Black Water Transit [Mass Market Paperback]

Carsten Stroud (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: July 30, 2002

Jack Vermillion is seeing red. So is Earl V. Pike. So is a smart, beautiful NYC detective named Casey Spandau. For Jack, it began when Earl asked for a little favor--one former soldier to another. With Jack’s son in serious trouble with the law and his shipping company, Black Water Transit, about to hit the big time, Jack saw a chance to be a good father, a good citizen, and a good CEO--by ratting out Earl V. Pike to the feds. It was a monumental mistake.

Now Pike is mad. Bodies are piling up. And all the backstabbers are coming out of the woodwork in Jack’s rattled world. Jack’s only hope: detective Casey Spandau, who began her week hunting for a sex criminal and ended up with Earl V. Pike--a man using guile, skill, and one astounding long-range weapon to kill everyone who gets in his way. For Casey and Jack Vermillion, making Earl V. Pike angry has turned into a cross-country nightmare. But taking him down will be even worse.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Stroud reaches into his deep well of talent and comes up with this ferociously driven, intricately woven thriller about a New York businessman trying to fight his way out of a government frame. At center stage is Jack Vermillion, the workaholic owner of Black Water Systems, a successful shipping company. His only disappointment in life is his son, Danny, a thief and drug addict now in federal prison. In an attempt to cut a better deal for Danny, Vermillion rats out a client, former army colonel and sharpshooter Earl Pike, who wants to ship guns to Mexico. When federal officials move in to seize the shipment, several of them get shot to death by a long-range sniper. It's Vermillion, however, not Pike, who is arrested for the slaughter, ostensibly because an ambitious federal prosecutor sees an opportunity to confiscate everything he owns under asset forfeiture laws. Meanwhile, as Vermillion tries to figure out what happened, New York police detective Casey Spandau is equally frustrated. She's investigating a double murder, but can't get any evidence on the man she knows committed it: Earl Pike. Stroud (Close Pursuit; Sniper's Moon) masterfully handles the converging story lines, each drawing upon their own vivid scenery and characters so fresh they snap. Throughout, Stroud never missteps in either tone or pacing; as usual, his blunt portrayal of law enforcement as a deeply troubled institution is highly convincing he notes that "the law is a machine for processing and canning garbage meat." As for the writing, it's brawny and vigorous and seasoned with dark humor much supplied by Vermillion's business partner, the cerebral, wisecracking Creek Johnson. Stroud provides a brutally frank glimpse into government deceit, personal ambition and criminal motivation. (Aug. 15)Forecast: This excellent thriller rapturously blurbed by Tony Hillerman and Jonathan Kellerman, among others has the potential to be Stroud's breakout book, but sales success will depend primarily on word-of-mouth publicity.

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

--This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Library Journal

In this fast-paced novel, a shadowy ex-soldier approaches container ship company owner Jack Vermillion with a business proposition. The soldier wants to send a shipment of arms overseas without alerting the ATF. This deal solves a personal problem for Jack, who agrees to turn the soldier and the arms over to the ATF in return for a reduction of jail time for his problem son. However, the tables are turned on Jack, who finds himself on the run from a drug smuggling charge while trying to find the person who set him up. Stroud's (Sniper's Moon) story, read by Bruce Reizen, holds the listener's interest and contains many colorful characters, ranging from a cold-blooded federal lawyer to a handful of New York City cops. The dialog features many excellent one-liners as well. Not a great work of art but a fun summer diversion; for larger audio collections. - Stephen L. Hupp, West Virginia Univ. at Parkersburg
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 432 pages
• Publisher: Dell (July 30, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0440237092
• ISBN-13: 978-0440237099
• Product Dimensions: 4.2 x 1.2 x 6.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (11 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #289,414 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Just wonderful!, October 24, 2001

By 

Charlotte Vale-Allen (CT USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Black Water Transit (Hardcover)

I don't know how I missed Stroud's first two books, but I couldn't be happier that I did find Black Water Transit. Stroud is an enormously gifted writer, with exceptional plotting skills, a fine gift for characterization, and a Damon Runyonesque sense of humor. It takes a lot to make me laugh, but some of the observations (placed in darker moments, which makes them all the more laudable) had me merrily, appreciatively chortling away. Nothing in this book is predictable; none of the characters are cliched, but are original and entirely memorable. There's not a wasted word; there's no unnecessary padding. The narrative takes off in high gear and never lets up for a moment. This is a book not to be missed! I'm now off to order Close Pursuit and Sniper's Moon.
Most highly recommended.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A thrill a minute, August 8, 2001

By 

Harriet Klausner - See all my reviews
(#1 Hall OF FAME REVIEWER)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Black Water Transit (Hardcover)

When Jack Vermillion returned home from serving his country as a marine in Viet Nam, he came back with titanium for a spine and the drive to become successful as a civilian. Jack takes a tiny shipping firm, Black Water Transit, and soon turns it into a multi-million dollar giant. Perhaps because he has always been a workaholic, Jack's only failure is his son, a resident of the Feds in Lompoc Correctional Facility.

Frantic to help his desperate son leave Lompoc where he is choice meat, Jack finds the avenue when US Army (R) Colonel Earl Pike hires Black Water to illegally ship a gun collection to Mexico. Jack cuts a deal with the Feds to move his son to a less secure facility in exchange for Pike and his collection. However, law enforcement organizations fail to communicate as New York State police officer Cassandra Spandau goes after Pike at the same time. The subsequent shoot-out between the AFT and NYPD leaves several cops dead and everyone blaming Jack.

BLACK WATER TRANSIT is an action-packed police procedural thriller written with intelligence and wit. The story line never allows the reader to blink as Carsten Stroud paints a strong but gloomy look at a government's dirty tricks and Lady Macbeth levels of ambition; no one in authority seems to mind whether an innocent is grinded into chopped meat. Dark humor adds to the edge yet also eases some of the tensions of this powerful plot. Mr. Stroud deserves sub-genre attention because this is one terrific novel.

Harriet Klausner

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Stylish, Gritty, September 6, 2002

By 

Jeanette R. Jackson (Aurora, IL USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Black Water Transit (Mass Market Paperback)

I loved Stroud's book and thought Black Water Transit was one of the most original plots that I have read in a long time. Jack Vermilion, the main character is successful businessman and the owner of Black Water Systems a shipping company. He enjoys the sucesses of his life except for his dissapointing son, Danny, a thief and drug addict. In federal prison, Danny calls and begs for help. In an effort to help his son, Jack turns informant on a client, Earl Pike, who wants to ship some guns to Mexico. When feds move in to yank the shipment, several agents are killed and of course Jack is blamed and not Pike. Pike, a former army colonel and sniper feels he has been betrayed by Jack and starts his own personal vendetta. The edgy writing of the story gives it the added substance that some writers lack. The characters were razor-sharp and very believable. This is the type of book that you won't want to put down until you are finished. Although, I initially had some problems with going back and forth in the chapters with the different story lines and characters, in the long run it was one hell of a read!...