Hawaii is a paradise for surfers and nature watchers, but
one beautiful morning, a woman's body washes up in the Oahu
surf. The man who finds her, a half-islander, half-incomer,
doesn't want trouble with the police so he calls them and
hopes for the best. Past history includes racial tensions
and land grabs, and some people find life is never easy.
SAVING PARADISE introduces a guy called Pono Hawkins by his
friends, who's served in Afghanistan. To ensure he's not
under suspicion he visits the police station, where he's
told that the lady he found, Sylvia Gordon, was drowned in
fresh water, like a pool, before being put in the ocean.
She'd been dead for six hours before discovery, so the cops
are looking elsewhere. Specifically, at the articles about
crystal meth that Sylvia Gordon had been writing for the
Honolulu Post, where she had been well-liked. Only, next
time Pono sees a TV report, the police have changed their
minds and said the drowning was accidental. That's when our
protagonist starts investigating, and people start trying
to kill him.
We get a lot of local dialogue, like "What's new from
that?" and hear that 'Money' magazine calls Hawaii the most
politically corrupt state; the people also have the highest
electricity bills in the US. An offshore windfarm seems a
natural choice; but conservation and tourism resent the
idea. If corporations stand to make a fortune from running
an interconnector cable through a whale sanctuary, their
politician friends end up in favour, even if that's not
what the voters expect. If the media don't expose
corruption and environmental degradation, who will? Rooftop
solar for households is the other obvious answer, but with
this cutting energy firms' profits instead of raising them,
Pono hears that major corporations are pouring money into
preventing this efficient step.
I enjoyed the debate and I liked Pono's brave daschund
Mojo, who learnt to surf by watching his owner. Pono also
teaches foster kids swimming and surfing; he had been
headed for a career in marine biology before enlisting, so
he is a savvier guy than we first realise. He finds a love
interest, but mostly he tells us of the beauty of the
islands.
SAVING PARADISE by Mike Bond is an unusual adult
thriller story and a must-read for anyone concerned about
the environment and energy. Not, however, for the tender.
When a beautiful journalist drowns mysteriously off
Waikiki,
former Special Forces
veteran Pono Hawkins, now a well-known surfer and
international surfing correspondent, quickly gets caught up
in trying to solve her death. What he learns soon targets
him for murder or life in prison as a cabal of powerful
energy corporations, foreign killers and crooked
politicians
focuses the blame on him.
Haunted by memories of Afghanistan, and determined to
protect the Hawaii he loves from
dirty politics tied to huge destructive energy
developments,
Pono turns to Special Forces buddies and his own skills to
fight his deadly enemies, trying to both save himself and
track down her killers.
Alive with the sights, sounds and history of Hawaii, Saving
Paradise is also a rich portrait of what Pono calls "the
seamy side of paradise", and a relentless thriller of
politics, lies, manhunts and remorseless murder.
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