Summary

In Chapter 1, from its beginning, Hurricane Leo was unpredictable. The storm killed ten people in the Turks and Caicos Islands before hitting St. Petersburg, Daytona Beach, and Orlando, Florida. It then moved out to the ocean where it was believed it would die out. Instead, it gained strength and turned back for another landfall.

Bruce Cable, the owner of Bay Books in Santa Rosa on Camino Island, had lived on the island for 24 years without ever seeing a bad storm. He was among those who believed that island was immune to storms. Additionally, Bruce had a major appearance scheduled for the store. Mercer Mann, an author who lived summers on the island with her grandmother, Tessa, was coming for a reading.

Bruce, Mercer, and Mercer’s boyfriend, Thomas, met for lunch the day before Mercer’s reading...