The Mists of Adriana

This is a mystery/thriller set on the coast of Maine. The principal character/narrator is a man entering his middle years. An army officer in Vietnam, upon returning from his first tour he learned his wife had died unexpectedly. His response was to go back to Vietnam where he tried to get dead for the next two years. Finally, he was sent home by a commanding officer who felt he had more worth alive than dying a mourning death.

He "retired" to a small house on the Maine coast where he became a writer and photographer. His principal enjoyment comes from early morning drives around Mt. Desert Island, home to Acadia National Park and Bar Harbor. It is on one of these early morning drives that he stops to help a fellow motorist stranded with car trouble. It is then he meets the semi-mysterious Adriana Barrows.

An early summer/early autumn relationship begins to develop as he learns more and more about Adriana's past. And soon he learns again one of the lessons he learned in combat in Vietnam: When things seem too good to be true, they often are. To be sure, Adriana is a strong, independent woman. A linguist with a background in the war on drugs and a fascination for him that he never expected to find.