Zack Chasteen Books

Two years in a Florida federal prison on bogus charges has made former Miami Dophins linebacker, Zack Chasteen, stir crazy. The first step toward getting his life back together is meeting up with his beautiful magazine mogul girlfriend, Barbara, on Harbor Island in the Bahamas. But making it out of Florida proves to be more trouble than a gator with a toothache--and even deadlier. Zack barely leaves the state alive before he discovers Barbara's been kidnapped and her ex-lover, a photographer, murdered. Once again trouble has come knocking on Zack's door. But this time he's fighting back, with the help of a Royal Bahamanian police superintendent, his trusted mystical Taino Indian friend Boggy, and a cast of the most colorful characters ever to step into the warm Bahama sun. As unpredictable as island trade winds, Bahamarama twists and turns its way to a stunning conclusion and announces the arrival of a writer who is sure to surprise and delight mystery fans for years to come. Bahamarama is a 2005 Edgar Award Nominee for Best First Novel.

TOO HOT TO HANDLE Former Miami Dolphin Zack Chasteen had a short pro career, but he's got a long memory. When his old gridiron pal Monk DeVane asks him to help beef up security at Libido, an X-rated Jamaican resort, Zack agrees. But he soon regrets it when he finds the resort owner quite literally on the hot seat―sitting on a bomb that will detonate if he so much as twitches a muscle… Things get even more explosive at the adult playground of Libido, where tourists indulge in sun and plenty of bawdy fun. From Montego Bay to the island's back country, Zack Chasteen descends into Jamaica's heart of darkness and its bloody political scene, bringing along his inscrutable sidekick Boggy, a Taino Indian shaman. With bullets flying and people dying, Zack must seek out the truth and settle some scores before his own life goes boom. "Advertised as a year-round summer read, this is exactly that, thanks to smart, polished prose; an affable narrator; swift, straightforward plotting in bite-size chapters; and a fun, exotic setting." ― Booklist

Among the shipwreck-laden reefs that rim Bermuda, a young scuba diver makes a fatal discovery: a treasure more valuable than gold—one that some people are willing to kill for… Enter Zack Chasteen and his ladylove, Barbara Pickering. She’s come to Bermuda to celebrate her wealthy and eccentric aunt’s birthday—and, maybe, her engagement to Zack…if only he’d propose. Which seems unlikely given Zack’s recent dilemma: the millions he’s stashed away in one of the country’s notorious tax-free offshore accounts has vanished without a trace. And then Zack falls in with wise and wily Teddy Schwartz. A legendary Bermudan treasure salvager, Schwartz may be Zack’s last hope for finding his long-lost loot—but at what cost? Time is running out on this bizarre, bloody, and tumultuous two-thousand-year-old quest…

The world’s most exclusive cruise ship, The Royal Star , has just set sail from Miami on its inaugural voyage. For the hundred or so well-heeled passengers, including Zack Chasteen and his wife, the itinerary is a secret and the week ahead promises to be the ultimate tropical sojourn… But just an hour out of port, gunmen take over the Royal Star , killing most of the officers and sequestering passengers throughout the ship. Not only is Zack separated from his wife, he has another worry: She is eight months pregnant, and could go into labor at any moment… As Zack and his fellow captives struggle to get an upper hand, the hijackers offer few clues to their motives. Maybe it’s a simple kidnap/extortion plot. Or maybe they’re bent on more devious ends—using the Royal Star as a giant torpedo to blow up another cruise ship. Either way, Zack must figure out a way to stop them—while keeping himself, and his family, alive.

Zack Chasteen’s old friend Mickey Ryser pays a surprise visit to deliver some bad news: doctors tell him he has only a few weeks to live and he plans to spend it on his private-island hideaway in the Bahamas. But Ryser has a favor to ask. He needs Zack to find his estranged daughter, Jen, whom Ryser hasn’t seen in more than twenty years. He wants to make amends and spend what little time he has left with her. When last heard from, Jen had bought a big sailboat and was bound for the Bahamas with some college friends. A private detective hired by Ryser to track her down has gone MIA. One of Jen’s friends has jumped ship, under curious conditions. And there’s the specter of an international piracy ring, known to hijack and plunder private yachts passing through island waters. With little to go on, Zack embarks on a mission that will take him from one end of the Bahamas to the other. It’s home to all sorts of rogues and rascals, with plenty of places to hide---a wonderment of islands that Zack calls Baja Florida.