“Chasin’ The Wind” - A
Key West thriller
By Michael Haskins
Five Star, March 2008, $25.95
Reviewed by Jackie Houchin
Set in steamy and exotic
Key West, Florida, “Chasin’ the Wind” is a chilling,
well-plotted mystery about injustice, revenge and bucking the
system.
When journalist “Mad Mick” Murphy discovers a buddy brutally
beaten and barely hanging on to life, he’s able to get only
one word from the man's swollen lips before he dies - Gusanos
- Havana slang for the hard-core Cuban exiles in Miami.
The local cops think
it’s about the Key West to Havana boat race Mick and his
friends were planning, and blow him off. But when Customs and
Treasury gets involved, and an unnamed “heavy weight” Federal
agency tells him to bug off or else, Mick decides to
investigate on his own.
Despite the danger and
Mick’s repeated protestations, a motley band of locals pledge
to help him find the murderers and even the score. Through the
back alleys and bars of Key West the friends gather
information and lay their plans.
Meanwhile, Mick is attacked and nearly drowns, his boat is
targeted for explosives, and an acquaintance from his
“dark-ops” past mysteriously appears.
A life-and-death chase through a graveyard at midnight, a
daring rescue of a half-dead beauty from the deep blue sea,
and a fearsome face-down with a Cuban Army General on a Havana
beach will quicken the heart rate of readers and send them
flying through the final pages.
Not all is won at the end, but Mick has a good tale to tell,
and though he'll never stop looking over his shoulder, he'll
also not stop ... chasin’ the wind aboard his 40-foot sloop.
Haskins knows Key West well, especially the nightspots and
boat docks. His characters are imaginative and colorful,
including a "mooching" ex-priest who talks with angels and is
uncannily correct in his predictions.
Haskins weaves a political conspiracy plot to equal Grisham or
Ludlum, and then pumps it with patriotism, camaraderie and a
touch of romance.
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