Billed as you'll like this if you like John. D. MacDonald. The usual mystery in the Keys of Florida, not as good as other series set there. Don't know that I'd read another. Found myself skimming the last couple of chapters. Terrible dialogue. Two stars. ( )

Blood Island: A Matt Royal Mystery by H. Terrell Griffin
4 STARS

Blood Island is the third Matt Royal book now that I have read in the past two days and it does not disappoint. It's is high drama,action especially for a lawyer. Matt has loyal friends and he is one too. His ex-wife comes into town and asks for his help to find her missing step-daughter Peggy. Peggy is over 18 so the police need more to search for her than she has stopped calling home weekly.
Matt finds a dead body and after that someone is trying to kill him and his friend Logan. It seems that everytime they talk to somebody they end up dead. For a beach bum he gets into a lot of messes.
Lots of murders,violence,bombers,cults and drugs are going on and Matt seems to be in the middle of it.

Book discription taken from Amazon

Matt Royal never has to look far for excitement. Excitement-and sometimes trouble-has a way of finding him first. But for this fun-loving lawyer turned beach bum, things are about to get serious. Dead serious. When his ex-wife asks for help in tracking down her stepdaughter, last seen in Matts hometown of Longboat Key, Matt agrees to do a little searching. But what looks like the case of one missing girl turns out to be something much bigger-and much more dangerous. Enlisting the aid of his buddies Jock Algren and Logan Hamilton, Matt launches a full-speed-ahead search that leads from Longboat Key to Key West to an ominous strip of land called Blood Island. But this is no island paradise. Blood Island is home base to a cult of religious zealots. And theyre making devastating plans that could change the world forever. Bullets fly, and as the clock ticks down, it will be up to Matt to make sure that what happens on Blood Island stays on Blood Island.

I did not want to put down the book till it was through with it. I admit in one place I did share a few tears. Can't wait to read the next Matt Royal Mystery book.
I got Blood Island free on amazon awhile back.

Publisher: Oceanview Publishing; 1 edition (December 1, 2008) 252 pages ASIN: B00AN8A2NE ( )

Enjoyable read. ( )

A sparely written, hard-boiled mystery for guys who like boats, guns, kicking butt, ex-military, old-boy networks, and the good guys winning in the end. It took me a while to get through it only because it is not my usual genre, but I'm sure lots of others would really dig it. ( )

Matt Royal gave up his law practice to live a quieter life on Longboat Key, Florida. However, his retirement has been anything but quiet. Matt seems to have quite the knack for finding trouble on the idyllic Florida coastline.

Matt’s ex-wife comes to Longboat Key to enlist his help in the search for her stepdaughter, Peggy. Peggy has been missing for weeks but since she’s no longer a minor, the police aren’t taking her parents’ concern seriously. Matt agrees to see what he can do, and soon finds himself mired in the dangerous world of organized crime.

His search for Peggy leads him to a posh escort service run by a religious fanatic, where unsuspecting girls are drugged and forced into prostitution. But a closer look at the organization reveals a much darker secret. Operating from the secluded, privately owned Blood Island, the cult’s leader is putting in motion a sinister plot that could have disastrous consequences.

With the help of longtime friends Logan Hamilton and Jock Algren, Matt Royal will have to push the limits of lawful behavior to save Peggy and avert a global crisis.

Griffin portrays the seedy criminal underworld against the backdrop of spectacular coastal sunsets, always reminding the reader that crime exists that no matter how beautiful the scenery. The changes that Matt’s character undergoes – becoming increasingly disturbed by the actions he’s driven to – are incredibly compelling.

I did find it difficult keeping up with all the new characters that were introduced (despite taking thorough notes) but overall, I found Blood Island to be an enjoyable noir mystery. ( )