The Raptor's Grasp

Death of an Innocent Directs Surfer Cop toward Death of the Planet

With the US economy in meltdown, revelers at a "Black Saturday" celebration are incredulous when the death of a popular guest is pronounced murder - even after a "TRAITOR! graffiti appears on the victim's garden wall. Immersed in his own private grief, widowed Dr. Bradley assists police and socially reengages. Detective Tor Abelove finds his best witness in a young scientist brain-damaged by drowning during a research cruise. His father, a waiter at the party, is detained - until Mexican police report the beached corpse of a second guest.

While the overprotective detective's case spins into disputes about the survivability of world sea life, increasingly he fears that the killer he seeks is someone whom in conscience he cannot arrest.

But Tor never guesses that enrolling his gentle wife in martial arts to "make her safe" has risked her life.

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