Showing Currents of Vengeance: A Darcy Farthing Novel (Darcy Farthing Adventures) by Arleen Alleman

The Darcy Farthing cruise adventure continues with Currents of Vengeance, a visually and emotionally rich story of personal greed and desperation set on a state-of-the-art luxury cruise ship and in beautiful historic South American seaports. This novel explores the timely and all-too-real issues of crime, terrorism, and legal justice in international waters. In this sequel to Currents Deep and Deadly, Darcy Farthing is home in Colorado adjusting to the press coverage of their ill-fated South American cruise and the success of her budding writing career. She is juggling her work at Shrinden Pharmaceuticals with trying to understand boyfriend Mick Clayton's mysterious depression and anxiety, which apparently relate to the life-threatening wound he suffered on the cruise. Darcy wonders what happened to their romance, which blossomed a year ago on the Sea Nymph, but now seems to have fizzled. To make matters worse, her new daughter, Rachael, is encouraging Darcy's unexpected attraction to her successful and wealthy travel industry executive ex-husband, Brooks Larkin. In a surprising turn of events, one year after their horrific cruise adventure, Darcy and Rachael agree to accompany Mick and now unemployed Tom Smythe, once the chief of security on the Sea Nymph, on a second cruise around South America. This time, Mick and Tom have teamed up to conduct a joint GAO/FBI Congressional investigation of the serious issue of unprosecuted crimes committed on cruise ships. They plan to use the project as a means to find evidence linking Paul Denezza, a ruthless Las Vegas casino owner, to the violence on the previous cruise. Paul has so far eluded prosecution for an alleged murder-for-hire plot aimed at his wife, Sidney who is Darcy's best friend. Instead of the relaxing vacation, Darcy expects, she and her travel companions encounter more violence and madness when currents remaining from the first cruise rise to the surface threatening to pull them under. They soon realize that once again, the World of Seas Cruise Line cannot protect them when crimes on and off the ship become much too personal. Before this voyage is over, Mick's emotional crisis nearly ends his life, Tom faces a bizarre attacker with an even more bizarre biological weapon and young Rachael experiences a tragedy that changes her life forever. A series of dangerous encounters reveals a cast of psychologically flawed passengers who are intent on seeking revenge against Darcy, her travel companions, and the cruise line.