Shark Fin Soup

Christian Roberts, the handsome hero of Klaus’s debut, Secretariat Reborn, returns in an uneven encore that finds the 27-year-old Floridian exploring the Bahamas on his luxurious sloop, Catalina, with his wife, Allie, at his side. Tragedy ensues when Christian confronts fishermen who are illegally killing sharks. They respond with a shotgun blast that kills Allie, whose dying wish is that Christian “save the sharks.” Suspected of her murder by FBI agent Dave Wheeler, Christian descends into a haze of alcohol, drugs, and depression, from which he eventually emerges resolved to save the world’s shark population, currently threatened by the Chinese demand for shark-fin soup. Helped by such unlikely allies as mob boss Vince Florio and Washington Post reporter Trish Stevenson, Christian evolves into an increasingly violent crusader known as Captain Nemo. Klaus makes a passionate case for ending the mass slaughter of sharks, but Christian’s terror tactics are unlikely to win many people over to her cause. Agent: Susan Gleason, Susan Gleason Literary Agency. (Aug.)