Scott Evers: No Friendly Waters

The mayday should have made the mission simpler. It does the opposite. The merchant vessel Santa Luzia is burning in the Mediterranean. A sailor is dead. Others are injured. A suspicious cargo trail may connect ordinary shipments to something far larger. And everyone wants jurisdiction. From aboard the USS Kearsarge, Master Chief Bill Roberts watches three legitimate claims converge on one damaged ship: security authority, investigative authority, and commercial salvage. Lieutenant Sofia Darzi boards the Santa Luzia to help stabilize the crisis and preserve what evidence she can. Then a fourth party arrives. Armed men. Professional equipment. Valid-looking paperwork. The ship is already on fire when the shooting starts. As Santa Luzia begins to list, rescue boats, patrol craft, armed boarders, contaminated crew records, and conflicting authorities turn the black water around her into a battlefield where one wrong identification could trigger an international incident. And when the final choice comes, the most valuable evidence on the ship may have to be abandoned to save five sailors who are alive right now. Scott Evers: No Friendly Waters is a relentless maritime espionage thriller about combat, rescue, jurisdiction, responsibility, and the price of making the right decision when every available choice costs something. A complete standalone thriller. No prior Scott Evers novel is required.