A cult of death. A weapon of apocalyptic horror. Juan Cabrillo must stop them both. THE "FASCINATING" ( BOOKLIST ) NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER Some women you love. Some women you hate. Some women you survive. Doc Ford is drawn into a deadly battle when his goddaughter Shay is blackmailed. Someone filmed her at an out-of-control bachelorette party, and they want big money to keep it quiet. When Ford investigates, he finds that the woman responsible is an agent of corruption unlike any Ford has ever encountered before. And she may be the last encounter he ever has. ?WHITE?S TALENTS SHINE IN BLACK WIDOW.? ?TAMPA TRIBUNE ?HIGH-OCTANE ACTION.? ?"BOOKLIST" (STARRED REVIEW) ?INTRIGUING.? ?"SOUTH FLORIDA SUN-SENTINEL" ?A FAST-PACED PAGE-TURNER.? ?"ASSOCIATED PRESS" WHITE S TALENTS SHINE IN BLACK WIDOW. TAMPA TRIBUNE HIGH-OCTANE ACTION. "BOOKLIST" (STARRED REVIEW) INTRIGUING. "SOUTH FLORIDA SUN-SENTINEL" A FAST-PACED PAGE-TURNER. "ASSOCIATED PRESS" aWHITEaS TALENTS SHINE IN BLACK WIDOW.a aTAMPA TRIBUNE aHIGH-OCTANE ACTION.a a"BOOKLIST" (STARRED REVIEW) aINTRIGUING.a a"SOUTH FLORIDA SUN-SENTINEL" aA FAST-PACED PAGE-TURNER.a a"ASSOCIATED PRESS" aWhat happens in the Caribbeanaat least on the tiny island of Saint Arca definitely doesnat stay there. Especially if you happen to be a rich, young woman out for a final fling with your girlfriends before tying the knot. That demographic is likely to snag you in the web of Saint Arcas resident voodoo queen, the Widow, a sexually ambiguous dragon lady who runs a sophisticated blackmail enterprise. In this fifteenth outing for Whiteas beloved hero, marine biologist and special-ops agent Doc Ford, the Widow meets her match when she targets Fordas goddaughter, Shay. Feeling a bit out of sorts since he retired from the clandestine services, Ford is ready to mix it up a little and heads off to the island to confront the blackmailers. He finds much more of a challenge than he expected and is happy to join forces with a mysterious island resident, a seventysomething Brit who appears to be a former special-ops type himself. White makes the most of this pairing (imagine Michael Caine as the Brit), injecting some bantering fun into the high-octane action. As always in this consistently entertaining series, the plot offers a fascinating mix of headline- grabbing crime (Caribbean vacations gone bad) and history (island archaeology, with a touch of those ever-popular Knights Templar). Like Robert B. Parker and John D. MacDonald at their best, White draws readers into his world with characters youad pay just to hang out with and then hooks us with straight-ahead action. Itas an old-school combination, but it still works just fine.a a"Booklist" Starred Review Randy Wayne White is the author of seventeen previous Doc Ford novels and four collections of nonfiction. He lives in an old house built on an Indian mound in Pineland, Florida. Table of Contents Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Epigraph Chapter 1 Chapter 2 Chapter 3 Chapter 4 Chapter 5 Chapter 6 Chapter 7 Chapter 8 Chapter 9 Chapter 10 Chapter 11 Chapter 12 Chapter 13 Chapter 14 Chapter 15 Chapter 16 Chapter 17 Chapter 18 Chapter 19 Chapter 20 Chapter 21 Chapter 22 Chapter 23 Chapter 24 Chapter 25 Chapter 26 Chapter 27 Chapter 28 Chapter 29 Chapter 30 Chapter 31 Chapter 32 Chapter 33 Chapter 34 Chapter 35 Chapter 36 EPILOGUE ALSO BY RANDY WAYNE WHITE Sanibel Flats The Heat Islands The Man Who Invented Florida Captiva North of Havana The Mangrove Coast Ten Thousand Islands Shark River Twelve Mile Limit Everglades Tampa Burn Dead of Night Dark Light Hunter’s Moon NONFICTION Batfishing in the Rainforest The Sharks of Lake Nicaragua Last Flight Out An American Traveler (An Introduction) Tarpon Fishing in Mexico and Florida Randy Wayne White’s Gulf Coast Cookbook with Carlene Fredericka Brennen FICTION AS RANDY STRIKER Key West Connection The Deep Six Cuban Death-Lift The Deadlier Sex Assassin’s Shadow G. P. PUTNAM’S SONS Publishers Since 1838 Published by the Penguin Group Penguin Group (USA) Inc., 375 Hudson Street, New York, New York 10014, USA • Penguin Group (Canada), 90 Eglinton Avenue East, Suite 700, Toronto, Ontario M4P 2Y3, Canada (a division of Pearson Canada Inc.) • Penguin Books Ltd, 80 Strand, London WC2R 0RL, England • Penguin Ireland, 25 St Stephen’s Green, Dublin 2, Ireland (a division of Penguin Books Ltd) • Penguin Group (Australia), 250 Camberwell Road, Camberwell, Victoria 3124, Australia (a division of Pearson Australia Group Pty Ltd) • Penguin Books India Pvt Ltd, 11 Community Centre, Panchsheel Park, New Delhi-110 017, India • Penguin Group (NZ), 67 Apollo Drive, Rosedale, North Shore 0632, New Zealand (a division of Pearson New Zealand Ltd) • Penguin Books (South Africa) (Pty) Ltd, 24 Sturdee Avenue, Rosebank, Johannesburg 2196, South Africa Penguin Books Ltd, Registered Office