BookFest Award Winner Literary Titan Book Award Winner PenCraft Book Award for Literary Excellence Winner From the author of Zone Trip comes a bold tale of survival, identity, and the price of secrecy. • Invited to a party on a forbidden pleasure island • Swept into the corrupt world of a country music legend • Flees to Cuba, hunted by drug and human traffickers • Inspired by the dark reality of Jeffrey Epstein’s world • Day Drinkers: Where the American Dream washes ashore From her office window on St. Columba, Gemma gazes out at the mysterious pleasure island just beyond the reef. Owned by country music legend Cowboi Rivers, the exclusive retreat lures the world’s wealthy and powerful with promises of secrecy and illicit pleasures. Meanwhile, the locals keep their distance, wary of the wild parties and whispered rumors of drugs and disappearing girls. Desperate to escape her dead-end job, Gemma seizes a risky opportunity to captain the sailing vessel Mariposa for Cowboi’s shadowy empire. She finds herself swept into a world of corrupt elites. When a cocaine pickup in the Dominican Republic spirals into a deadly double-cross, Gemma and her crew enlist the aid of a Vodou priestess, a hard-drinking mariner, and a rumba-loving boat boy to escape. With her enemies closing in, Gemma sails toward Cuba, facing a storm that threatens to sweep her away. Day Drinkers is a tantalizing medley of Saint X and Don’t Stop the Carnival , seasoned with a dash of The Rum Diary . Drawing from her ten years as a liveaboard sailor and Caribbean travel writer, Kitty Turner, an American Absurdism revivalist, delivers a gripping tale of identity and redemption through her unique talent for rollicking storytelling and deep philosophical inquiry. "Kitty Turner's psychological thriller is part character study and part commentary on the stratification of Caribbean society. She effectively layers in themes of identity, exploitation, and survival into a story of suspense and ancient magic. Readers who love a flawed protagonist will enjoy this satisfying beach read. Our verdict: Get it!" —Kirkus Reviews "10 out of 10 for originality. Turner's writing flows effortlessly, laced with quiet dread and lush atmosphere. Gemma is everything readers want in a heroine—principled, adventurous, and unforgettable." Publishers Weekly BookLife Prize "Sharp-tongued prose sizzles on every page, delivering vivid writing that makes the salty Caribbean setting pulse with vibrancy." — Indies Today "Day Drinkers reads as if Donna Tartt spent a summer in the Caribbean with Taylor Jenkins Reid's eye for glamour and ruin, spinning a story that smells of salt, sweat, and spilled rum." — Literary Titan "Turner masterfully intertwines Gemma's journey of self-discovery, her struggles, poor decisions, and her ultimate redemption. This engaging adventure will keep readers hooked until the final pages to uncover Gemma's fate." —AuthorsReading Book Reviews "A strongly paced, adventure-filled drama with a cast of memorable, larger-than-life characters." —The Wishing Shelf "Day Drinkers is richly atmospheric and character-driven, perfect for readers who enjoy flawed protagonists, strong senses of place, and stories that live in the morally gray area between right and wrong." —Feathered Quill