Vineyard Prey: A Martha's Vineyard Mystery (Martha's Vineyard Mysteries) [Hardcover]

Philip R. Craig (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: May 24, 2005 | Series: Martha's Vineyard Mysteries

Thanksgiving has come and gone, and hunting season is in full swing on the Vineyard. J. W. Jackson -- retired cop, dedicated fisherman, and passionate cook -- is more or less holed up with his wife, Zee, and their two spunky kids for the winter. At least dear old dad has finally agreed to get a computer to keep them connected to the outside world! Otherwise, their cozy Vineyard home is pretty much cut off from civilization during this time of year.

Still, the world has a way of intruding on their idyllic winter setting. When J.W.'s old Vietnam buddy and Vineyard fishing companion, Joe Begay, asks to be met on Cape Cod and virtually smuggled back to the island, J.W. knows something's not right. Joe wouldn't be sneaking around and asking J.W. to do him odd favors if trouble weren't brewing. J.W. also knows that Begay wasn't merely a soldier, but he has also performed highly secretive work for the government ever since Vietnam.

Soon, the facts begin to emerge: A few years ago, Begay and five fellow agents were caught in the chaos of a bloody mission. Today, only two of the five remain. The others have died unexpectedly, and a killer known as the Easter Bunny may now be on his way to the island to take out Joe Begay.

Enter the seductive and highly dangerous Kate MacLeod, the fifth member of Begay's secret government team. Why has Kate suddenly appeared on the Vineyard? Is she there to warn Begay, or could she be there to kill him? Even though Begay claims to trust her, J.W. is sticking close to Kate's side to make sure his friend is not being double-crossed.

J.W. has always admired and respected Begay, and would do anything to help him out -- but he can't let Zee and the kids become targets in this cat-and-mouse game. Can J.W. divert the Bunny's attention long enough for Begay to take him out? And can he keep his family out of harm's way?

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Set in December during scallop season, Craig's cleverly plotted 16th Martha's Vineyard mystery to feature flip, fast-talking retired Boston cop J.W. Jackson (after 2004's Vineyard Mansion) opens with the arrival on the island of government agent Joe Begay, an old buddy from Vietnam days seeking J.W.'s unofficial help to track down a killer. As Joe later explains when the pair secretly rendezvous on the Cape, three out of five agents involved in an undercover mission have died mysteriously in the past year. Joe and the other surviving member of the team suspect a terrorist known as the Easter Bunny is after them and may be on the Vineyard. The FBI and other intelligence agencies soon invade the island, whose locals and off-season life Craig depicts with his usual humor and affection. Spies, bombs, gun fights and a high-speed car chase keep the action moving.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

This long-running series offers many satisfactions, not the least of which is Craig's constants: J. W., striving mightily to be a fisherman and family man but always being drawn into whatever mischief is afoot on Martha's Vineyard; plots that don't stretch credulity; and fine local color. This time, with Christmas approaching, J. W. finds it necessary to move his wife and kids out of their house when an old Indian buddy from Vietnam needs to hide his tracks for awhile. Joe Begay has done covert work for some years, and when three of the five operators who worked with him die suddenly, he sends his own family away and asks J. W. to help. A beautiful Eurasian agent, a lot of suits from D.C., and J. W.'s tentative forays onto the Internet (aided by his young children) all come into play, as our hero attempts to resolve the situation in time for his family to return home for the holidays. GraceAnne DeCandido
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 256 pages
• Publisher: Scribner (May 24, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0743246772
• ISBN-13: 978-0743246774
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (14 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,880,524 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Visit from the Easter Bunny, May 30, 2005

By 

Karen Potts (Lake Jackson, Texas) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Vineyard Prey: A Martha's Vineyard Mystery (Martha's Vineyard Mysteries) (Hardcover)

Most of Philip Craig's Martha's Vineyard Mysteries take place in the warmer months, but in a change of pace, this one takes place in December. Just as J.W. Jackson and his family are contemplating the Christmas season, J.W. receives a visit from his old Army buddy Joe Begay, who needs some help. He wants to be picked up on Cape Cod and brought back to Martha's Vineyard without anyone seeing him. J.W. agrees to the task, without understanding why. Joe explains to him that he once did an undercover government job with a team of five people. Three of the team members have died and he is afraid that he may be next, a potential target for an assassin whose nickname is Easter Bunny. Things become even more complicated when the fifth member of the team, a woman named Kate, shows up on the Island, and there are now two people to protect. Author Craig spins a good yarn, complete with a car chase, explosions, and undercover intrigue. This is a welcome addition to the Martha's Vineyard series.

6 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars exciting and fun mystery, May 25, 2005

By 

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

This review is from: Vineyard Prey: A Martha's Vineyard Mystery (Martha's Vineyard Mysteries) (Hardcover)

J.W. Jackson moved his family to Martha's Vineyard to get away from big city life and crime although at times the island resembles the mean city streets. As an ex-city policeman, Jackson takes care of himself which is why Joe Begay, his sergeant when they served in Vietnam, comes to him when he needs help. Jackson smuggles Joe back onto the island after he leaves it and meets up with him at a designated place in Cape Cod.

Joe works for one of the black ops organization and he and five other members of a trade delegation were able to kill two terrorists code named Rudolph and Scarecrow. The Easter Bunny got away and since that mission three of the group has been killed. Begay believes the Easter Bunny is coming after him and Kate, the other surviving member of the mission. Kate left her home after finding poisoned needles on pillows in her home. She came to Martha Vineyard's to work with Joe in taking the Easter Bunny down. Unfortunately Jackson becomes involved in their mission because the killer has linked him to Kate and Joe, putting all three of their lives in danger

VINEYARD PREY is an exciting and fun reading experience because the protagonist keeps getting pulled into a situation that he really wants no part of all the while protesting. He is happy to stay out of the fiasco and just go on with his life. Phillip K. Craig's latest work is more action-packed than usual and it is so easy to become absorbed in the plot that the everyday world fades away.

Harriet Klausner

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars left out in the cold, December 18, 2007

By 

Linda Pagliuco "katknit" (CT, United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Vineyard Prey: A Martha's Vineyard Mystery (Martha's Vineyard Mysteries (Avon Books)) (Mass Market Paperback)

It's winter on the Vineyard, and though the tourists have gone, JW's peace is shattered by the violence threatened against one of his best friends. Isn't it fortunate that he can protect his wife and kids by hiding them away at one of the houses he takes care of for richer summer folk. Naturally, JW feels obligated to assist his friend, at no small risk to himself. This could be the plot of a gripping story, but alas, it's difficult to differentiate one set of killers from another, what with all the deer hunting, covert ops, and holdings at gunpoint on the part of the good guys and the bad. It's also hard to side with a protagonist who finds it necessary to belittle those whose views oppose his own (such as the "crabby, little old ladies" who work for animal rights.) But the worst flaw in Vineyard Prey lies in the character of Kate, a beautiful but arrogant and chillingly amoral secret agent with no visible redeeming qualities. It's astonishing that someone like Kate would make the stupid mistakes that she repeatedly commits. Much less be lucky enough to survive.
The descriptions of Vineyard scenery are the saving, evocative grace of this otherwise heartless novel.