Ethan Olsen freezes up every time his grandfather's death is mentioned, but the trauma lives on inside him, making his life sometimes feel like a minefield. He lives with his parents and older brother who has gotten a full ride at Harvard. Dad is a lobsterman, like Gramps was, but he and his wife want better for

their sons.
When older brother Ben starts acting odd and seems moody, Ethan isn't certain what's going on. Then Ben disappears and immediately after, Connor, a summer resident befriended by Ben, whose father is cold and very wealthy, is found floating in an abandoned granite quarry. If Ben's sudden disappearance wasn't enough, a series of threats to the Olsen family begin, starting with rotting bait strewn on their doorstep.
There is a dual escalation of plot threads, one being why Ben vanished and where he went, the other being the threats to the Olsen family's lobstering. Add in an interesting budding romance between Ethan and Britney Campbell, a smart, slightly cynical, and driven girl who has her own baggage.
This story does a great job of letting most readers 'guess' the big secret early on while pulling them along to see the why of each piece of the tale, whether it's Ben's mystery, the reason for the threats to the Olsen lobstering entity, or the dynamics between Ethan and Britney. All are done to perfection and the minor players, the lobstering aspect, and the coastal setting are all extremely

well crafted.