Spring Break

Set during spring break on the Caribbean island of Artula, Perrin’s intriguing if flawed romantic thriller centers on the hunt for college student Ashley Hamilton, who disappears after breaking up with her boyfriend, Ryan Sinclair, and meeting Jason Shear, a New York editor who’s researching a story on human trafficking. Jason’s sister disappeared on Artula in 1987, and he’s learned 19 women have gone missing on the resort island in the last seven years. Jason joins forces with Ashley’s friend, Chantelle Higgins, to investigate, while the local authorities remain surprisingly indifferent. After Ashley’s family arrives, the stakes rise with the murder of someone with information he wanted to share with Chantelle. Essence bestseller Perrin (We’ll Never Tell ) succeeds in building a mood of nail-biting suspense, but toward the end the plot takes some dubious twists before rushing to a less than convincing resolution. (Mar.)