Books published by publisher Island Press

In the aftermath of Hurricane Irma, Jesse McDermitt has rebuilt his island in the Content Keys far better than it was before the storm. The task was enormous, but so was his need to make things better.Unbeknownst to Jesse, an environmentally conscious woman from his past has stumbled onto a drug manufacturing cartel in Virginia while working on a pollution mitigation problem. The cartel responds by sending someone to murder people Jesse cares for. A contract killer stalks the woman all the way to Miami, leaving bodies in his wake.With the help of an old flame in the FBI, Jesse goes to the snow-covered Appalachians to get to the root of the trouble; an unscrupulous prosecutor and dirty sheriff, who are producing LSD on an unbelievable scale.Is Jesse out of his element this time? Can he protect the people he cares for most? It’s a race against time and Mother Nature to find a killer stalking the quiet neighborhoods of Coconut Grove.

When Jesse McDermitt retires from the Marine Corps at age 37, he has no idea what he will do for the rest of his life. He only knows he doesn't want to spend the coming winter anywhere cold. His greatest skill is killing people from up to a mile away and he knows there aren't many job opportunities in the civilian world for that.However, he also knows his way around boats and has an old friend living free and easy in the Florida Keys. Being an experienced diver and angler, he immediately heads south toward Key West and the end of the road.With a single comment, a waitress in a waterfront restaurant in north Key Largo shakes loose a long dormant dream and Jesse runs with it. With the help of friends, new and old, he buys just the right boat to live on and soon starts a part time charter business.Danger lurks in the sleepy little town of Marathon, in the middle of the Florida Keys, as well as in the swamps of the Everglades. But danger doesn't expect to run into a man like Jesse. A man who will not only respond swiftly in facing it, but with a vengeance unexpected.

So, I'm Drunk.Daniel T. Drunk, Jr. if you really wanna know. And I'm on a plane headed to Paradise Isle on the trip of a lifetime. The occasion? My honeymoon. Except, there's only one problem.I'm riding solo.It's a really long story, and if you don't mind, I'd prefer to leave it at that.Really? You must know? Fine, I get it. You're the nosey type. Here's the abbreviated version. I came within an inch of marrying a cheating slut. There. Get the picture? Good.But that's not what this story is about. This story is about what happened after I got to Paradise and a dead body showed up in my motel room.And, of course, the cops tried to blame it on me.And then the actual murderer decided they wanted me dead too.Fuck.The hits just kept on coming.And to top it all off. This woman started following me around the island, and she couldn't seem to keep her hands off me. But not in a good way.So if you're interested in a bit of Caribbean flavored action and adventure, with a hint of sexual tension, a dash of unapologetic profanity, and a kick-ass ending, then this is your book.If you're looking for the next best piece of literature since - oh, hell, who am I kidding? I don't know shit about good literature. But if that's what you're looking for, then keep moving, cause this ain't that.If, however, you're like me and just looking for a good time, then I'm your fella. I promise you, you won't be disappointed.Rated R for language, crude humor, and sexual innuendos. Rated A+ for entertainment value.

Paradise has a price. For Jesse McDermitt, that price is his moral compass and a bullet.The retired Marine and charter skipper takes on a passenger in Nassau, a young woman who is a breath of fresh air. She introduces him to the laid-back cruising crowd on an idyllic small cay in the Berry Islands. Jesse takes to the relaxing lifestyle like a fish to water.Living each day on its own terms is a new experience for Jesse, but it doesn't last long. Trouble always seems to find him. When Jesse gets word that someone is destroying nearby patch reefs and poaching sea turtles — and that all this is happening in the same area where a trio of sadistic murderers may be hiding — it triggers his instincts for investigation.Has Jesse's urge to find out the truth cost him everything? He came to the Bahamas on a fool's errand to reconnect with a lost love. The image of her on a beach in the Virgin Islands fills his mind as he passes out from loss of blood...

Jesse McDermitt has been grieving the loss of a loved one to terrorists. He's been holed up on his secluded island home for months, numbing his mind and body with endless, mundane tasks. But he has a plan for vengeance.A friend approaches Jesse seeking help for her dad who's been pressured into running drugs for a dangerous Cuban smuggler. When Jesse learns that the smuggler is also an arms merchant for Hezbollah, the terrorist organization responsible for the death of someone close, he once again looks to settle the score.Fast boats, beautiful underwater scenery, and blazing guns abound in this fast paced romp through the Caribbean, with stops in Cuba, Key West, and Cozumel, Mexico.

Fossil fuels and livestock grazing are often targeted as major culprits behind climate change and desertification. But Allan Savory, cofounder of the Savory Institute, begs to differ. The bigger problem, he warns, is our mismanagement of resources. Livestock grazing is not the problem; it’s how we graze livestock. If we don’t change the way we approach land management, irreparable harm from climate change could continue long after we replace fossil fuels with environmentally benign energy sources. Holistic management is a systems-thinking approach for managing resources developed by Savory decades ago after observing the devastation of desertification in his native Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe). Properly managed livestock are key to restoring the world’s grassland soils, the major sink for atmospheric carbon, and minimizing the most damaging impacts on humans and the natural world. This book updates Savory's paradigm-changing vision for reversing desertification, stemming the loss of biodiversity, eliminating fundamental causes of human impoverishment throughout the world, and climate change. Reorganized chapters make it easier for readers to understand the framework for Holistic Management and the four key insights that underlie it. New color photographs showcase before-and-after examples of land restored by livestock. This long-anticipated new edition is written for new generations of ranchers, farmers, eco- and social entrepreneurs, and development professionals working to address global environmental and social degradation. It offers new hope that a sustainable future for humankind and the world we depend on is within reach.

"Intrepid conservation detective story." —Nature"A lucid, informed, and gripping account...a must-read." —Science"Passionate...a heartfelt and alarming tale." —Publishers Weekly"Gripping...a well-told and moving tale of environmentalism and conservation." —Kirkus"Compelling." —Library Journal In 2006, vaquita, a diminutive porpoise making its home in the Upper Gulf of California, inherited the dubious title of world’s most endangered marine mammal. Nicknamed “panda of the sea” for their small size and beguiling facial markings, vaquitas have been in decline for decades, dying by the hundreds in gillnets intended for commercially valuable fish, as well as for an endangered fish called totoaba. When international crime cartels discovered a lucrative trade in the swim bladders of totoaba, illegal gillnetting went rampant, and now the lives of the few remaining vaquitas hang in the balance.Author Brooke Bessesen takes us on a journey to Mexico’s Upper Gulf region to uncover the story. She interviewed townspeople, fishermen, scientists, and activists, teasing apart a complex story filled with villains and heroes, a story whose outcome is unclear. When diplomatic and political efforts to save the little porpoise failed, Bessesen followed a team of veterinary experts in a binational effort to capture the last remaining vaquitas and breed them in captivity—the best hope for their survival. In this fast-paced, soul-searing tale, she learned that there are no easy answers when extinction is profitable.Whether the rescue attempt succeeds or fails, the world must ask itself hard questions. When vaquita and the totoaba are gone, the black market will turn to the next vulnerable species. What will we do then?

The quiet and solitude found in the back country and wetlands of south Florida has been shattered. Someone is using explosives to fish the ecologically fragile patch reefs in the shallow waters of Florida Bay, north of the Keys. Retired Marine Jesse McDermitt doesn't like explosions in his backyard. Knowing his penchant for inserting himself in matters best left to the authorities, his friends withhold information from him about the destruction to the delicate, living corals. Jesse doesn't much like this, either.He discovers that a vicious Miami street gang is involved when he and his daughter witness a gruesome double murder on remote Cape Sable. Ignoring his friends advice, he digs for the truth. Why does a gang that deals strictly in lead, kilos, and large bricks of cash want to steal cheap boats in the Keys, just to poach a few bucks worth of gamefish?What Jesse uncovers is far more sinister than he bargained for. A twisted psychopath is in control of the gang and trying to lure him out in the open. Jesse's instinct and training compel him to attack, but conflicts with his newfound parental need to protect. Jesse and the ones he cares for most are caught in the cross-hairs.It's just another day in paradise in this sixth installment of the Jesse McDermitt series.

In the backcountry of the Florida Keys, you can see and hear trouble coming for miles in any direction. If you’re paying attention. Jesse McDermitt lives in the backcountry and very little happens near him that he’s not aware of.During a quiet moment, he watches a slow-moving shrimp trawler as it serenely cruises by, far out on the Gulf, at the edge of the three-mile limit. The tranquility of the moment is shattered when the trawler is demolished in an enormous explosion. What caused the explosion and why was a woman from Jesse's past on board?To find the answers to those questions and more, Jesse and friends will work from Miami to Key West, then across the water to Fort Myers. When the bad guys hit too close to home, Jesse retaliates. Furiously.

What can be done to stop madness from sweeping the world when political indecision is the norm? When the nation's leaders lack the backbone to stand up to them, what can stop an enemy that knows no rules? Charity.Charity Styles is a former Olympian and U.S. Army helicopter pilot. Captured and tortured by terrorists in Afghanistan after the opening blows of the War on Terror, Charity has a score to settle. Now working for the Department of Homeland Security, she is offered the opportunity to make a real difference.Critical memories of her ordeal are buried deep in Charity’s subconscious. When the director of Homeland Security’s vaunted Caribbean Counterterrorism Command, discovers the key to unlocking Charity’s past, he unleashes a tempest, the fury of which no enemy can prepare for.Already a martial arts instructor and pilot, Director Stockwell guides her training in marksmanship and spycraft, making Charity the most dangerous asset in America’s covert arsenal. Charity then sets her sails, crossing the sea in an antique sloop. A single-minded, all-encompassing determination stays her course.To confront the enemy and play by their rules.

Rachel Carson Environment Book Award, First Place (2018) IPPY Outstanding Book of the Year: Most Likely to Save the Planet (2018) Thorpe Menn Literary Excellence Award (2018) "Reads like a mystery novel as Gillam skillfully uncovers Monsanto's secretive strategies." —Erin Brockovich "A damning picture...Gillam expertly covers a contentious front." —Publishers Weekly"A must-read." —Booklist"Hard-hitting, eye-opening narrative." —Kirkus It's the pesticide on our dinner plates, a chemical so pervasive it’s in the air we breathe, our water, our soil, and even found increasingly in our own bodies. Known as Monsanto's Roundup by consumers, and as glyphosate by scientists, the world's most popular weed killer is used everywhere from backyard gardens to golf courses to millions of acres of farmland. For decades it's been touted as safe enough to drink, but a growing body of evidence indicates just the opposite, with research tying the chemical to cancers and a host of other health threats. In Whitewash, veteran journalist Carey Gillam uncovers one of the most controversial stories in the history of food and agriculture, exposing new evidence of corporate influence. Gillam introduces readers to farm families devastated by cancers which they believe are caused by the chemical, and to scientists whose reputations have been smeared for publishing research that contradicted business interests. Readers learn about the arm twisting of regulators who signed off on the chemical, echoing company assurances of safety even as they permitted higher residues of the pesticide in food and skipped compliance tests. And, in startling detail, Gillam reveals secret industry communications that pull back the curtain on corporate efforts to manipulate public perception. Whitewash is more than an exposé about the hazards of one chemical or even the influence of one company. It's a story of power, politics, and the deadly consequences of putting corporate interests ahead of public safety.

Technically, there’s only one girl on this island that I’ve been told to stay away from. One.And she just showed up on my doorstep looking like a hooker at a ho parade. Why, you ask? Well, according to her, I’m the only one on Paradise Isle that can help her. The only. Fucking. One. Go figure. So what am I supposed to do? Turn her away and look like an asshole? This whole “being a good person thing” isn’t as easy as it’s cracked up to be. Bear with me, will you? I’m still learning the ropes. There is one thing I’ve learned in my attempts at turning over a new leaf, though. If I can help someone out of a tight spot, I should do it. Right?So now I’m determined to do just that and prove to everyone on this island that I’m a decent guy. Even if that means risking my own neck. That’s right—I’m back. And I’ve got a whopper of a story to tell you. Oh. And Al’s coming along for the ride. But don’t worry, I’ve got the wheel. (Mostly because he can’t see over it.) Hang on tight. Because Drunk’s Driving. More Caribbean flavored adventure. An octogenarian with a distaste for John Deere Green. And a hooker with an attitude. What could be more fun than that? Rated R for colorful language, crude humor, sexual innuendos, and the occasional non-PC remark. Rated A+ for entertainment value. **Oh, and one more thing. While I’m not one of those people who’ll tell you what to do with your life or anything, I will say, if you haven’t read Drunk on a Plane or Drunk on a Boat, you might wanna start there. You’d find this story a lot more entertaining if you did. That said, this story can stand on its own two feet if required to do so.