A dangerous criminal, with a face like porcelain, has invaded Katherine Dennison's perfect floating world and is now telling her that she doesn't seem to know how things go. "'Is that right?' she said. She felt angry, tired. Trapped not by his gun but by his easy assurance. His confidence. 'And how do things go?' 'A lot like life,' he said. 'You've got to understand, you're arguing with a man with a gun. Two men with guns. Villains, do you understand? Real villains. You tell the kids not to provoke, you mean don't try to jump us. Good advice. So don't you be provoking. Don't get us lost. Don't try to be ... right.'" The trouble is that Katherine, the fascinating 50-something main character in Barry Targan's debut thriller, has been right most of her life. Raised on the sea by her sailor father, she became a combat photographer in Vietnam and a famous illustrator of children's books before doubts and tragedy made her retreat to her sailboat, the Marindor, to restore rightness and balance to her life. Persuaded by a healthy cash offer to take two young divers to the site of a crashed plane, Katherine has now been hijacked by this very disturbing criminal called Barstow who seems to be able to look into her soul.