Holden Beach to Shallotte to Southport to Ocean Isle Beach Put-in-Bay investigative reporter Emerson Moore visits Shallotte, North Carolina to relax with an old friend. Little did Moore know that he would be pulled into the intrigue surrounding a suspicious boat offshore the Flounder Pier restaurant in nearby idyllic Holden Beach. Mixed in the plot are the strange nightly explorations by a retired shrimp trawler captain on the Shallotte River near the Holden Seafood Company plus his longstanding feud with another trawler captain. Toss in a couple unsolved murders, a touch of romance, a kidnapping and a sinking boat with two teenagers and you have the ingredients for a compelling adventure. The family-oriented Holden Beach community finds its peaceful island life upended by the perilous incidences occurring between the Islands Art Gallery in Ocean Isle Beach and a Southport marina. The story is filled with several endearing characters and their multi-faceted relationships with each other. Brunswick coast becomes setting for writer's latest adventure novel A retired defense contractor, Bob Adamov is based in Wooster, Ohio, but he frequently calls on the Brunswick beaches. He's set his latest adventure novel, "Holden's Promise," in and around Brunswick County. Our story opens during the Civil War, as the blockade runner Myrtle sinks with all hands in the midst of what we'd call a Category 3 hurricane. Cut to the present. Emerson Moore, ace Washington Post investigative reporter, heads for Shallotte to hang out with an old friend. His ribs are still mending from his last adventure in Louisiana -- Adamov has a whole series of these novels -- and he's looking forward for a couple of weeks of rest and recreation. Pretty soon, though, Emerson finds himself in the middle of a feud between two retired shrimp-boat captains at Holden Beach. One of them, an especially salty character, is known for spending nights mysteriously trawling along the Shallotte River. Meanwhile, a mysterious boat, crewed by some rough characters, has been cruising up and down the coast, as if it were running a grid. The captain yells at any locals who come close, and he's been known to shoot down drones. The term "investigative reporter" gets thrown around too loosely, but Emerson does find some chops. He soon finds out that the no-good skipper has a history of looting archaeological sites and stealing artifacts. Plus, weird things have been happening at the normally staid South Carolina state archives. Files have been stolen, one researcher has died in a suspicious traffic accident and another official has vanished entirely. Something's up. Then a burned corpse turns up in Southport, and a teenaged waitress from a local fish house suddenly vanishes. Emerson and his friends have to put the pieces of the puzzle together fast. If there's an opposite to chick lit, "Holden's Promise" is it. Oh, there's a romance or two, nothing past PG, but more often things go splash or pow, and the characters are too busy doing stuff to spend much time talking about their feelings. This will likely suit the tastes of fans of Clive Cussler or Robb White -- not surprising, since Adamov says Cussler is one of his favorite writers. -- Wilmington StarNews April 2024 Bob Adamov is an Ohio mystery adventure writer whose stories are based in the Lake Erie South Bass Island resort town of Put-in-Bay, the "Key West of the Midwest." His novels follow the adventures of Washington Post investigative reporter, Emerson Moore, and are written in the style of Adamov's favorite author, Clive Cussler. Adamov was the featured author at the 2006 Ernest Hemingway Days' Literary Festival in Key West and named 2010's Writer of the Year by the University of Akron's Wayne College. In 2020, he was named as one of PublishOhio's favorite authors and Best Lake Erie Author by Lake Erie Living magazine in September 2022. His Memory Layne won Best Fiction novel in June 2022 in international competition at the Next Generation Indie Awards. His first novel, Rainbow's End, was a finalist as the top fiction novel for the 2003 Great Lakes Book Award competition that was won by the Pulitzer Prize-winner, Middlesex. All of his novels were rated "5 Stars" by the Midwest Book Review and named as top novels in northeast Ohio by the Akron Beacon Journal. His novels have won awards at the Hollywood Book Festival, London Book Festival, New York Book Festival, Great Midwest Book Festival and the Indie Awards. He was a guest author at the 2008, 2010, 2015 & 2017 Clive Cussler Collectors Society Convention where he met his hero, Clive Cussler, and toured his car collection. Mr. Cussler endorsed Adamov's fifth book - "The Other Side of Hell is a great read!" "Bob Adamov is a superb craftsman of hanging-on-the-edge-of-your-seat mystery adventures..." - Midwest Book Review Adamov's favorite authors included Mark Twain, Ian Fleming, Jack Higgins, and Alistair MacLean. He strives to emulate his favorite author