The Island Hardcover – February 28, 2006 by Heather Graham 
 
On a weekend vacation Beth Anderson is unnerved when a stroll on the beach reveals what appears to be a skull. As a stranger approaches, Beth panics and covers the evidence. But when she later returns to the beach, the skull is gone.

Determined to find solid evidence to bring to the police, Beth digs deeper into the mystery of the skull—and everywhere she goes, Keith Henson, the stranger from the beach, seems to appear. He claims to be keeping an eye on her safety, but Beth senses other motives. Then a body washes ashore, and Beth begins to think she needs more help than she bargained for. Because investigating is a dangerous game, and someone wants to stop Beth from playing.
 
From Booklist
On a camping trip to Calliope Key, Beth Anderson finds a skull in the woods. She hides it, planning to return for it later. Keith Henson is a scuba-diving adventurer visiting the island with two friends in a beautifully appointed yacht. That evening the various campers on the island come together for an informal cookout, and Beth suspects that each is there for nefarious purposes. Deducing that the skull may be that of one of a popular retired couple not seen for several months, Beth returns for it, but it seems to have disappeared. Soon all the players from the island reassemble at the yacht club, while every time Beth turns around, the strikingly attractive Keith Henson is there. Is he really trying to protect her, as he claims, or is he actually a modern-day pirate, as she fears? With more than a hundred books to her credit, Graham always writes a satisfyingly entertaining read. Diana Tixier Herald
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved --This text refers to the digital edition.
From Publishers Weekly
Modern-day piracy, decomposing human remains and a swanky Miami yacht club set the mood for another top-notch thriller from romance icon Graham (Killing Kelly). During a weekend camp-out on isolated Calliope Key, "compellingly attractive" Beth Anderson and her 14-year-old niece, Amber, stumble on a half-buried human skull that disappears by the time she returns with help. Ben, Beth's brother and Amber's father, suspects the object was merely a conch shell, but it's a safe bet that conch shells don't grow hair. More likely, someone on the island took the skull for reasons of his or her own—like hunky Keith Henson, the enigmatic diver who'd been lurking about at the time of the grisly discovery. Back home in Miami, Beth is stalked and harassed by ominous threats, forcing her to solicit the aid of a couple of cop pals, who set a trap for the culprit at the yacht club's Summer Sizzler festival. Even though the tale falls short as a real knuckle-biter, bestseller Graham doesn't disappoint with the steamy romance between Keith and Beth or the glamorous yacht-club doings. Boat lovers are sure to enjoy the fine attention to detail regarding luxury pleasure craft. (Mar.)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to the digital edition.
 
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