By: Michael Malone
I really WANTED to like this book - both the author and the plot are set in my home state of North Carolina. The germ of the story has potential - con artist father abandons daughter, who grows up to be a Navy pilot trying to rescue said father from pursuers of a (probably nonexistent) gold reliquary. The characters, too, are appealing - or appropriately not. But the plot grows quickly insipid, the backstory passages are confusing and redundant, and MOST annoyingly the author often narrates his characters' conversation rather than writing direct dialogue. This would make an okay beach read, but don't fret if a wave washes it away. Review by Anne. (Fiction) 07/16/09
