KILLING MAINE

Book excerpt: Second in the Pono Hawkins series after the critically-acclaimed, best-seller SAVING PARADISE, Mike Bond's KILLING MAINE is an insider's view of crooked Maine politics and industrial crime, the state's magical and fast-disappearing natural beauty, how a lone commando hunts down those who hunt him, and is based on the author's own experiences in Maine, the Middle East and elsewhere. The Plot: Surfer and Special Forces vet Pono Hawkins leaves Hawaii for Maine's brutal winter to help former SF buddy Bucky Franklin beat a politically motivated murder rap. Pono quickly learns that Maine is as politically corrupt as Hawaii, with huge energy corporations gobbling up the state's beautiful mountains and purchasing its politicians at bargain prices. He is hunted, shot at, betrayed, and stalked by knife-wielding assassins as he tries to find the murderer and free his buddy. Nothing is certain, no one can be trusted, no place is safe. And with a rap sheet that includes two undeserved jail sentences, Pono is a target for every cop in the state.