REBEL ISLAND is the seventh entry in Rick Riordan’s private-eye Tres Navarre series. So, new readers, you might feel like you would be out of place, but except for a few loose ends that Riordan eventually ties up, you’ll have no problems with the continuity.
It starts with Tres marrying his very pregnant girlfriend Maia. When his brother Garrett finds out they are not honeymooning, he suggest they revisit a vacation spot from their youth, now run by Garrett’s pal Alex Huff. Tres wants nothing to do with it, since the hotel has some bad memories for him, including the bullying he got from his brother and Alex as kids. But that’s only the tip of the iceberg, as we learn from the flashbacks.
It’s also the site where his parents finally called their marriage quits. Relucantly, Tres goes, and once he and his bride arrive on the island and get settled into the hotel, he runs into a federal marshal with whom he has had run-ins before. If this were the only problem, maybe the weekend would go by a lot better.
Those familiar with Riordan’s writing know he is going to crank up the suspense in a big way, first with the killing of the federal marshal and who would want to do such a thing. Is it the trio of college kids who seem to have other things on their minds? A distinguished older man who seems to have come to the island with only one thing on his mind? Or maybe it’s the staff member who went missing really quickly once everyone arrived.
As the case picks up, the island is hit by a hurricane, knocking out the power, and it’s soon discovered that a drug cartel hitman might also be an unwanted guest. Riordan uses the setting of isolation and no escape to his advantage, since he never tips his hand of who the killer is until it’s necessary. There are a few clues throughout the book that might help the reader, but I’m expecting most will be surprised by the final outcome.
REBEL ISLAND is a fine mystery, as well as a fine addition to the series, which I now need to go back and read them all in order. –Bruce Grossman
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- Monster Island
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