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Adrift on St. John (Mystery in the Islands #1)
by
Rebecca M. Hale (Goodreads Author)
No one knows better than resort manager Pen Hofstra that the idea of a tropical paradise is an illusion. So when a young woman named Hannah Sheridan disappears off the island of St. John, she is not surprised that all is not what it seems to be. Pointing out Hannah's resemblance to the Amina Slave Princess from the 1733 slave revolt on St. John--whose ghost is rumored to h...more
Paperback, 320 pages
Published
March 6th 2012
by Berkley
(first published March 2012)
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Deep in the waters of the Caribbean on the tiny island of St. John, Hannah Sheridan runs to get on the water taxi because she's running late. The taxi springs a leak while crossing the channel to St. Thomas, the island where Hannah works. About halfway through the journey, Hannah, a recent employee at the resort, vanishes without a trace at sea, which fuels a local legend.
Penelope Hoffstra, or Pen as the islanders called her, is Hannah’s employer. Now, she's caught up in the intrigue about how H...more
Penelope Hoffstra, or Pen as the islanders called her, is Hannah’s employer. Now, she's caught up in the intrigue about how H...more
First of all just to get it out ...I loved this book. If you read this book expecting a series like Ms. Hale's other popular one...it is Not! This book, in my opinion, is as fine a piece of literature of the Mystery/Suspense/Thriller genres that I've read in quite a while.
I never put together the orchestrator of the mysteries until the very ending when the Author revealed it to me. This was a mystery novel. Not a cozy murder, or a murder mystery at all, this book was far more complex and layered...more
I never put together the orchestrator of the mysteries until the very ending when the Author revealed it to me. This was a mystery novel. Not a cozy murder, or a murder mystery at all, this book was far more complex and layered...more
Four years ago Penelope Hoffstra got an offer she couldn’t refuse, a struggling borderline unethical lawyer she finds herself in the Miami airport when a strange man approaches her and offers her a new life. She never looked back. She found herself the manager of a prime resort on the Virgin Island of St. John, her ineptness however has followed her to her new career as well as she skims life on her island. But there’s change coming and it isn’t good as the natives get restless nearing the anniv...more
This was my first experience with the author, Rebecca Hale. As I began reading the book, I became confused as to whether I was reading a story or a history book. I was never able to connect with the main character- as the story bounced between the history of the island, the main character and the secondary characters. The main character is a lazy alcoholic who would rather turn to a bottle than anything else. I normally will finish a book in one sitting once it "grabs" me, however as I attempted...more
Hale manages to bring to life the complexity of the island's history, and what it is to live on the island, as opposed to being a guest at one of the resorts. The plot is made up of many strands, all woven together into a whole at the end. While this keeps the reader moving right along, it does add layers of complexity.This is not surprising given that the author was a patent attorney, and is thus attuned to skillfully handling complex and muti-layered situations.
It's an intriguing book, thoug...more
It's an intriguing book, thoug...more
Penelope Hoffstra, the manager of an island resort, knows what the tropical paradise is not as much as what it is. Pen, as she is known by, has been there four years and lets her assistant Vivian do most of the "heavy lifting" in running the resort. Pen seems to have an abundance of secrets and rather questionable work habits. When Hannah Sheridan appears to work at the resort, Pen finds her a mystery. With Beulah, the maid, Conrad, the annual visitor, Roger, the rooster, and other colorful char...more
I can see there is a wide response to this book. I received a copy from the author at a panel raffle during Left Coast Crime. I really wanted to like this book. I was not comfortable with the format of placing an ending scene in the beginning of the novel and flashing back to tell the tale. There was quite a bit of repetition about the historical aspects of St John, especially in the beginning. Most annoying for me was the bouncing back and forth between different points of view and different ce...more
Congratulations Ms. Hale! This book is filled with the idiosyncracies of the people living in St. John/St. Thomas in the United States Virgin Islands as well as living on these islands. Life can be hard living there but the perks are well worth it. This book was centered on the smallest and most expensive of the three islands. Rebecca Hale's misterious story allows the reader to be able to use all five senses while becoming an intricate part of the story. Her words become alive and feeds the sen...more
First Line: Deep within the murky, unlit darkness of the Caribbean waters skirting the northern tip of the Lesser Antilles, the stocky shadow of a catamaran powerboat rocked against a wooden pier off the tiny island of St. John.
For the past four years Penelope Hoffstra has been a resort manager on the island of St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Penelope knows firsthand that there's no such thing as a tropical paradise, so when one of the resort's employees is reported to be killed when a wate...more
For the past four years Penelope Hoffstra has been a resort manager on the island of St. John in the U.S. Virgin Islands. Penelope knows firsthand that there's no such thing as a tropical paradise, so when one of the resort's employees is reported to be killed when a wate...more
I don't usually give a bad review to a book I've read. I usually have good thigs to say, otherwise, I can't read enough of the book to review it.
I decided to plunder through this one, though. I am a fan of Rebecca Hale's "Cats and Curios" mysteries...well, the first two, at least. I had noticed that the most recent "Cats and Curios" mystery, "How to Tail a Cat," was not up to par...hard-to-follow plot, confusing characters, chaotic plot structure, etc. I thought I would give this new series of h...more
I decided to plunder through this one, though. I am a fan of Rebecca Hale's "Cats and Curios" mysteries...well, the first two, at least. I had noticed that the most recent "Cats and Curios" mystery, "How to Tail a Cat," was not up to par...hard-to-follow plot, confusing characters, chaotic plot structure, etc. I thought I would give this new series of h...more
Well this just shut the door on another author: Rebecca Hale. I read her first "Cat" novel and liked it but couldn't get through the next installment. I had hoped this new series would be different. I managed to get to the halfway point before I stopped putting the book down and strived to finish it. That was difficult as the writing was so jumbled that it drew me out of whatever the story was supposed to be. This book is awful and I won't recommend it to anyone, nor will I buy another by this a...more
It's too bad. This author has an interesting germ of a plot (as she did in her cat mysteries) but the main character is an idiot (as it was in her cat series), the complications piled on become hopelessly chaotic, the secondary characters are "quirky" to the extreme, and the prose style is rather pedestrian. This is the 4th book by this author that I've tried and the highest rating I've given is three stars, so I think she and I just don't mix.
St. John! One of my favorite places and coincidently it dealt with the closing of Maho Bay Eco resort..the place we love to go to and that will be closing really in May because the land is being sold. The mystery was okay but I loved how well the author knew the island and all its idiosyncracies. And the picture on the cover? Yup, that's what it looks like.
Mar 19, 2012
Victoria Wright
is currently reading it
I'm only a few chapters in and I'm enjoying it. I'm not sure what to make of the main character yet. Every time I want to like her, I'm presented with another character flaw that makes me hesitate to root for her.
I'm familiar with this author's writing, and I really like her series. More later . . .
I'm familiar with this author's writing, and I really like her series. More later . . .
I could only get about 3/4th's of the way through this book. I felt like it had a lot of potential, however it just let me down. I'm not particularly crazy on books that I read the ending before the beginning either, so that's one of the other reasons this book and I got off on the wrong foot. I also wasn't too fond of the characters. I had a really hard time connecting with the main character , she seemed a bit lazy and too sardonic for my liking. I'd like to say that I will go back and reread...more
Loved it! Something different and incredibly well done. First in a series but I don't know if the continuation is about the Island or the main character and love that I don't know!
I would not consider this a modern day cozy. More like cozies from Yesteryear. Some very dark chapters. Very interesting of the of St John's. Mystery and characters were okay.
a bit too much history lessons, otherwise I liked it. If all her books are like this one I don't think I would keep reading them.
Rebecca is Guest Posting on my blog March 8. Full Review will be posted then.
This cozy mystery was okay. The characters were interesting but there were some definitive plot holes and I don't think the whole thing wrapped up very well at the end. The actual mystery was overly complicated. Had it not been set on an island, it would have been far less interesting to me.
Jun 22, 2012
Suzanne
rated it
2 of 5 stars
Recommended to Suzanne by:
SYKM Newsletter
Shelves:
mysteries
I think I got the mystery, but I'm still scratching my head a bit............. I did love all the history of the USVI, especially St. John. Some of the characters were quirky and fun. Some I didn't much care about. Excellent job of capturing the local flavor of the islands and the resident islanders.
May 18, 2013
Alyssa
marked it as to-read
May 13, 2013
Nancy
is currently reading it
Apr 22, 2013
Essajane
marked it as to-read
Mar 29, 2013
J
marked it as to-read
Mar 26, 2013
Bonnie
marked it as to-read
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Rebecca M. Hale is the NY Times bestselling author of HOW TO WASH A CAT. The series, starring Rebecca's cats Rupert and Isabella, takes place at an antique shop in San Francisco's historic Jackson Square. While fictional, each book features a treasure hunt style mystery relating to a different aspect of California history - from the Gold Rush (HOW TO WASH A CAT), to the San Francisco escapades of...more
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