MATTHEW'S ISLAND

Artist, ex-con, former law enforcement officer, Sam Larkin, his friend Covington County Sheriff's Detective, Campbell Gardner and DEA agent Karen Chaney, all of whom readers met in Smith's previous books, are in contrast to the sylvan beauty of Matthew's Island in the lowcountry of South Carolina. Sam came to the island to seek a peaceful, uncluttered life after being released from an unjust sentence in Louisiana's Angola State prison. The years since have been anything but peaceful and uncluttered. Karen Chaney sought his aid in destroying a major drug conspiracy in Covington County, a friend was murdered in a horrific domestic episode that left him fighting for his life after being seriously wounded and, he became, through no intention of his own, involved in the political demise of a vice-presidential candidate, the former judge who sent him to prison in Louisiana. &quote;Trouble seems to follow you,&quote; a long-time friend once said.