The Island of Second Chances — Ken Foster

The Island of Second Chances is written by promising new fiction writer, Ken Foster. This book tells an exciting story of a man and woman who were stranded for a few years upon a remote island after each separately experienced horrible happenings at sea. The man, Captain Joe Weathers, survived an explosion on his ship caused by drug traffickers who set him up to be killed. On another ship the woman, a beloved movie star named Nikki Coleman, was beaten and thrown overboard by her hateful, drug abusing husband, during a drunken rage. To keep from getting caught, this awful man murdered everyone else on the ship. He didn't know that the ship was leaking fuel and the crew members had been working to fix the problem. As the murderous husband tried to pilot the ship, the leaking fuel ignited and the resulting explosion blew the whole outfit high in the sky, along with him and his dirty deeds. Nikki Coleman, comatose, swollen and sunburned beyond recognition, was barely alive in a lifeboat when she was rescued by Captain Joe Weathers. Her condition was so bad, he first thought she was a man. The Captain tended the critically ill woman and treated her badly sunburned skin everyday for a couple of months. When she finally awoke from the coma, Nikki had lost the memory of what had happened to her. In her confusion Nikki believed that she had been kidnapped and was being held for ransom. Nothing her rescuer said could convince her otherwise. For a long time she has a real problem with trust and constantly resists Joe's efforts to help her. While on the island they survive dangerous events, such as typhoons, wild boars, and gigantic sharks. These two very different people eventually learn to cope with their misfortunes, while they share the tropical island. Captain Weathers, an honorable man, war hero and a Navy S.E.A.L. meets each challenge with a strong and capable defense even though the Island's tasks for living are almost unbearable. In time Nikki, the movie star, starts being nicer to the Captain as she regains all of her memory about what really occurred. Eventually, the pair is rescued by a fisherman and he arranges for them to be taken to port by the Australian Navy. The next things that happen are shocking and you must read the book to learn the details. You'll enjoy getting to know Joe and Nikki's families as well as Joe's wild and boisterous S.E.A.L buddies. Captain Joe Weathers is an outstanding character and you'll want to read more of his adventures in the future. Here's an excerpt from the book: "It was late in the morning of the last day of the voyage before arriving in the tropical paradise of Tahiti. Captain Joe Weathers was looking at the bow enjoying the beauty sunbathing on the fifty-five foot yacht. Their trip began three weeks earlier when he had taken delivery of the yacht in Seattle and was ferrying it to the new owner in Tahiti. The crew consisted of a young couple from Italy that could only be described as free spirits. Lou and Marina had just completed their studies just a few months earlier and were now working their way around the world. Signing up to help ferry the yacht would take them one more step toward circling the globe. Lou was a hard worker that only had to be told once what needed to be done then he made sure the task was always complete. Marina was the daughter of two very well known chefs in Rome; she cooked and served their meals. Even though they were informal on this trip she insisted they all dress for dinner. Marina was the view he was enjoying at that moment, as the yacht had all the latest electronics and didn't need his attention until they reached the outer marker of the island harbor. She wasn't modest and had immediately taken to sunbathing on the bow between her duties. Of course she had chosen the most visible place to be seen from the bridge. Her bathing attire could only be described as consisting of a very small patch of a garment with no top. . ."