While I was reading STOP AT NOTHING, I found myself in the rare position of wishing that it was the fifth or even the 10th installment in a series that I hadn’t delved into before. Why, you ask? So that I would have the joy of exploring the backlist of this new thriller creation by Michael Ledwidge. You almost certainly are familiar with the author from his work with James Patterson on books such as ZOO and the Michael Bennett series, not to mention his own trio of solo novels. But he takes things to a whole new level with his latest effort.

STOP AT NOTHING introduces an (initially) enigmatic character named Michael Gannon, a diving instructor living a semi-idyllic life in the Bahamas. We meet Gannon while he is doing some evening fishing on the posterior orifice of the Atlantic Ocean 30 or so miles out from the islands he is calling home. All of a sudden, a small plane crashes into the ocean. Ledwidge sets up this opening scene wonderfully, right down to the plausible reason why Gannon can’t radio the incident into the authorities. He does what he can, which includes strapping on his diving gear in an attempt to rescue anyone who still might be among the living. But no one is. What he finds in the grisly wreckage are several bodies assuming ocean temperature, along with a cache of money --- a lot of it --- and, even better, a load of diamonds. Gannon does what anyone would do in such a situation, which is to take both the money and the diamonds and head home.

"If you are thinking about jumping into thrillers, read as many as you can, or are so sick of the genre that you don’t ever want to read another one, you need to STOP AT NOTHING. It will reinforce/restore your enjoyment of these novels, or open you up to an entirely new world..."

Meanwhile, word of the crash gets out. Ruby Everett, a Navy lieutenant with the Office of Naval Safety out of the Pensacola Naval Air Station, is given a hurry-up assignment to check things out. Naval Safety investigates aviation mishaps, but Everett isn’t quite sure what she is seeing, even when she sees it. Things get even hinkier when the site is abruptly closed down. Everett, who is supposed to be on leave, manages to get out before everything becomes full dark, but the news that is being disseminated about the crash doesn’t line up with what she saw. Before she knows it, she has people after her.

Gannon is having a somewhat similar experience. He takes great pains to hide the treasure he acquired --- how and where he does this is worth the price of admission to the book all by itself --- and no one has any reason to suspect that he was near the crash site, at least at first. Things start to unravel, though, and in due course Gannon finds that very dangerous and powerful people are after him and his loved ones. They want their lost booty and are determined to eliminate any trace of what occurred. Gannon seems competent enough at first, but he also has some pretty nifty toys that he has acquired along the way, as well as lethal tools in his skill set. In other words, he is far more than a boat skipper who uses his fishing and diving skills as an excuse to work on his tan and drink beer with clients.

Naturally, Gannon’s path intersects with Everett’s, and things really get interesting. The bad guys would have been better off cutting their losses and steering clear of Gannon and his element. What occurs next makes this book worthy of going to the top of your must-read list, thanks to Ledwidge’s peerless setup and execution of each and every scene.

If you are thinking about jumping into thrillers, read as many as you can, or are so sick of the genre that you don’t ever want to read another one, you need to STOP AT NOTHING. It will reinforce/restore your enjoyment of these novels, or open you up to an entirely new world, which is what books are supposed to do anyway, right? In the meantime, I will wait for the next Michael Gannon adventure, which cannot arrive soon enough.