Safe Harbor for the Dead

A Pacific Rim Thriller

Only 23 years old, Ryan Hart frets that he’s just another down-on-my-luck loser. He lost his commercial fishing job in Alaska last year; and sitting in a cab hustling fares through the night in dreary Seattle ain’t cutt’in it.

To support his fiancée and baby daughter he hustles dope on the side. Still he could lose them both at any moment—She’s an “illegal alien” the Feds could snatch and deport back to the violence in El Salvador.

Anything else to lose? Yeah, his freedom. A body in the back seat of a cab with all the evidence pointing their fingers at him, Ryan’s busted for murder. His only alibi is his dope dealing buddy Shawn. But Shawn has split town. If he can’t track down Shawn before the start of the trial in just 4 weeks Ryan will spend 20 years in the State Pen.

From a lonely Alaskan island, through the hot-humid netherworld of Bangkok, and into the caverns of Andaman Sea karst islands, Ryan descends into the murky realm of prostitution, human trafficking, and violence to clear his name.

Dark. Atmospheric. Propulsive.
The riveting new thriller from Ken Berry.

Download and read this preview of the first 3 chapters of Safe Harbor for the Dead:

Read the first 3 Chapters

EARLY READERS SAY:

"A dark and perilous world"

“A well-written thriller with a noir vibe, set in the gritty underbelly of port cities on both sides of the Pacific Rim. It is a tale of friendship, betrayal and redemption, with a protagonist navigating a dark and perilous world of drugs, refugees, smuggling and violence as he tries to clear his name. This is a great read that will keep you guessing to the end.”
"A thrilling mystery"

“A thrilling mystery, Safe Harbor for the Dead, kept me entertained and intrigued through the last pages. The characters that live in these pages are as shady, heroic or determined as the atmosphere in which they labor.
The tropical jungles of Thailand, mysterious klongs, Pacific NW late night taxi rides and Alaska fishing travails are some of the scenarios encountered. Sentences like, “Dehydrated and with the muddy taste in his gut of two sea urchin meals, Sen kept an eye out for the long-tailed boats of the bird’s nest collectors,” create a combination of sensations and foreignness of an adventure across fascinating countries, cultures and time zones.
I greatly enjoyed and recommend this entertaining and very atmospheric book.”
"The twists keep coming"

“Ryan Hart is just trying to make ends meet — driving a cab through Seattle's skid road, chasing salmon in Alaska, raising a daughter on the margins. A Thai stranger slides into his cab and pulls Ryan into a world of drug dealing; then he gets caught up in the wake of a murder in Seattle precipitated by a deadly explosion on a tourist fishing boat in Thailand. What follows is a raw and risky chase through Thailand’s darkest corners. Vivid, gritty—driven by a man who is neither hero nor criminal, just someone trying to find his way back out—the twists keep coming before the final chapters snap everything into focus.”
"Incredibly atmospheric and propulsive"

“In Safe Harbor for the Dead, Ken Berry really gets it right about the sense of place. You can feel the grit and desperation of that particular time in Seattle among the down-and-out denizens of the city. The story is incredibly atmospheric and propulsive.”
"Mystery and Crime readers will enjoy this great thriller"

“Mystery and Crime readers will enjoy this great thriller by Ken Berry. Up to the very end, just when think you have this page-turner “figured out”, there is another twist in the story.
Safe Harbor for the Dead keeps one on their toes and is rather addictive; a just one more chapter and I’ll turn out the light, Honey type of book.”
"Witnessing the action"

“The writing places the reader right in the middle of scenes as if we’re witnessing the action happening right in front of us.”