South of Tiburon

About the Book

Want some exciting reading? Here it is--a novel packed with action, suspense, and emotion.

"Great writing," said the late Arizona Senator and 1964 Presidential Candidate Barry Goldwater in his testimonial carried in the first edition. "A lean and cinematic style," said New York literary agent, Peter Miller. "I coouldn´t put it down!" Following is a summary of the latest version:

Hal Murray, frustrated 28-year-old Middle-East veteran, flees from Los Angeles to Puerto Peñasco, on the Gulf of California, after the tragic death of his fiancée.  He meets Olivia, beautiful Mexican call girl, trapped in sin by circumstances beyond her control.  Touched by her plight, he frees her from bondage and they move in together.

While Hal fishes on a deserted beach, Ruiz and Ventura, posing as policemen, kidnap him, shanghai him aboard a ship, and take him to exotic Verdosa Island, secret headquarters for Clay Norton’s drug smuggling ring.  Norton, a Korean War veteran and paraplegic, has sought revenge against Hal’s father for many years, blaming him for his disability.

Norton’s young mistress, Gina, falls in love with Hal, which sinks his emotions deeper in turmoil and aggravates his precarious position with Norton.  Hal makes several attempts to escape from the island, but Norton’s henchmen and the hostile environment thwart him.

In Puerto Peñasco, Hal’s father delivers the ransom to Olivia, unwilling accomplice in the plot under threat of death.  Ruiz takes her to Verdosa Island on a boat.  On the way they encounter a storm, and while they wait it out in the shelter of an island, he rapes her.

Hal learns that Norton plans to kill him and the girls to silence them.  He makes a daring bid for freedom, and in a violent confrontation Norton is killed and Gina is badly wounded.  Hal and Olivia get Gina aboard one of Norton´s boats and they flee the island, Norton´s henchmen in hot pursuit. As the fugitives race up the Gulf of California, they gradually outdistance their adversaries but encounter further life-threatening obstacles along the way.

About the Author

Born in Michigan, Robert Lewis grew up in the setting of his family’s small-town weekly newspaper. He spent two decades in radio broadcasting and twenty years as head of technical publications in the aerospace industry. He is a graduate of the University of Arizona and a Professional Member of the Society of Southwestern Authors. He has lived in Tucson for more than forty years, has traveled extensively in Mexico, and is intimately familiar with the setting of this story.