The King Tides by James Swain

 

"The world is a good place, and so are most of the people who live in it. Evil people are a minority, and they're not supposed to win. When they go down, we have every right to pop a bottle of champagne and cheer."

          -Jon Lancaster to Beth Daniels, from the novel

Another Amazon First Reads selection, this novel is set in Florida, where I live, which caught my attention early-on. I wondered about the title and as is turned out, King Tides are a climate phenomenon in South Florida. I had never heard of these exceptional high tides that flood the streets of that area at times. More evidence of global warming?

Jon Lancaster is a former Navy Seal and police officer who is now a lone wolf investigator. Dr. Nolan Pearl and his wife in Fort Lauderdale hire him as a bodyguard for their 15-year-old daughter, Nicki, who is being stalked by a number of strange men. There have even been attempted kidnappings of Nicki. Of course, protection of the teenager is not enough, Jon gets involved in trying to find the reason behind these unexplained happenings. He soon finds evidence of child pornography and even suspicions of serial killings.

Jon eventually meets up with Beth Daniels, an FBI agent who has surprising personal connections to the men involved and they work together to find the perpetrators. 

This novel was fast-paced, pretty much a page-turner. I enjoyed it and will rate it a 4. I would likely read another by this author in the future.