Black Widow (Doc Ford Series #15) » (Unabridged)

Randy Wayne White is the author of fourteen previous Doc Ford novels and four collections of nonfiction. He lives in an old house built on an Indian mound.

"Revenge becomes very personal for Doc Ford, in the stunning new novel by the New York Times-bestselling author.

It was a simple exchange. Clean.
So why did things go so terribly wrong?

It went against all of Ford's instincts. When his goddaughter, Shanay, called one day, he assumed it was with details of her imminent wedding, but the news was anything but cheerful. She and her bridesmaids had thrown a pretty wild bachelorette party, it seemed, on St. Arcs, in the Windward Islands-and someone had secretly videotaped it. Now that person was threatening to blow up her future unless she came across with enough money. "But don't worry, Doc," she said. "I negotiated it down. All I need you to do is make the exchange. Please?"

Ford knew it was a mistake-a mistake to trust the extortionist, a mistake for her not to tell her fiancé-but he agreed. And now one of the bridesmaids is near death. The blackmailer took the money and released...

Publishers Weekly

Bestseller Ford's 15th Doc Ford thriller (after 2007's Hunter's Moon) may baffle newcomers with a backstory relating to the murder of Ford's parents. Ford, a marine biologist and covert operative who lives on Florida's Sanibel Island, is busy serving his shadowy U.S. government masters by researching the potential use by terrorists of jellyfish and other venomous sea creatures when he receives a desperate appeal for help from an old friend. Shay Money, a successful 26-year-old businesswoman who's about to be married, fears her future happiness is in jeopardy because an extortionist has videotaped her and three female friends in sexually compromising situations. While Ford manages to get the tape in exchange for a sizable payment, his suspicions that the criminal isn't done with Money are soon confirmed. His efforts to protect her lead him to the Caribbean and a sophisticated blackmail racket with a lengthy list of victims. Despite some awkward prose ("The combination of flesh and death, the orderly geometrics of my wound, struck me as indefinably profound"), series fans should enjoy the ride. Author tour. (Mar.)