Dark Currents

by Daniel Putkowski

A NOVEL OF ARUBA INSPIRED BY ACTUAL EVENTS /// AUGUST 2011. TWO PEOPLE WENT SNORKELING. ONLY ONE CAME BACK. /// On a romantic getaway to Aruba, Kathy Barrow and Glenn Hogan discover things are not what they seem. When one goes missing and the other is arrested on suspicion of murder, a media frenzy erupts as San Nicolaas Police Chief Jules Calenda puts the pieces together. Romy Tromp, an ambitious teenage reporter working in the shadow of his big-network idol, learns that perception is not reality when events lead him into a twisted plot of blind justice and unintended revenge. In this riveting story of betrayal, the truth may be more difficult to find than someone lost at sea.

"Take it from someone who was there ... Putkowski takes fact and wonderfully weaves it into a captivating tale of what if. He delivers a tantalizing story with more than a few familiar characters. It kept me turning pages and yearning for a Balashi on the beach."
--CNN Anchor/Correspondent, Martin Savidge

"Putkowski fit right into the pack scouring Aruba for clues in the weeks and months following Robyn Gardner's disappearance. He was out there working leads as hard as any of us journos. Dark Currents is a taut page-turner packed with vivid detail from the front lines of Aruba's latest 'Girl gone missing.' A must-read!"
--Independent Television Journalist/Producer, Donald Wood

336 pages, Kindle Edition

First published June 12, 2012

About the author

American author Daniel Putkowski, captivated by Aruba's cultural diversity, divides his time between the island, Spain, and a suburb of Philadelphia. He is a graduate of New York University's Tisch School of the Arts. A sequel to An Island Away titled Under a Blue Flag will follow Putkowski's next release, Bonks Bar, due early 2009.

Reviews

[Jenifer Zoeller · Rating 3 out of 5]

3 1/2 stars...Good book...probably would've given it 4 stars if I read while lounging on the beach in Aruba!

[Ted Gurley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Fun one day read while sitting on the beach in Aruba. Putkowski is a great storyteller and this book like his others continue give unique insight into the Island. This is a mystery with a couple of twists and some great characters.

[Samantha]

Aruba

[Julie Griffin · Rating 3 out of 5]

Read this book to learn more about Aruba. This book could have taken place pretty much anywhere, so did not learn too much about Aruba while reading it. Two very shady characters go on a vacation together to Aruba. Not too much of a plot spoiler to reveal that the woman, a pharmacist, is dealing with past abuse by choosing aggressive men and drugging them to where they need her to rescue them, and in the process lose their power and manliness. Ha, a few fantasies of that myself. She doesn't hurt them, so our feelings can run from horror to ambivalence for her. Enter the boyfriend, who has a plot of his own, an oldie but goodie; he is in debt for gambling and plans to kill her and cash in on his travel insurance plan for which they named each other as beneficiaries. These aren't the best characters to start off with. He tries to drown her in the ocean at a private beach, she escapes, and then hides first in confusion and guilt about being found out, then in anger and calculation. What ensues is a media circus complete with tv legal expert weighing in, famous news anchors postulating, and a local journalist kid who makes good off the frenzy. The plot twists a bit, and keeps the reader interested. Decent writing. This is not a masterpiece but is a classic shallow but interesting beach read, written well enough like a John Grisham book.

[Barbara Mahoney · Rating 2 out of 5]

I just didn't like this book. It's loosely based on a true story about a couple who travels to Aruba. They both try to kill each other to inherit insurance money. I didn't like it for two main reasons (1) it was repetitious at times (it could have been a much shorter book) and (2) I didn't care about the main characters - they both seemed like awful people.

I did love Dan Putkowski's two other books set in Aruba, "An Island Away" and the sequel "Under a Blue Flag." These books were about a young desperate unwed mother in Columbia who's family is struggling to survive. She makes the painful decision to leave her son behind to come to Aruba where she is promised a job. She hopes to earn some fast money to help her family and return home. Instead she gets lured into prostitution and finds it hard to escape from. The story is told in a sensitive and compelling fashion. The reader cares about Luz and her welfare.

I will read another book from this author. I hope he writes something else like "An Island Away". I still remember it years after I read it. I enjoyed the sequel as well.

[Orysia Nasar · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sordid!