Matt Shannon runs into his half-brother, Jack Fontana, at a Miami brew pub. Jack invites him to sit on the patio with their drinks, watching the flow of ships through the waterway. Just released after three years of hard time, Fontana intimates that he took the fall for Matt.

While the two men discuss a passing freighter, Jack hands Matt what looks like a small video game. As soon as Matt activates the game, the freighter blows up and the word “bang” appears on the screen. The ship sinks immediately, blocking the channel. Thrown to the ground by the force of the explosion, Matt looks around for the game, but realizes it has disappeared. His fingerprints are all over it.

The on-site agencies immediately suspect terrorism or a Cuban-related protest. As the head of security for Festival Cruise Lines, Matt, an ex-FBI agent, knows he is the culprit behind the explosion, although he encourages the pursuit of the obvious options. An ingenious plot unfolds, Matt drawn into a heist of monumental proportions, one involving the robbery of a Festival Cruise Line vessel; “Jack was the trickster, the jack-in-the-box, the carnival barker.”

Bringing in a few others with particular skills, even a young woman who caught Matt’s eye on the day he met with Jack to discuss the deal, Matt’s half-brother has prepared for every contingency. Matt is trapped by rapidly evolving circumstances without an escape plan. The heist goes as planned, almost. No matter how well the operation is organized, the thieves know to expect the unexpected, in this case a formidable adversary who will stop at nothing to protect her investment. But the collateral damage leaves few survivors of Jack’s team.

This energetic suspense novel is fast-paced and well-plotted, rolling downhill toward a deadly and bloody confrontation. Caught in the middle, Matt Shannon is forced to re-examine his past assumptions, accept some difficult truths and get out of Dodge before he’s the last man standing.