Jan Whitford's first novel, Mystic Island, shows us the world of Narragansett Bay with a dash of intrigue, romance, crime, lobstermen, and summer trailer camping. The fictional island is a thin disguise for Jamestown (or, more technically, Conanicut Island), with the story taking place through a summer, beginning with a formerly-comatose grandfather revealing a long-forgotten secret, and ending with the mother of all hurricanes.

The "McGuffin" that kicks off the story is a WWII document that has not only major historical significance, but also has the potential of upsetting a modern-day presidential campaign. Halfway through the book, the document is more-or-less forgotten as the story wanders into the main character's love life, missing lobsters, an obsession with Beanie-Babys and a grey van, an affair with a best friend's wife, a celebrity weatherman in the trailer park, and a strange smell coming up from the docks.

Yes, it all hangs together, keeping us going until the arrival of the hurricane that every reader could predict would hit Mystic Island dead-on as the characters try to ride it through in mobile homes, fishing shacks, lobster boats, and an old eight-banger gas-guzzler convertable.

Read Mystic Island to see the Rhode Island that isn't Newport mansions, isn't corporate America Providence, and isn't working-man suburbia. Read it to spend a while in the life of swamp yankees, lobstermen, and summertime residents.

Jan has written many humor articles for Rhode Island Roads magazine. You can visit his website at www.janwhitford.com

About the author, Paul Pence: Not a life-long Rhode Islander, Paul got to Rhode Island as fast as he could. He has 25 years of writing experience and numerous publication credits including the Providence Journal, the East Greenwich Magazine, Weissmann Travel Reports, Travel Lady Magazine, Jackhammer, Your Skin and Sun, TravelNotes, TexWoman, and many others.

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