Matthew's Island

Artist, ex-con, former law enforcement officer, Sam Larkin, his friend Covington County Sheriff’s Detective, Campbell Gardner and DEA agent Karen Chaney, all of whom readers met in Smith’s previous books, are in contrast to the sylvan beauty of Matthew’s Island in the lowcountry of South Carolina.

     Sam came to the island to seek a peaceful, uncluttered life after being released from an unjust sentence in Louisiana’s Angola State prison. The years since have been anything but peaceful and uncluttered. Karen Chaney sought his aid in destroying a major drug conspiracy in Covington County, a friend was murdered in a horrific domestic episode that left him fighting for his life after being seriously wounded and, he became, through no intention of his own, involved in the political demise of a vice-presidential candidate, the former judge who sent him to prison in Louisiana. “Trouble seems to follow you,” a long-time friend once said.

     Things have gone smoothly during his long recovery from his injuries until Loyal DeLoache, a man who knows what it is to be imprisoned for something he didn’t do, comes to Matthew’s Island, the only place he has a living relative. Sam knows the mountains Loyal will have to climb to regain a normal life after being removed from it for thirty-two years, and they create a bond based on their shared experience.

     A rogue reporter, an unlikely murder, an international search for the prime suspect and an unknown person from Sam’s past with a deadly agenda  affects each of the characters in a different way, all culminating in decisions that will have an effect on the rest of their lives.

     In the continuing journey of Sam Larkin’s life, Smith has written a complex, soul-searching novel that goes beyond the exploration of good and evil. Matthew’s Island addresses man’s courage and his ability to survive and adapt to circumstances outside the parameters of most of our lives. It is a scorching portrayal of the human psyche and its capabilities, both good and bad.