Book Review: Caribbean Calling

Caribbean Calling by J.D. Gordon

Reviewed by Randy Richardson

   The perfect escapeEddie Gilbert is a Chicago native and firefighter/paramedic with a knack for finding trouble in paradise. In Caribbean Calling (Red Engine Press, August 2006), author J.D. Gordon’s reluctant hero returns to a world that keeps pulling him back, a place where sunny tropical breezes mask a dark underbelly.

This is Gordon's second book in his series featuring Eddie Gilbert, a die-hard Chicago Cubs fan and Parrothead (a commonly used nickname for fans of singer Jimmy Buffett). He doesn't stray far from the formula that made his first effort, Island Bound (1stBooks Library, May 2002), strike a chord with many of the same Hawaiian shirt- and grass skirt-wearing loyalists who flock to outdoor music venues every summer in search of that elusive lost shaker of salt.

This time around, Eddie is not just away on vacation from his job as a firefighter/paramedic for the fictional Salt Creek Fire Department but is down in Tampa, Florida, testing the waters a bit. He's taken a trial job in the employment of Bruce Klein, the influential shipping tycoon and ex-Congressman whose daughter Eddie had rescued from the hands of some modern-day pirates in Island Bound.

Asked by a fellow firefighter why'd he'd go back south after all the trouble his last vacation had brought him, Eddie simply shrugs and says, "I don't know, for some reason the Caribbean calls to me."

At first, Eddie is disappointed when he finds that his new job seems nothing more than that of a "high-priced courier," but, not surprisingly, there's much more to his assignment than first meets the eye. Soon, Eddie finds himself once again in the position of trying to save a damsel in distress. This time, it's Dr. Elaine Keller, a recent medical school graduate who's been taken prisoner by a Caribbean island drug lord.

Caribbean Calling is classic escapist fiction, filled with adventure, colorful characters and exotic locales.

If you like pina coladas and getting caught up in a good story, Caribbean Calling is the perfect escape for you.

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J.D. Gordon is a firefighter/paramedic turned author. His credentials include his first two books in the “Eddie Gilbert” series, Island Bound and Caribbean Calling, and a book for middle readers called Critter Creeps. He was recently chosen as a judge for the Scribe and Quill writing awards.