ATF Special Agent Cooper “Coop” Bellamy’s rigid adherence to rules has left his relationship with his 11-year-old daughter in ashes. When Charleston’s fire chief calls him to investigate a series of mysterious nuisance fires ravaging the city, Coop sees a chance to redeem himself as a father and catch a dangerous arsonist. But as the fires turn deadly, he finds himself torn between family and duty.
Lamar Gallivant, a straight-A high school student, fire department intern and on track to secure a full ride to Clemson gets mixed up with a nefarious criminal named Falcon – a deal he is more or less forced to take. His tribulations are not entirely of his own making – Lamar’s mother, “Mama,” harbors a dark secret that compels him to protect. He strikes a bargain with Falcon, largely through a succession of unsavory intermediaries. In exchange for setting ten fires in Charleston, Lamar receives assurances that Mama’s reputation will be spared and her freedom guaranteed.
In another part of town, ace television reporter Sydney Quinn with Action 7 News meets an old friend, Rob Noble, a former local minor league baseball star, while he gleefully signs memorabilia for whatever fans might be interested. Noble once had bright career prospects for the major leagues, but knee injuries sidelined him. Instead, he transitioned to work as a defense attorney for the Innocence Network that tends to pursue tough cases on behalf of defendants with limited or no resources of their own. His work is all the more admirable because his expertise could otherwise enable him to trade it all in for a lucrative position at his pick of area law firms.
Rob’s current focus is on Nate Sharpe, who, thirty years ago in 1985, was wrongfully convicted for setting fire to a building in which 39 people died. Not surprisingly, Nate was sentenced to consecutive life terms – one for each of the victims – and has nearly run out of options. In between autographing baseballs, Rob goes over the details of the case with Sydney, and not so subtly cajoles her into helping him find an expert witness who essentially represents Nate’s last chance to appeal and overturn his conviction. Though skeptical at first, the prospect of a sensational news story and the opportunity to free Nate from prison convinces Sydney to leverage her connections and lend her keen insight to the cause.
Sydney enlists the talents of ATF Special Agent Cooper “Coop” Bellamy, a by-the-book investigator and gifted arson investigator. The somewhat unconventional relationship between Coop and Sydney adds to the story’s appeal, given law enforcement’s typical resistance to working closely with the media. The unlikely pairing complements each other’s strengths nicely, adding depth to the engaging narrative.
Coop and his daughter Haley maintain a strained relationship because of his inflexible adherence to rules and procedure. His workaholic habits have cost him his marriage and distanced him from Haley.
“Fleet Landing” explores themes of redemption, corruption, moral dilemmas, and systemic injustice – all brought to light as the motives behind the fires become apparent. The narrative is engaging, laying out the course of events methodically and logically, mirroring the current state of society. For example, one of the many shady characters in “Fleet Landing,” Hart Anson comes off as an ostensibly successful real estate developer – reminiscent of a small-time Donald Trump – though clearly more willing to get his hands dirty. Anson claims his motivation is to revitalize neighborhoods, but in reality, the lavish projects more likely target affluent buyers at the expense of equitable and affordable housing for the less well off.
Similarly, the forces at play, riddled with coercion and corrupt political connections as they are, bring another real-world example to mind – namely the nature of urban decay in Camden, New Jersey (as just one example of American cities presently in decline), recently explored in some detail by Chris Hedges, Pulitzer Prize winning author and former reporter with the New York Times. In his book, “America: The Farewell Tour,” published in 2019, Hedges describes the rampant predation of poor and minority communities by wealthy contractors and real estate developers – essentially cannibalizing both public and private assets alike.
The climax ties up all the loose ends with generous portions of kinetic energy and a fiery conflagration. Set in Charleston, South Carolina, the location descriptions brim with grit and realism courtesy of author Wendy Gee’s articulate prose drawn from her twenty-one years in the U.S. Navy and as a former volunteer with the Charleston Fire Department. In the near future, look for a review of the second entry in the series, titled “Side Hustle,” which is due out later this month. “Fleet Landing” is the first book in the Carolina Crossfire mystery series and is Gee’s debut novel.
Book 1 of 2 is now available in Bookstores. Book 2, ‘Side Hustle,’ will be available on February 24th
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