The premise of THE DARK TIDE is a fascinating one. A terrorist attack takes place, sending multiple explosions through Grand Central Station. A train carrying Charles Friedman, a partner in a small but successful commodities brokerage firm, arrives simultaneously. He leaves behind his wife Karen and two teenaged children. Unbeknownst to Karen, though, Charles had been in deep trouble. He cut corners here, bent rules there, and did all sorts of unethical things with the money of people who do not take such disrespect lightly. They’re not the type to file a lawsuit or complaint with a regulatory commission; they make their displeasure known up close and personal.

After the bombing, those who had been unhappy with Charles --- sending him warnings, some subtle, some not so --- are now visiting Karen, operating on the premise that she knew exactly what her husband was doing. Karen, deep in grieving, of course had no idea what Charles was up to. She has nothing to give these people, who even go so far as to threaten her daughter.

And this, my friends, is just the beginning of THE DARK TIDE, Andrew Gross’s sophomore solo effort. I believe it’s both a blessing and a curse to be known primarily as the co-author of several novels when your writing partner is one of the world’s most successful, best-known authors. The blessing is that it gets your name out there; the curse is that people might wonder if you can make it on your own steam. In Gross’s case, that question would seem to have been answered in the affirmative with his debut, THE BLUE ZONE. With THE DARK TIDE, it is immutably settled that the answer remains yes.

Gross’s latest novel contains the basic stock characters we love, embraced by an exciting and riveting plot with ever-accelerating forward motion: Karen, the damsel in distress; a number of mysterious bad guys lurking in the shadows who jump out and do terrible things at inopportune moments; and a damaged but solid good guy who you can easily cheer on. The latter is Lieutenant Ty Hauck, Chief of Detectives of the Greenwich Police Department.

Hauck enters Karen’s circle --- and vice versa --- when he launches an investigation into a hit-and-run incident in Greenwich only hours after the terrorist explosion. One of the few clues that Hauck possesses is a slip of paper in the dead man’s pocket that bears Charles Friedman’s name and telephone number. At first the connection seems innocuous enough --- Charles had an automobile restored at the body shop where the deceased worked --- but as Hauck slowly begins to discover, there is much more to this death, and to Charles, than meets the eye.

Hauck’s investigation leads him from The Hamptons to rural South Jersey to Pensacola and back again. The answer though lies in the Caribbean, where the biggest surprise of all awaits, and multiple forces converge for justice, revenge and, perhaps most important, closure. It takes a final, bloody resolution in Greenwich, however, before answers are provided and all --- for good or ill --- is resolved.

THE DARK TIDE rolls in just in time for spring break; it’s the first great beach book of 2008, one that will be purchased and recommended well into the summer. Be the first among your friends to read it and find Gross’s very quick and clever acknowledgement of the work of his famous co-writer.