Review: DARK WATERS by J.B Turner

DARK WATERS is the second book to feature Miami Herald reporter Deb Jones and chronicles her continued rise in the journalistic world of crime reporting following the excellent MIAMI REQUIEM.  Rather than a hard hitting popular styled crime fiction, DARK WATERS is a conspiracy thriller that thrusts Deb, Sam and other members of the Miami Herald into a world of peril and violence.

When approached by a computer hacker to potentially unearth the lost pages of a 9/11 report, Deb, at first sceptical agrees to meet in a public venue; her reporter instincts not allowing her to walk away from a story involving the CIA, Government, and shady international dealings. However, the hacker ends up dead and she is forced to swim through a world of corruption and secrets to discover the non-disclosed material.

Author JB Turner sways from the traditional crime formula that made MIAMI REQUIEM so enjoyable in favour of catering to the conspiracy theorists and delving into the shady under-the-table-dealings of high end Government corruption to depict a deadly game of cat and mouse with Deb almost assuming a David role in a David and Goliath struggle for the truth.  

This series could easily be mainstream with DARK WATERS coming across as being written more towards that crowd. Not a bad thing by any means, I just wish the romantic elements were a tad less in-your-face, perhaps more blasé rather than Hollywood-happy-ending-style.  That said, DARK WATERS is a nice evolution of character and certainly sets the scene for a multi dimensional series not contained to any one specific genre. I hope we get a chance to read more of Deb Jones.