I am delighted to be posting and extract from this book today. Tangled in Water is a standalone novel with a dual narrative.
The Blurb
1932. Natalia is 16 and a bootlegger's daughter, playing the mermaid mascot on a rundown paddlewheel used to entertain brewers and distributors.
A sequined costume hides her scarred and misshaped legs, but it can't cover up the painful memories and suspicions that haunt her. An eccentric healer who treats patients with Old Country tonics, tries to patch wounds, but only adds to the heartache. A fierce storm threatens to destroy everything, including a stash of stolen jewels.
1941. Prohibition is over, but the same henchmen still run the show. Nattie's new mermaid act is more revealing, with more at risk. When the dry-docked paddlewheel is bought by the US Navy for training exercises, the pressure escalates further.
Can Nattie entice a cocky US Navy officer to help her gain access to the ship for one last chance to confront her past, settle scores, and retrieve the hidden loot? Is there a new course ahead?
The Extract
“Safe from what, sir?”
“Trouble. Don’t you feel it in the air, Jenkins? Electricity, static-charged. Something’s coming our way.”
“Um, sir, once again, I would like to suggest that is the pressure change from a storm front heading to us,” interrupted Wiggins. “A thunderstorm with serious, sustained wind speeds has been reported—”
“Wiggins, shut up. I don’t want to hear more about this phantom storm you’ve imagined.”
“But—”
“Just shut up, Wiggins. I’ll take the wheel.”
Cappie stepped up to the helm and gripped the large wheel tightly, squeezing power from the metal. It felt good in his hands.
He focused his eyes on the lake. The water was a dark, muddy green, the muck along the lake floor stirred up, the runoff from the canals and city streets making the water dank, smelling like oil and chemicals, stockyard waste and untreated sewage. He tried to focus on the horizon, where the gray flannel sky reached down and anointed the water, a priest giving a dying child a blessing before it passed from this world to the next. The miracle spot of sky touching water was elusive, but he sailed toward it, certain he could reach it before darkness fell if he could only keep his thoughts pure and focused.
But Queenie had other intentions. She poked his ribs. She grinned. She twirled her long auburn hair around her hand, making loops and circles that were hypnotic. She might strangle him with the knotted ropes of hair or hang him from the hatchway. He could see her as clearly as if she were there. And he hated her as much as he had the day she died. Her perfume hung in the air, making a bubble of Queenie air and Queenie needle-nags around him and the ship’s wheel.
She was sucking the air out of him.
“Wiggins, take the wheel.”
Captain rushed to his quarters to collect himself. It was a small but handsome room with a bunk and desk, some shelves, and a cabinet of charts. There was a safe in the floor behind his desk. The key to it, which he kept in his pocket, had recently gone missing. Thank God he had a spare. After the door was opened with a key, there was another door, with a combination. No one knew it but him. He wasn’t a trusting man.
She’d never get the combination. He’d take it to his grave.
Queenie laughed little teehees and heeheesquawks that could have been seagull cries, birds flying over the ship. He knew better. He’d recognize her jeering anywhere.
Book Details
ISBN: 978 1962465915
Publisher: Historium Press
Formats: e-book, hardback and paperback
No. of Pages: 418 (paperback)
Purchase Links
About the Author
Pam and her husband, Mark, recently uprooted from the Midwest to move to Savannah, Georgia, the perfect place for enjoying the beach, historic architecture and Spanish moss.
She's recently retired from writing content for software companies and now focuses on writing fiction, camping, and exploring historic cities.
Pam is the author of three historic novels.
You can also find Pam at:
(media courtesy of The Coffee Pot Book Club)
(all opinions are my own)
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