The Oasis Project [Hardcover]

Art Adkins (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: October 1, 2007

Why were they murdered? Shirley Waterbury does not believe her family's death was accidental. Shirley knows her father was too meticulous and too cautious and knew the sea too well to attempt to sail during an approaching hurricane. The sea was his life, and he would never jeopardize the welfare of her mother and her brother, Billy. She knows they were murdered, but with no indication of foul play, no one will investigate a tragedy classified as an accident.

Enter Slade Lockwood, a decorated twenty-year veteran of the LAPD, who returned to Cedar Key to find what he lost in law enforcement: himself. His reluctant acceptance to investigate the deaths of Shirley's family members will take him on a journey across America, where he finally finds what he has lost while unraveling the mystery behind the murders - a prize so priceless, it will rival Einstein and become the greatest gift ever bestowed upon the human race! The face of the world could change, and billions are at stake as Slade races against time to bring a ruthless killer to justice!

Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Art Adkins has been in law enforcement for the last twenty-seven years and has worked as a police officer on the Ft. Lauderdale Police Department and as a sergeant on the LAPD. He is currently a sergeant with the Gainesville Police Department. His knowledge of police procedure is vast, and he has woven these details into The Oasis Project.

Writing a detective/murder mystery has always been a desire of Mr. Adkins', and The Oasis Project is the fruition of this dream. Mr. Adkins earned a bachelor's degree in liberal studies from the University of South Florida and currently resides in Hawthorne, Florida, with his wife and two sons.

Mr. Adkins is currently writing a sequel to The Oasis Project. Look for Power Grid in the upcoming months.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 296 pages
• Publisher: Dorrance Publishing Co. Inc. (October 1, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0805976043
• ISBN-13: 978-0805976045
• Product Dimensions: 9 x 6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (28 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,807,673 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Arthur 'Art' Adkins is currently a lieutenant with the Gainesville Police Department, Gainesville, Florida. Art started his law enforcement career in 1980 on the Ft. Lauderdale Police Department. Seeking more diversity, he moved to Los Angeles and joined the Los Angeles Police Department in 1982 and it is his experience on LAPD which he called upon to create his main character in The Oasis Project. In 1993, Art moved to Gainesville, Florida, his hometown, to raise his two sons.

The only son and oldest of three children, he was born in Punta Gorda, Florida, to parents of modest means. His father worked as a part time farmer and supervisor at a television cable company; his mother was employed at a General Electric manufacturing facility. He was raised in Gainesville on a small farm and both his parents stressed the importance of nature and a respect for the environment, a theme he has illustrated in his writings. It was his mother who developed his love of reading and encouraged him to read from a wide variety of authors. Among the early authors that had an influence on him, were Walter Farley and Jack London. Later the works of Robert Ludlum and Lawrence Sanders intrigued him. The convergent plots of thrillers fascinated him and when he combined this with his police procedural background and love for the environment, The Oasis Project was born.

His law enforcement career has been peppered with fascinating jobs and excitement, elements he weaves into his work. The police procedural aspect in his novels is flawless, and his work draws the reader to explore the events surrounding the story as it is topical to issues transpiring today. In 2008, he won Detective Suspense of the Year from Books-and-authors.net for The Oasis Project. His first novel, it also garnered rave reviews from Midwest Book Review, Page One Lit, and Linda Fasulo, WGCU, Southwest Florida NPR. He has been lauded for the environmental angle of his work, which is confronting society today, and has worked this into his novel.

Power Grid, the sequel to The Oasis Project, explores the secrets of Stonehenge, the pyramids and other ancient wonders and was recently released. He is already working on the third in the Lockwood series, Mind Walkers. He resides in the Hawthorne area with his girlfriend and is finishing his law enforcement career with the Gainesville Police Department.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars The Oasis Project - a thriller?, April 8, 2011

By 

bwork (Los Angeles) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Oasis Project (Paperback)

I love who-done-its, so after reading the other reviews I decided this would be my next favorite book.

Unfortunately I found it very easy to put down and quite difficult to keep picking up. I thought the writing style a little bit light and "chick-lit" (no offense ladies). There are references to God in unexpected places and more than too many for my taste. I didn't think this was a Christian novel, so it was somewhat out of character for the book. There is also a love interest that seemed a little juvenile for a mystery novel not publicized as a romance.

I really wanted to like this book, and when I completed it, it was none too soon. Maybe I missed something? Guess it just wasn't the "thriller" I was geared up for.

** I received a complimentary copy of The Oasis Project as a member of the Dorrance Publishing Book Review Team. Visit [...] to learn how you can become a member of the Book Review Team. **

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Great Plot, July 16, 2010

By 

BookAddict (FL) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: The Oasis Project (Hardcover)

The Oasis Project has a great plot but, for me, weak characters. Art Adkins writes in the omniscient POV, which is difficult to pull off even for seasoned authors. As readers, we're in everyone's head, all the time, and consequently I didn't truly care about or get to know any of them. It's also somewhat misleading. For instance, the "main" character in the opening scene never appears in the story again. We're led to believe he's important but he's nobody.

About 1/3 of the way through the story, Slade Lockwood, an ex cop, begins to shine through as the true main character. I wish that Adkins had spent more time developing his character and writing more from his POV. For me, that would have made an okay story riveting.

** I received a complimentary copy of The Oasis Project as a member of the Dorrance Publishing Book Review Team. Visit [...] to learn how you can become a member of the Book Review Team. **

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Talent!, January 21, 2010

By 

Madeline "Dog Lover" (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Oasis Project (Hardcover)

The Oasis Project by Art Adkins, published by Dorrance Publishing Co., Inc.
The opening pages give an excellent description of a hurricane and how and where it begins. I remember the big one that took out the little town of Punta Gorda where I had lived for so long. The Waterbury family was murdered and placed in their boat during Hurricane Cleopatra. When the authorities found them, it was classified as an accident. This is where the mystery begins.

When Slade Lockwood moved to Cedar Key as a 20-year veteran with LAPD, he had no idea that his retirement at forty-one would turn into a "run for your life" situation, and strangely enough he gladly accepted it. By helping a stranger, he gained something he never had before, himself.

When the writer created Slade Lockwood, he developed someone who could leap tall buildings at a single bound and never quit until the job was done. Slade is a man who can fight, investigate, solve, kill if he has to, and find love that he could never have known until he moved to Cedar Key. As situations occurred, they left you spellbound as to what he would do and what would happen to him next.

The most outstanding thing Slade did was to unravel the greatest mystery of all time that will change the world. I was thrilled to be a reader of Art Adkins first book. He has done a superb job and is on his way to becoming one of the great writers of mystery suspense.[...].

I received a complimentary copy of The Oasis Project as a member of the Dorrance Publishing Book Review Team. Visit Dorrance Bookstore to learn how you can become a member of the Book Review Team