Tropical Convergence by Melissa Good

Publisher:           Regal Crest Enterprises

This is another episode in the continuing story of Dar and Kerry.  For those fans that follow the series online, this is part of a story that was posted some time ago on Melissa Good’s web site.

Dar and Kerry are attending a technology show, but Dar’s heart just isn’t in the business.  She’s felling restless and wondering if it’s time for her to move on to another job and different challenges.  Kerry is worried about her, but sure that Dar will pull out of her mood, so Kerry is determined to carry the company if she has to until that happens.  At the show they discover that the new company that has been stealing some of their customers is headed by a former lover of Dar’s and a former colleague.  They are turning everything into a competition to prove that not only is their company better, but that they can specifically show up Dar.  When all of them are approached by a cruise ship line to bid on a contract to wire all of the ships for the Internet, the confrontation is inevitable.  Perhaps this is the challenge that Dar needs to put her back on a positive track.

This book suffers from the fact that it’s only part of a story.  Questions are raised and not answered.  Story lines seem to pop up out of nowhere and have no relevance to what is going on in the book.  The cruise line plot is not resolved and there is a reference to the US government being involved that doesn’t pertain to anything that is going on.  Those who read the stories when they’re posted online will know that these are parts of the original story that were fully developed.  This book reads like Good realized this book was getting too long, so she chopped it in half and plans on telling the rest of the story in a later book.  That would explain the rather bizarre ending that seems to tie up nothing in this book.  With a little more effort and editing, this could have been a good stand alone novel.  As it is, Dar and Kerry fans will find it satisfies their need for a regular update on the characters, but people who are not familiar with the series should definitely not start with this book because there will be a lot that doesn’t make sense or seems unfinished.