Feeding Frenzy (Aristotle Socarides Series, #4)

Feeding Frenzy (Aristotle Socarides Series, #4) by Paul Kemprecos

So much for a quiet summer......

For Aristotle "Soc" Socarides, diver, Cape Cod fisherman, and sometime private investigator, summer on Quanset Beach can have its irritations. The throngs of pushy tourists who converge on the town turn everyday events into headaches, and the heat and humidity make fishing expeditions grueling tests of endurance. Still, for all his griping, this is home, and "Soc" likes it.

Likes it, that is, until the day horrible screams shatter Quanset Beach's calm. A swimmer is attacked and killed by a mysterious aquatic predator. The body is viciously disfigured in a way that is unlike anything ever seen. The town goes into a state of complete panic, and when another swimmer is mutilated, and bodies start coming ashore, "Soc" knows there is no time to lose.

Time is something "Soc" already has little of, though. He has agreed to help Tillie Talbot, the owner of the Quanset Beach Sailing Camp for children. The camp is set on prime waterfront real estate, and Tillie has repeatedly fought off aggressive developers looking to buy it. But now sinister forces are at work to bankrupt Tillie -- forces that, "Soc" learns, have ominous levels of power in local and state government. And, as if "Soc" didn't have enough to think about, his mother coerces him into trying to shake some sense into his cousin Alex. Add to that a messed-up love life, and you have all the ingredients for a thoroughly rotten time.

When John Flagg shows up in Quanset, "Soc" knows things are about to go from rotten to surreal. A sinewy ex-commando with ice in his veins, Flagg is an old friend who does unsavory jobs for the CIA, and his sudden interest in the Quanset Beach attacks is definitely not a good sign.

Suspense Press, Softcover, 1993