Sand Dollars: Hot Bodies, Cool Cash, and Cold-Blooded Murder... (John Caine Mysteries) [Mass Market Paperback]

Charles Knief (Author)

Book Description

Series: John Caine Mysteries | Publication Date: February 15, 1999

Still reeling from the tragic loss of his girlfriend and his treasured boat, retired U.S. Naval officer and private investigator John Caine returns to action when a wealthy San Diego woman hires him to investigate the death of her software mogul husband. From Hawaii to California to Mexico, Caine sets out to find what happened to Paul Peters-and the millions embezzled from his firm.

With the comely widow barely an arm's length away, Caine dives into a hotbed of Mexican justice, predatory sex, bullets and border politics to follow the money and find the truth. Award-winning author Charles Knief plots a spine-tingling read with a hair-raising payoff in this brilliant new mystery.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

An excess of macho posturing and unexplained plot moves weaken the effectiveness of this second adventure featuring retired Naval officer John Caine (after Diamond Head, 1996). John leaves Hawaii for California when he is hired by Claire Peters to hunt down her husband, Paul, a software tycoon who has disappeared?perhaps in the company of a missing seven million dollars. Claire is quickly smitten by the rugged John, but John is overcome with chivalry?and by Claire's pal Barbara. Neither elegant nor logical, this story suffers from the author's florid prose (Caine's rear end manages to "pucker" at a suitably tense moment in the narrative). The money trail leads finally to Joe, Paul's sleazebag lawyer, and his partner, the sultry Lorena Garcia, who has lured many a hapless soul into unrequited lust and patently unwise real estate investment. At the close, following a Rambo-esque feat of savage mayhem, John gets a spiffy new boat, but Knief seems unsure if he should also get the girl. Knief show more interest in establishing John as a man's man who knows his way around a boat and the ladies than in sustaining the suspense of a challenging mystery.
Copyright 1998 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Booklist

Who says there aren't any real men left? Meet John Caine, retired navy commander and Hawaii-based private eye. Still mourning the death of his lady love a year earlier, Caine takes a case in San Diego as a way to get back in the groove. His client, Claire Peters, whose husband, Paul, and the yacht he was piloting were apparently blown to bits in an accident, now faces further disaster. The company she and her husband founded is missing $7 million. Claire swears she saw her husband recently in Mexico, and she wants Caine to find out if Paul is really dead and what happened to the money. Run-ins with both gang members and the Mexican police stand in his way, but Caine finally finds the truth on a deserted Mexican beach. Full of high-impact action, lustful looks, spirited women, and buckets of blood, Knief's latest may be overly macho, but it offers riveting entertainment to fans of Robert Parker and John D. MacDonald. Emily Melton --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Mass Market Paperback: 304 pages
• Publisher: St. Martin's Dead Letter; Reprint edition (February 15, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0312966822
• ISBN-13: 978-0312966829
• Product Dimensions: 6.7 x 4 x 0.8 inches
• Shipping Weight: 8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,667,463 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Very, very good. Superb. One of the best. Truly, May 20, 1998

By 

[e-mail] (Washington, D.C., suburbs) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sand Dollars (John Caine Mysteries) (Hardcover)

I'm reminded of a sports column I read many years ago by Phil Pepe of the New York Daily News. He commented about Yankee third-baseman Graig Nettles' performance against the Dodgers in the 1977 World Series. Nettles, he said, doesn't make you forget Brooks Robinson, he makes you remember him. The same goes for Charles Knief and his protagonist, John Caine, vis-a-vis John D. McDonald and his bad boy, Travis McGee. I enjoyed watching, for instance, Sue Grafton's style mature from her first novel to her fourth, where she hit her stride in her series about Kinsey Milhone (best described, incidentally, as a female Travis McGee). It is amazing and gratifying that Mr. Knief, by his second novel, has hit the jackpot. As an editor at a newspaper, I am a critical reader, and, unless reading Waugh, find in any book room for improvement. I found very, very little in "Sand Dollars." My only advice to Mr. Knief, assuming he'd accept it from a hack, is to quit while you're ahead. When philosophizing, make the point and get out. Lingering for even a moment can dilute the point, and even make a descent, however brief, into banality. That said, though, Mr. Knief erred very seldom and very little. And I am hardly one to take such a fine writer to task. Even before I finished "Sand Dollars," I ordered Mr. Knief's first outing, "Diamondhead," from amazon.com. Hurry, hurry. And: Bravo, Mr. Knief. And please get cracking on your third effort.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I'm Convinced...Give me more of John Caine!, July 6, 2000

By 

K. Barrett "katibar" (Valley Mills, TX USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Sand Dollars: Hot Bodies, Cool Cash, and Cold-Blooded Murder... (John Caine Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

I just discovered Charles Knief's John Caine in "Diamond Head" and got to know him much better in "Sand Dollars" and I'm still a charged-up fan! Will start "Emerald Flash," the third in the saga of the ex-SEAL-turned-private-eye. My heart just breaks for Caine as he tries to get on with his life after losing his beloved boat and his girlfriend in the first book. In this second novel, he gets on with his life by getting involved in a stateside caper far from his home in Hawaii--but it's OK 'cause he needed to go to San Diego to buy a new boat anyway. What awaits him in California and the Baja is just one adventure and close-call after another. Man, I love this guy--he is so resilient and tough. I'm about to start the third novel featuring this flawed, but lovable hero. I almost hate to do it because I know that it's the last book about John Caine so far. Hurry up, Mr. Knief, and give me more!

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Not as good as the first book- OVERALL SCORE: (B+), December 24, 2003

By 

Pequegnat (USA) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Sand Dollars: Hot Bodies, Cool Cash, and Cold-Blooded Murder... (John Caine Mysteries) (Mass Market Paperback)

This is a good mystery story, full of action, sex, and graphic violence, what more can you want. Unfortunately this time the story takes place in San Diego and Tijuana, and so it lack the seductive setting and ambiance of Hawaii. Also the plot is more contrives and not as tightly written, but its still good, just not as good as his other stories.
OVERALL SCORE: (B+)
READABILITY: (A-), PLOT: (B-), CHARATERS: (A-), DIALOGUE: (B-), SETTING: (B+), ACTION/COMBAT: (A-), ANTAGONISTS: (B), ROMANCE: (B-), SEX: (Very Adult Content), AGE LEVEL: (NC17)