DAVENPORT ─ ESCAPE FROM AMBERGRIS CAYE ($3.99 e-book, $12.99 paperback), an international crime thriller by Joan Mauch of Davenport is about what happens when a television-news cameraman stumbles upon a human-trafficking operation and must decide whether to risk his life and the job he loves to save a co-worker from the clutches of slavers—or simply look the other way and hope for the best.
While covering Tampa, Florida’s Gasparilla Pirate Festival, TV news cameraman, Jackson Taylor pans his camera to a nearby balcony and sees a girl being forced inside by an angry-looking man. She appears frightened and it bothers him.
He shares what he saw with his attractive on-air reporter, Izzie Campbell. She tells him to stop obsessing about it; the kid was probably acting up and her dad was making her mind. She says that if more dads were like that, maybe children would behave themselves.
Unable to put it out of his mind, Jackson repeatedly reviews his videotape and recalls having heard about the unsavory business of human trafficking. He researches the topic and is horrified to learn that it’s happening everywhere—including in Tampa, right under his nose. Although Izzie says he’s overreacting, she decides to check it out on her own. An ambitious young woman, she thinks there might be a story in it that could give her career the national attention it needs.
Returning to the house with the balcony, she is standing on the sidewalk when the man from the videotape comes out and invites her in for a drink. She declines, but decides to accept next time so she can check on the girl. When she fails to show up for work for several days, Jackson expresses concern to his hard-boiled boss who says to forget about it, girls like Izzie walk out on their jobs all the time.
Jackson pursues the matter and is warned to focus on his work—or else lose the dream job he worked so hard to get. Defying his boss’ direct order, Jackson and his free-spirit brother, Zac, follow leads that quickly get them in over their heads. They end up in Ambergris Caye, an island off the coast of Belize, where they must fight—not only to save Izzie’s life—but their own.
ESCAPE FROM AMBERGRIS CAYE is Ms. Mauch’s fourth novel. Earlier releases include: HALIFAX (January 2013), THE MANGLED SPOON (May 2014), and THE WATERKEEPER'S DAUGHTER (November 2014).
A resident of Davenport, Iowa, Joan is an Illinois native having lived in Chicago, Seattle and Portland, Oregon over the course of her life working in a variety of fields including teaching, nonprofit housing, real estate sales, and public relations. She holds a bachelor's degree in chemistry and a master's in urban studies. Visit her website at joanmauch.com, at facebook.com/joanmauch.author or follow her on Twitter.
A book signing is scheduled for April 3 from 1-3:00 at The Book Rack, 4764 Elmore Ave, Davenport (across from Best Buy). ESCAPE FROM AMBERGRIS CAYE is available as an ebook and paperback on Amazon. The paperback may also be ordered on the author’s website at joanmauch.com or email her at joanmauch@aol.com.
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