Desperate to escape her abusive fiancé, kinetic sculptor Laurel McDowell pawns her engagement ring, loads everything she owns into her VW Beetle, and heads for the sanctuary of her family home in Big Sur. She lands a job in an art gallery in picturesque Carmel-by-the-Sea and begins a new life.After her ex’s body washes up on Carmel beach, Laurel finds herself dragged into a scheme involving money-laundering Russians, a pair of affable bikers with the unlikely handles of Snowflake and Twitchy, and a good-looking government number-cruncher who’s more comfortable in a T-shirt and shorts than a suit.As a forensic accountant for the FBI, Jake Carlson is used to nailing bad guys by following the money trail. His current investigation is floundering until he meets Laurel McDowell, a young woman with connections to an alarming number of his suspects. Is she a witness, an accomplice, or a victim? All he has to do is to keep her alive long enough to find out. "Second Wind by Alison Henderson is a thrilling adventure that will keep you turning pages well past your bedtime....It has just the right mixture of intriguing characters, mystery, suspense, and romance to keep most readers engaged with the thrilling plot, without leaning too heavily in one area....An excellent novel that I highly recommend!" - Readers' Favorite Book Reviews