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A death rocks the Gulf Coast town of Port Leo, Texas. Beach-bum-turned-judge Whit Mosley is summoned to a yacht where the black-sheep son of a senator lies dead. Was it suicide, fueled by a family tragedy? Or did an obsessed killer use the dead man as a pawn in a twisted game? When Whit defies political pressure and conducts an inquest, he and Detective Claudia Salazar expose a nest of drug lords, con artists, and power-hungry sharks - all out for blood. With their careers -- and their lives show more -- at stake, Whit and Claudia must unearth a lethal trail of passion and deceit that lies buried not in the warm sands of Port Leo but in the icy recesses of the human heart. show lessTags
Recommendations
Member Reviews
Strong characters and excellent dialogue ignite an intriguing plot mixing elements of mystery and psychological thriller.
This was a fairly pleasant read. The book was written well. It had an interesting story. The characters were believable and even the bad people had redeeming qualities, which I like. I mainly wanted to know what the title meant and I found that out. The suspense was sluggish at first, but it picked up and ended well.
OK --average airport or beach read
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Author Information
42+ Works 5,186 Members
Jeff Abbott (born 1963) is a U.S. suspense novelist. He has a degree in History and English from Rice University. He lives in Austin, Texas. His early novels were traditional detective fiction but in recent years he has turned to writing thriller fiction. His novels include: Do Unto Others (1994) -- winner of the Agatha Award and the Macavity show more Award (given by Mystery Readers International) for Best First Novel; Black Jack Point (2002), nominated for the Edgar Award (given by Mystery Writers of America) and for the Anthony Award and for the Barry Award; Cut and Run (2003), nominated for the Edgar Award; Panic (2005), nominated for the Thriller Award (given by the International Thriller Writers); and Trust Me (2009). His novel, Panic, has been optioned for film by The Weinstein Company and is in development. His novel, Collision, has been optioned for film by Twentieth Century Fox. (Bowker Author Biography) show less
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Awards and Honors
Awards
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Is contained in
Common Knowledge
- Canonical title
- A Kiss Gone Bad
- Original publication date
- 2001
- People/Characters
- Whit Mosley; Claudia Salazar
- Important places
- Port Leo, Texas, USA
- Epigraph
- Perhaps villages fill their own quotas
in mysterious ways,
so many mayors, so many idiots,
so many murderers, so many whores.
- John D. MacDonald, A Deadly Shade of Gold - Dedication
- IN MEMORY OF
PATTI STANFIELD
who so loved the waters and a good laugh - First words
- When the Blade (as he secretly called himself) felt blue, he liked to relax behind the old splintery cabin, where his three Darlings were buried, and feel the power of their vanished lives pulse through him.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)She slept in his arms until the morning, and he watched over her, counting the stars for them both.
- Blurbers
- Gilstrap, John; Riordan, Rick; McCrumb, Sharyn; Coben, Harlan; Prowell, Sandra West; Zimmerman, R. D. (show all 10); Adams, Deborah; Maron, Margaret; Lake, M. D.; Cooper, Susan Rogers
Classifications
Statistics
- Members
- 240
- Popularity
- 134,964
- Reviews
- 3
- Rating
- (3.58)
- Languages
- English, French, Portuguese
- Media
- Paper, Audiobook, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 16
- ASINs
- 3
