I found this good-condition hardcover at a local Goodwill thrift shop, and was intrigued by a mystery featuring a forensic geologist. While her expertise is interesting, her love-life annoyed me - here, when her new lover - whom she knows to be an FBI agent - takes off on a secret mission, instead of going about her own business she sets out to find him. [She does not, apparently, stop to think that this kind of thing gets agents killed...]

I did appreciate the subplot about dust (Saharan dust that travels across the oceans at altitude) as a possible transmission vector for terrorist purposes, and I liked the atmospheric scenes set in the Florida Everglades, but I couldn't get into the characters or their very-hard-to-believe relationship. There are some truly eye-rolling scenes here, and that tends to make the story a lot less entertaining than it should be!

There's an author's note at the end that reveals some things about the story - such as the reasons behind the very strong subplot regarding injustice for an abused wife, something personal for the author. I did appreciate that.

I left this book in the LFL at around 3; hope the finder enjoys it!

*** Released as part of the 2016 Spooktacular Halloween release challenge. ***