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Formats
Paperback Details
  • 03/2020
  • 978-0-9991989-8-8
  • 352 pages
  • $14.95
Ebook Details
  • 03/2020
  • B084P4JT47
  • 352 pages
  • $2.99
Corey Lynn Fayman
Author
Ballast Point Breakdown

Adult; Mystery/Thriller; (Publish)

On a cool winter evening, a speedboat hurtles across San Diego Bay and crashes into the ballroom of the Admiral’s Club. As guests flee the ensuing fire, a woman crawls from the burning boat and screams her last words: Arion has returned! Before long, guitar-playing detective Rolly Waters is on the case, connecting the dead woman to a Navy diver who disappeared twenty years earlier and the twisted wrecks of the lives he left behind.

The fourth novel in the Rolly Waters mystery series.

Reviews
Musician and author Fayman’s fourth Rolly Waters mystery (after Desert City Diva) takes private investigator Rolly on a quest to find Butch Fleetwood, a former Navy diver who’s been missing for over two decades. Environmental activist Janis Withers crashes her boat into the Admiral’s Club ballroom in San Diego, pours gasoline everywhere, and dies in the subsequent fire. Her fellow activist Melody Flowers asks Rolly for help finding Butch, whom Janis claimed was Arion, the dolphin king, and the inspiration for the Lemurian Temple that Melody and Janis founded for dolphin worship, which Janis’s parents plan to sell. As Janis once ran the fan club of Rolly’s former band, he agrees to help Melody. Soon he’s mired in a mystery involving a water park, a wealthy painter, a secretive government contractor, and the elusive Harmonica Dan. As people linked to the investigation die mysteriously, Rolly forges ahead to solve the puzzle of Butch’s disappearance while eluding a cunning killer.

Fayman quickly draws the reader in with the boat crash scene, which couples dry humor with fiery drama. The story is fast-paced and intensified by the myriad of twists and turns, each establishing another character who had a reason to want Butch dead. Fayman craftily ties together the mystery behind Butch’s disappearance and the present-day deaths. Though Fayman clearly outlines the characters’ motives and how they connect to one another, readers must pay close attention to the details to have a thorough understanding of the intricately woven web.

Fayman expertly underscores the ups and downs of a musical career, and his use of the San Diego area and the influence of the naval base there adds elements of realism and authenticity. Mystery fans will quickly warm to the affable Rolly, a genuine man who, though scarred by events of his past, has embraced the present to live one day at a time. This standalone installment will satisfy both newcomers and series fans with a fascinating mystery and colorful cast.

Takeaway: This music-themed murder mystery will draw fans of old-fashioned gumshoes, vivid characters, and twisty, layered stories.

Great for fans of Robert B. Parker’s Crimson Joy, James Patterson and James O. Born’s The River Murders.

Production grades
Cover: B
Design and typography: A
Illustrations: -
Editing: A
Marketing copy: A-

At the start of Fayman’s enjoyable fourth mystery featuring San Diego, Calif., PI Rolly Waters (after 2016’s Desert City Diva), a speedboat skids across the beach and crashes through the picture window of the Admiral’s Club ballroom, where a party is going on. A young woman emerges from the boat, pours gasoline over herself, and cries “Save the dolphins!” before firing a flare gun at her head. The dead woman is later identified as Janis Withers, cofounder of the Lemurian Temple with Melody Flowers, who’s a priestess in the esoteric faith practiced at the temple. Melody wants Rolly to find out what happened to Butch Fleetwood, a Navy man assigned to work with dolphins, who disappeared more than 20 years earlier. Janis, who once ran the fan club for guitar-playing Rolly’s old band, gave Butch’s dog tags to Melody and asked her to get Rolly’s help if anything ever happened to her. The FBI views Janis’s self-immolation as a possible ecoterrorist act, but Rolly’s investigation into Butch’s disappearance uncovers some dark secrets connected to Janis’s death. Fayman maintains a nice light touch throughout. Carl Hiaasen fans will be pleased. (Self-published)
News
09/23/2019
New Rolly Waters Mystery arrives March 2020

Ballast Point Breakdown, the fourth novel in the Rolly Waters mystery series, will be published by Konstellation Press March 1, 2020

Formats
Paperback Details
  • 03/2020
  • 978-0-9991989-8-8
  • 352 pages
  • $14.95
Ebook Details
  • 03/2020
  • B084P4JT47
  • 352 pages
  • $2.99
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