The Gulf of Mexico and Southern Florida coast - Present Day

As a fast moving storm approaches, Briana Devon ends her underwater dive and breaks to the surface in the Gulf of Mexico, four miles off Florida’s southern coast. The sky is darkening. The waters are becoming choppy, and the storm is blowing in much too fast. But as Briana gets her bearings above the water, she realizes there is nothing there. Her dive boat, the Mermaids II, and her twin sister, Daria, are gone.

Vanished -- as if they had never been there.

And Briana's alone.

The dark sky is fast becoming a murky haze as the storm moves in and Briana can't see which way the shore lies. The empty skyline offers up no lights belonging to boats, people, or planes, and there is no hope of rescue. Bree’s dive tank and her underwater camera weigh her down, she's running out of air, but still, she swims for her life. Her only hope is getting to a nearby island. Two, maybe three miles away, she hopes. She swims, floats to save her energy, swims, floats, and so forth, and soon, she’s not swimming alone, but between a pair of bull sharks.

Cole de Roca can no longer fight the storm. The winds rose too quickly and the sea is getting ugly. Angry waves pound the hull of his precious sloop -- he can’t lose her now -- so he beaches the ship on Keewadin Island and hunkers down, praying he won't be hit by the lightening rocketing to shore.

A woman’s scream rips through the darkness.

BELOW THE SURFACE is a heart-pounding, fast-paced thriller! Briana Devon is determined to find her twin sister, Daria, herself, rather than leave the job to the Coast Guard searchers. As owners of the Two Mermaids Marine Search and Salvage Shop in Turtle Bay, the sea is their job and their passion. Briana knows that Daria would never have abandoned her to face the elements alone. Now she searches for answers. Bree refuses to accept that Daria just vanished into the storm, but as she investigates Daria's disappearance, she discovers things about her sister that she didn’t know, secrets she never would have believed her twin kept from her. And each day that passes brings Bree closer and closer to the realization that with Daria gone, she might be in danger too.

From the moment Cole de Roca pulls Briana off the beach, he knows that Bree needs his help, and he's convinced that Bree needs protection. The twins' underwater dives have stirred unwanted antagonism in a political arena that's been heating up for months between environmentalists and Florida’s big tourist businesses. And the twins’ report on the condition of the underwater sea grass meadows just might be the catalyst for foul play. The secondary characters are numerous and include Amelia, the twins’ sister, and her husband, county prosecutor Ben; the floating casino boat owner, Dom Verdugo; Manny Salazar, who is Briana's employee; and her competitor, Sam Travers.

BELOW THE SURFACE takes us to the balmy shores of Southern Florida and the Gulf coast on an exciting thrill ride beneath the watery ocean depths.

Diana Risso