Daniel Putkowski

This crime novel is based on a true event that happened in Aruba a number of years ago, (not Natalee Holloway), when a man and woman went snorkling at Baby Beach (which when I lived there we called the Baby Lagoon), and only the man came back. I know that at the time the man was suspected of foul play (the couple, though travelling together had not known each other long, and there was life insurance involved), but I don't know if charges were ever brought or what the final conclusions were.
In this book, the man and the woman have come to Aruba on vacation, after they had been dating only a short while. We know that the man had in the past been abusive toward women. We also know that he has taken out a large life insurance policy on the woman's life. So we kind of know what to expect when they head out snorkling.
But the woman has some tricks of her own up her sleeve. We know from the first page that she is heading home from Aruba wealthier than when she arrived. As the novel progresses, we watch this couple as they engage in a game of cat and mouse with each other.
This was a decently plotted and written crime novel, but of course I especially enjoyed the setting--the snorkling event took place in the town I was born and grew up in, the beach (Baby Beach/Baby Lagoon) is the beach where I learned to swim. (Its name derived from the fact that it was shallow all the way out to the reef, so that even a baby could "swim" there and not drown (always be able to touch the bottom)). There were lots of other places I recognized and could visualize. But I don't think you have to be from Aruba to enjoy this book.

3 stars… (meer)