I've read nearly all of the Vineyard series, and they've all been fairly enjoyable...J.W. is an interesting enough character (even if he is sometimes sort of lame), and the descriptions of the Vineryard are nice, even tho I've never been anywhere near the island myself. They all have somewhat elementary plotlines, and they usually hold up to any scrutiny- unfortunately, this isn't one of them.

We're supposed to buy the premise that ol' J.W. is fishing and up comes the president's daughter, and then we're supposed to buy the plotline that the daughter comes and stays with J.W. and Zee for the week? Come on, this is just a little TOO absurd.

While in danger throughout the novel, we're supposed to buy into the premise that they take time to go to the beach and hang out as if nothing is wrong? J.W. says to the president's daughter- sure, you can go out anywhere you want, we'll tell everyone you're my cousin named Debby, and we'll hide your true identity with some makeup and a big floppy hat and some glasses!

Even when the president's daughter knows she's in danger, she acts as if nothing is wrong- 'hey, forget this danger stuff, let's go meet the boy I met and go to the beach!' And J.W. is quick to say- sure, why not...let's forget the danger we're all in and go to the beach, I'm sure nothing could ever happen to us there.

It's all too absurd to buy into (even the reasoning revealed at the end is laughable), which hurts the book a little, but as I said, overall it was enjoyable. It's a fairly quick read, so I guess that helped.

For the series overall, I just HAVE to point out a few aspects that bug me to death when I read any of the books in the series...
The one plus to this book is the fact that J.W. and Zee haven't yet had kids (trust me, read the other books and tell me the kids aren't totally annoying, and they completely make J.W. lame as a tough guy/semi-detective)- I get SO sick and tired of reading Craig's annoying line that exists in EVERY book with the kids- "Diana, the huntress" is always looking for food, or whatever he says exactly. And, sometimes you just want to scream when you hear lame lines from J.W. like- "yum!" "manna from heaven!: and "delish!" every 2 seconds. He seems to be a semi-cool guy one second, then the next second you want to slap him.

All of that, and you have to continually wonder how on earth J.W. makes enough money to do nothing but fish, sail his boat, loaf around, and make his lavish dinners.lunches/breakfasts, I can assure you that no police pension allows for the laid back, never worry about money lifestyle Jackson lives.

This is the first of several Craig books that I have read. Walking down the street in my hometown of Washington, DC, I saw the book in the window of a local bookstore that specializes in Mystery Books. Needing a new book, and being a regular Vineyarder since I was a toddler, I decided to buy it. The book is rich with Vineyard references, many of which will only be fully understood by those of us who frequent or live on the island. The problem with this, as with the rest of Craig's books is that I have found myself reading his work only because it is set on Martha's Vineyard. The storylines often vary between unbelievable and uninteresting. The dialogue is downright awful and incredibly trite. Still, Craig has a Grisham-esque ability to make you turn the pages. The plot is simple enough to follow, without being idiotic, even if you have to strech to believe both that a retired Boston cop would be entrusted with the care of a president's daughter over the Secret Service, and the reason for it, which you'll need to read, otherwise it's a major spoiler.