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Vengeance Marked
Hiding in the Florida Keys is easy. Staying dead is the hard part.Mason Dixon is a ghost. After faking his own death to escape a life of crime, he spends his days on the Wassamassaw, a 131-foot luxury yacht, drinking bourbon and trying to distill a new identity from the wreckage of his past.
The dream is build The Classy Cask, an exclusive, invitation-only speakeasy on an unnamed mangrove island seventeen miles from civilization. But in the Keys, even the dead can’t find peace for long.
When a retired barkeep shares a map to the Resolute Dawn — a ship lost in 1847 carrying a legendary shipment of Spanish rum — Mason finds himself on a high-stakes treasure hunt. They find the prize, a liquid fortune worth millions, but the discovery attracts a different kind of predator.
Dante Salazar is the undisputed king of the Lower Keys underworld, a man who builds his empire on "dock fees" and systematic extortion. He doesn’t just want a cut of the rum; he wants to own Mason Dixon.
Vengeance Marked is the fourth book in the Mason Dixon Tropical Mystery series — a high-octane thriller where the water is blue, the bourbon is smooth, and justice is served neat.
The dream is build The Classy Cask, an exclusive, invitation-only speakeasy on an unnamed mangrove island seventeen miles from civilization. But in the Keys, even the dead can’t find peace for long.
When a retired barkeep shares a map to the Resolute Dawn — a ship lost in 1847 carrying a legendary shipment of Spanish rum — Mason finds himself on a high-stakes treasure hunt. They find the prize, a liquid fortune worth millions, but the discovery attracts a different kind of predator.
Dante Salazar is the undisputed king of the Lower Keys underworld, a man who builds his empire on "dock fees" and systematic extortion. He doesn’t just want a cut of the rum; he wants to own Mason Dixon.
Vengeance Marked is the fourth book in the Mason Dixon Tropical Mystery series — a high-octane thriller where the water is blue, the bourbon is smooth, and justice is served neat.
394 pages, Kindle Edition
Published December 26, 2025
32 people are currently reading
2 people want to read
About the author
Nick Thacker
113 books444 followersNick Thacker is a thriller author from Texas who lives in Hawaii. In his free time, he enjoys reading in a hammock on the beach, skiing, drinking whiskey, and hanging out with his beautiful wife, two dogs, and two daughters.
For more information, visit Nick online at www.nickthacker.com
In addition to his fiction work, Nick is the founder and lead of Sonata & Scribe, the only music studio focused on producing “soundtracks” for books and series. Find out more at www.SonataAndScribe.com.
In addition to his fiction work, Nick is the founder and lead of Sonata & Scribe, the only music studio focused on producing “soundtracks” for books and series. Find out more at www.SonataAndScribe.com.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
February 15, 2026
What I Saw on the Wassamassaw
Vengeance Marked, Nick Thacker's fourth book in the Mason Dixon Tropical Mysteries series is surprisingly philosophical. Mason has been at sea by himself for four months on his not-so-legal yacht, the Wassamassaw. He's jettisoned everything civilized people need: clean clothes, clean sheets, washing dishes, to some extent, food, and is existing on bourbon.
Mason jots down his "notes" for his second book to follow "Classy Drinks for Classy People". In reality, most of what he writes is his thoughts, however filtered through the bourbon they may be. They run the gamut of things to do, things he remembers (but doesn't want to think about), recipes for new drinks, and vague, boozy plans for the future.
To properly appreciate Vengeance Marked, you should really have already read books 1-3 in this series. As a quick catch-up, Mason just lost his bar to arson, unilaterally decided that he is trouble for anyone he meets, and bought the Wassamassaw back from the government and sailed away from his life and everyone he knew and held dear.
You could imagine that Mason is down on his luck. You could even think that he would be depressed. Furthermore, you could deduce that he is an alcoholic. You might be right, yet there is something alchemical going on in Mason's life. He is about to come to that mystical decision point in a foundering life. The point where he can continue to sail away into the vague and boozy sea or where he is offered a chance to change his life and go in an intentional direction.
In Mason's life, this involves an old bartender/sailor named Gus, a treasure from 1847, an old friend named Joey who hunts him down, a three-mile-square island that becomes an exclusive bar called the “Classy Cask”, a racketeer named Dante Salazar who kills his friend Gus and tries to charge him a 10% “Administration Fee” for watching out for his business, and finally, an old love named Hannah who seeks him out when his name goes public.
Rather than sum up what Mason learns, let me leave you with his own words:
“I recognize that maybe redemption isn't something you achieve through perfect execution. Maybe it's something you build gradually, through repeated attempts at doing better, through admitting fault when you screw up, through trusting people enough to let them be part of what you're creating instead of assuming they're better off excluded.”
Nick Thacker, I think you're becoming a philosopher. I can't wait to read the next book. You know I'll be waiting. 5+ stars for this one.
Vengeance Marked, Nick Thacker's fourth book in the Mason Dixon Tropical Mysteries series is surprisingly philosophical. Mason has been at sea by himself for four months on his not-so-legal yacht, the Wassamassaw. He's jettisoned everything civilized people need: clean clothes, clean sheets, washing dishes, to some extent, food, and is existing on bourbon.
Mason jots down his "notes" for his second book to follow "Classy Drinks for Classy People". In reality, most of what he writes is his thoughts, however filtered through the bourbon they may be. They run the gamut of things to do, things he remembers (but doesn't want to think about), recipes for new drinks, and vague, boozy plans for the future.
To properly appreciate Vengeance Marked, you should really have already read books 1-3 in this series. As a quick catch-up, Mason just lost his bar to arson, unilaterally decided that he is trouble for anyone he meets, and bought the Wassamassaw back from the government and sailed away from his life and everyone he knew and held dear.
You could imagine that Mason is down on his luck. You could even think that he would be depressed. Furthermore, you could deduce that he is an alcoholic. You might be right, yet there is something alchemical going on in Mason's life. He is about to come to that mystical decision point in a foundering life. The point where he can continue to sail away into the vague and boozy sea or where he is offered a chance to change his life and go in an intentional direction.
In Mason's life, this involves an old bartender/sailor named Gus, a treasure from 1847, an old friend named Joey who hunts him down, a three-mile-square island that becomes an exclusive bar called the “Classy Cask”, a racketeer named Dante Salazar who kills his friend Gus and tries to charge him a 10% “Administration Fee” for watching out for his business, and finally, an old love named Hannah who seeks him out when his name goes public.
Rather than sum up what Mason learns, let me leave you with his own words:
“I recognize that maybe redemption isn't something you achieve through perfect execution. Maybe it's something you build gradually, through repeated attempts at doing better, through admitting fault when you screw up, through trusting people enough to let them be part of what you're creating instead of assuming they're better off excluded.”
Nick Thacker, I think you're becoming a philosopher. I can't wait to read the next book. You know I'll be waiting. 5+ stars for this one.
January 5, 2026
Mason's return is waylaid...
Mason Dixon is alive! He is drowning his sorrows in the Keys, until he meets up with Gus and they embark on a plan to find 150-year-old whisky and build an exclusive bar (Gus is mainly concerned with the former, but helps with the latter as Mason's payment for helping to search). Joey also reappears to help with both plans....
Unfortunately success breeds problems that may require Mason's old talents which he is trying to suppress...
The story is highly entertaining and focuses much on redemption and retribution and refinement of both people and alcohol, but is let down by the exact same text/phrasing/passages appearing on multiple pages which jars the reader.
If you enjoyed the previous books then it is certainly worth reading these for the alcohol commentary and the continuation of Mason's story, but be prepared for repetition....
Mason Dixon is alive! He is drowning his sorrows in the Keys, until he meets up with Gus and they embark on a plan to find 150-year-old whisky and build an exclusive bar (Gus is mainly concerned with the former, but helps with the latter as Mason's payment for helping to search). Joey also reappears to help with both plans....
Unfortunately success breeds problems that may require Mason's old talents which he is trying to suppress...
The story is highly entertaining and focuses much on redemption and retribution and refinement of both people and alcohol, but is let down by the exact same text/phrasing/passages appearing on multiple pages which jars the reader.
If you enjoyed the previous books then it is certainly worth reading these for the alcohol commentary and the continuation of Mason's story, but be prepared for repetition....
January 7, 2026
Drinks with Philosophy (and Guns)
Usual engrossing, well developed storylines and often complex, usually flawed, characters. Part philosophical search for purpose In life (no matter how quixotic), part treasure hunt, the whole underscored by the potential for violence.
Usual engrossing, well developed storylines and often complex, usually flawed, characters. Part philosophical search for purpose In life (no matter how quixotic), part treasure hunt, the whole underscored by the potential for violence.
January 2, 2026
The owner of a bar to the owner of a boat to the architect of a new bar back to his beginning, Mason Dixon lives his life how he needs to. Thrilling, exciting adventure.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews