Black Horizon by James Grippando

Black Horizon (Jack Swyteck, #11)

by James Grippando

"It's devu, with a big twist. Three summers after the biggest man-made environmental disaster in history, millions of gallons of oil are again spewing from a hole in the ocean floor. But this rig explosion was in Cuban waters, just 50 miles away from Florida, and the situation is complex. The consortium doing the work is state-owned Venezuelan, Chinese and Russian, controlled by a mineral lease from the Cuban government. And the Cubans not only refuse assistance from the U.S., they also vow to fire on "hostile" American vessels that enter Cuban waters. Enter Jack Swyteck, who's honeymooning with his new wife Andie in the lower Keys. As an ominous black slick appears in the water, CIA agent Andie is called back to an undercover assignment. So Jack heads to Key West to see his buddy Theo Knight. There Jack is transformed from bystander to player in the unfolding oil catastrophe when he takes on a client whose husband was on the rig that blew up. She wants Jack to file a wrongful death in U.S. court. Taking on this unimaginably complicated case pitches Jack into a dangerous world, only to find that his case and Andie's assignment may be lethally connected"--

Reviewed by jnkay01 on

2 of 5 stars

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"Somewhere, a cheerful yet firm commercial is probably still airing to remind tourists that Florida's beaches are oil-free. Meanwhile, Grippando's fun legal thriller offers a breezy tour of the policies that shape life in South Florida and its Caribbean neighbors."

My review for The Associated Press: http://bigstory.ap.org/article/black-horizon-revisits-oil-spill-nightmares

If the premise for this novel sounds familiar, here's my 2012 AP story on US plans for dealing with offshore oil spills in the Caribbean, including Cuban waters: http://news.yahoo.com/apnewsbreak-us-oil-spill-plan-prepares-cuba-213623814.html

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 5 March, 2014: Finished reading
  • 5 March, 2014: Reviewed