Editor's Pick, Booklife Reviews: Sharply plotted thriller exploring the gray zone between justice and vengeance.
Blood in the Water as much a philosophical provocation as it is a plot-driven page-turner.
One of the standout features is McInnis's layered storytelling, skillfully switching between courtroom drama, underwater investigation, and shadowy backroom politics without losing momentum. The "murder by shark" subplot offers a briny noir edge that's both grisly and oddly believable. At the heart of the book's legal conflict is Hawke's invocation of Habeas Corpus, forcing the government to answer not just for its actions, but for the opaque decisions made in the name of national security.
The sunken ship dive sequence to the Coast Guard's Ruby E is a particular highlight, evoking classic underwater thrillers with a legal twist. High-impact courtroom exchanges and ethical dilemmas feel eerily plausible.
Comparable Titles: Paul Levine's Jake Lassiter series; L.T. Ryan's Bear Logan series.

Midwest Book Review: This fifth entry in the A.J. Hawke Legal Thriller series showcases Donald E. McInnis at the top of his game . . . a must-read for fans of the genre. . . . a brisk, intellectually engaging thriller that fuses courtroom drama, political intrigue, and maritime mystery.

Donald E. McInnis enriches the genre by weaving real-world elements—such as underwater forensics and the historic Ruby E shipwreck—into a taut narrative that never loses momentum.

Readers who crave legal thrillers with fresh angles and substantive themes will find this novel both exciting and thought-provoking.

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The two children of a ruthless Mexican drug lord have been kidnapped and are being secretly held by the FBI. Has the President of the United States of America ordered a brazen illegal kidnapping? Or is it the action of a rogue FBI agent? Either way, attorney A.J. Hawke, under the threat of death, must represent the drug lord's kidnapped children.

Meanwhile, a necropsy of a shark unveils the tattooed arm of a human and Hawke's scuba-diving client is suspected of 'murder by shark' in a drug deal gone bad. To gather evidence, Hawke dives the sunken ship where his client attempted to steal cartel drugs. There he finds the rest of the dead man's body.

In a tense courtroom battle, Hawke invokes The Great Writ, a Common Law principle of Habeas Corpus enshrined in the United States Constitution, in his effort to free the kidnapped children and prove his scuba-diving client innocent of murder.

This story addresses a legal issue in the current news: persons being detained and held without due process in a court of law and the application of Habeas Corpus.

Join Hawke and his legal team in this fifth book in the A.J. Hawke Legal Thriller series.