Publisher's Synopsis
Homicide Detective William Hael hears music and sees colors when people speak to him. He has synesthesia as a result of a concussive blow to his head. Unable to work, he recruits his friends, Doc Franz, his former psychologist, and Chris Walsh, a fellow former Marine, to join him on a liveaboard dive boat in the Coral Sea. Chris is a Vietnam veteran who has finally decided to release top secret information that reveals the US Government's mishandling of the Tet Offensive. The divers and crew aboard the Coral Dream range from British royalty to a salty one-eyed chef. When Chris is killed in a shark attack, Hael suspects the attack was provoked by a killer aboard the boat. The shark attack becomes only the first in a string of seemingly random but fatal events. The dive boat is sabotaged, three divers are lost at sea, and another is incinerated after the trip ends. Hael theorizes the events have been orchestrated to prevent the release of Chris's story. Now, the mystical detective must prove his theory and stop the killer before Doc is killed.Back in America, leery of upsetting his pregnant wife, Hael withholds his investigation from her. Secretly, he gets his friends in the homicide squad, including his irascible partner, Flo, to help him track down the killer. His synesthesia continues to mystify him until he realizes the significance of the colors and the music. Hael knits the pieces together before a climactic showdown with the killer. Sharks Online is based on a true incident that occurred during the Vietnam War. It contrasts the irrational guilt on a Vietnam veteran with the cold-heartedness of a sociopathic criminal.
