies of four teenagers who disappeared thirty years ago after leaving a rock concert. To authorities, it looks like a tragic accident. To Sloan, it looks like murder. Every piece of evidence is starting to connect to a string of cold case vanishings throughout Florida. Clue by clue, Sloan navigates the warm, dark waters where natural predators feed, knowing that the most dangerous one is still above the surface—nesting and dormant.

But when a fresh young kill is found in the Everglades, Sloan fears that her investigation has reawakened a monster. How can she catch someone who’s a genius at hiding in plain sight? By acting as prey. The dangerous gambit is working—only too well. She’s being lured into a deception of the madman’s own design. Has Sloan set a trap for a serial killer? Or has he set one for her?

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781542009645
Publisher:	Amazon Publishing
Publication date:	02/16/2021
Series:	Underwater Investigation Unit , #2
Pages:	320
Sales rank:	450,776
Product dimensions:	5.50(w) x 8.25(h) x 0.75(d)

About the Author

Andrew Mayne is the Wall Street Journal bestselling author of The Naturalist, Looking Glass, Murder Theory, Dark Pattern, and Angel Killer, as well as an Edgar Award nominee for Black Fall in his Jessica Blackwood series. Black Coral is the second book in his Underwater Investigation Unit series. The star of Discovery Channel’s Shark Week special Andrew Mayne: Ghost Diver and A&E’s Don’t Trust Andrew Mayne, he is also a magician who started his first world tour as an illusionist when he was a teenager and went on to work behind the scenes for Penn & Teller, David Blaine, and David Copperfield. Ranked as the fifth bestselling independent author of the year by Amazon UK, Andrew currently hosts the Weird Things podcast. For more on him and his work, visit www.AndrewMayne.com.

Editorial Reviews

02/15/2021

In Thriller Award–finalist Mayne’s exciting sequel to 2020’s The Girl Beneath the Sea, Det. Sloan McPherson, a diver for the Florida Underwater Investigation Unit, joins a team looking into a series of burglaries in which navigational equipment worth millions of dollars has been stolen from yachts in the Miami area. Meanwhile, the unit is called to retrieve a body trapped in a car that nose-dived into a pond. In the course of her dive, Sloan discovers a van containing four bodies. Her search into the identity of the victims leads to a serial killer who has been on the rampage for more than a decade. Soon, though, Sloan’s team is sidelined by political squabbles with other units, she’s temporarily suspended, and she must engage in a dangerous undercover assignment. Mayne’s portrayal of the Everglades ecosystem and its inhabitants serves as a fascinating backdrop for the detective work. Readers will hope the spunky Sloan returns soon. Agent: Erica Silverman, Trident Media Group. (Feb.)

Publishers Weekly

A relentless nail-biter whether below or above the waterline. Even the setbacks are suspenseful.” —Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

“Mayne’s portrayal of the Everglades ecosystem and its inhabitants serves as a fascinating backdrop for the detective work. Readers will hope the spunky Sloan returns soon.” —Publishers Weekly

“Andrew Mayne has more than a few tricks up his sleeve—he’s an accomplished magician, deep sea diver, and consultant, not to mention skilled in computer coding, developing educational tools, and of course, writing award-nominated bestselling fiction. They are impressive skills on their own, but when they combine? Abracadabra! It’s magic…Such is the case in Mayne’s latest series featuring Sloan McPherson, a Florida police diver with the Underwater Investigation Unit.” —The Big Thrill

“Andrew Mayne has dazzled readers across the globe with his thrillers featuring lead characters with fascinating backgrounds in crime forensics. The plots are complex, with meticulous attention to scientific and investigative detail—a tribute to the level of research and study Mayne puts into every novel. A world-renowned illusionist with thousands of passionate fans (who call themselves ‘Mayniacs’), Mayne applies his skill with sleight of hand and visual distraction to his storytelling, thereby creating shocking twists and stunning denouements.” —Authorlink

“As I said before a solid follow up with thrilling action, especially the undersea scenes and the threat of Big Bill. Here’s to more underwater adventures with the UIU.” —Red Carpet Crash

“As with the series debut, this book moved along well and never lost its momentum. With a great plot and strong narrative, Mayne pulls the reader in from the opening pages and never lets up. He develops the plot well with his strong dialogue and uses shorter chapters to keep the flow throughout. While I know little about diving, Mayne bridged that gap effectively for me and kept things easy to comprehend for the layperson. I am eager to see what is to come, as the third novel in the series was just announced. It’s sure to be just as captivating as this one!” —Mystery & Suspense Magazine

“Mayne creates a thrilling plot with likable yet flawed characters…Fans of detective series will enjoy seeing where the next episodes take us.” —Bookreporter

“Former illusionist and now bestselling author Andrew Mayne used to have a cable series entitled Don’t Trust Andrew Mayne. If you take that same recommendation and apply it to his writing you will have some idea of the games you are in for with his latest novel titled Black Coral. Just when you think you might have things figured out, Andrew Mayne pulls the rug out from under you and leaves you reeling in fits of delight.” —Criminal Element

“The pages are packed with colorful characters…its shenanigans, dark humor, and low view of human foibles should appeal to fans of Carl Hiaasen and John D. MacDonald.” —Star News

From the Publisher

★ 2020-11-18
A chance discovery in an alligator-infested pond sets diver Sloan McPherson, of Florida’s Underwater Investigation Unit, on the path of a monstrous serial killer.

Tasked with retrieving a corpse from a car that’s run into Pond 65, Sloan dodges the resident amphibians long enough to emerge successful. In the process, she finds something far more horrifying: a sunken van that a more extended second dive reveals is the final resting place of four teenagers who vanished 30 years ago. It would be bad enough if their deaths were the result of reckless acting out, but it looks more and more like murder times four. Informed of Sloan’s discovery by her boss, UIU head George Solar, the victims’ parents act out their grief by yelling at each other as Sloan watches, eager to move on. But although Florida’s waterways offer apparently endless riches for underwater investigations, this case won’t let her go. Ethan Rafferty, a schoolmate who hung out with the four victims half a lifetime ago, fingers a possible perpetrator: Sleazy Steve, who he’s pretty sure got possessed by a demon they were all pursuing. The further along the trail to Sleazy Steve Sloan and Scott Hughes, the newest member of the UIU team, get, the uglier the case looks and the hungrier other law enforcement agencies are for a piece of it. At length, Sloan’s hot-trigger reaction to a particularly condescending Broward County detective gets her booted off the task force, then placed on administrative leave, even as she discovers more and more victims.

A relentless nail-biter whether below or above the waterline. Even the setbacks are suspenseful.

Kirkus Reviews