A puzzling endangered marine mammal death leads Florida game warden Jake Hawkins to investigate a shocking wildlife crime--and to a backcountry sense of justice that can only end in violence.
A St. Johns River crab fisherman gets caught up in a black-market ring to sell the rare bones of an endangered marine species. When it results in his murder, Jake feels compelled to investigate the circumstances surrounding his death. Before too long, he is caught up in a web of deceit and intrigue that will lead him to confront his nemesis—a psychotic serial poacher who has long milked a grudge against Jake for having killed his son. The past is about to catch up with Hawkins, and if he isn’t careful, he may be the next victim.
Bob H. Lee spent over three decades as a water patrol officer on the St. Johns River and as a land patrol lieutenant in Putnam, St. Johns, and Flagler counties in northeast Florida. In other words, he was a "game warden." During his career, he caught hundreds of poachers in the act and through complex wildlife investigations. Prior to his retirement in 2007, he taught man-tracking classes through the Florida Fish and Wildlife Conservation Commission.
Throughout his conservation law enforcement career he met many interesting characters on both sides of the law. This inspired him to write his first two nonfiction books, Backcountry Lawman and Bad, Guys, Bullets, and Boat Chases--published by the University Press of Florida. Bones in Water is his third book and first novel. Bob lives with his wife, Karen, in northeast Florida.