San Diego P.I. Noah Braddock has a six-pack in the fridge, a solid beach view, and a killer past that's come knocking. The snobby mother of Kate, his old high school girlfriend, claims that her daughter is missing, and mom thinks Noah can find her for old time's sake. But what Noah discovers about Kate is hardly the stuff of bittersweet reunions. In fact, it's murder.

Riding a wave of critical acclaim for his debut novel, Killer Swell (a Los Angeles Times and Denver Post bestseller), Jeff Shelby continues to dazzle with Wicked Break, his second book featuring P.I. and surfer Noah Braddock. When Peter Pluto shows up at P.I. Noah Braddockas apartment asking him to look for his missing younger brother, Linc, Noah is reluctant to take the case. After all, the last time he got involved in a disappearance case, his best friend, Carter, was shot and two other people died. But Peter describes Linc as a serious college student, so Noah reluctantly agrees. As the investigation unfolds, Noah realizes thereas a lot more to Linc than academiaaunless your average undergrad also happens to have skinheads beating down his door and a cache of semiautomatic guns stored in his apartment. Aided by Carter, Noah discovers that Linc stole some money from the white supremacist group National Nation, an offshoot of the Aryan Nation. The skinheads will stop at nothing to find Lincaand when Noah wakes up at the bottom of a canyon, beaten and bruised, with Peter Plutoas corpse lying next to him, he realizes heas next on their list. BACKCOVER: Praise for Killer Swell: aWhile the mystery contains surprising twists and turns, the real joy in this book is the characters. Like Harlan Coben did so well in his Myron Bolitar series, putting together two friends whose sarcastic banter is a hoot to follow, Shelby has done the same here.a aTHE DENVER POST aShelby writes like a pro, with realistic characters, terrific plotting, and a setting that makes you want to jump into your jams and wax up your board.a aTHE KANSAS CITY STAR aA heck of adetective whose surfer appearance belies a thoughtful, tough, hardworking guy who knows his way around an investigation... Shelby has written a serious detective story with a generous helping of humor that comes from the characters, not Shelby. And that makes everything feel just right, like a day at the beach.a aDETROIT FREE PRESS aSnappy dialogue and descriptions... Skillful use of underutilized San Diego locations.a aTHE WASHINGTON POST

The third novel in the Noah Braddock series! Private eye Noah Braddock has finally found peace in his once tumultuous relationship with Detective Liz Santangelo and has called a tentative truce with his alcoholic mother, Carolina. So when lawyer Darcy Gill demands that he look into a hopeless death row case, he's more interested in catching some waves before San Diego's rare winter weather takes hold. Then Darcy plays her trump card: the man scheduled to die—convicted of killing two men in cold blood—is the father Noah never knew.

Noah Braddock is reeling. Forced to leave San Diego after his life is destroyed by tragedy, Noah is hiding and trying to heal on the Florida Panhandle. Paralyzed by fear and the pain of loss, he’s isolated himself and given up everything that meant anything to him. When a young boy comes to him on the beach, unable to find his mother, Noah is pulled into both of their troubled lives. As he reluctantly works to protect them from local thugs, he must confront the memories that continue to haunt him. Those memories come to life when shadowy figures from his past show up in Florida. While he grapples with this, a new threat emerges that will forever change the lives of the boy and his mother and compels Noah to make a choice - keep running or face the consequences of his shattered life. Picking up where the critically acclaimed Liquid Smoke left off, Drift Away exposes a new Braddock – introspective, lost, confused…but not yet broken.