Sam Brice is an ex-football player who lives in a cottage in the Gulf coast of Florida. One night he receives a visit from Charlie Haywood, who escaped from prison while doing time for burglary. Sam and Charlie used to be friends, so Sam lets him stay but refuses any other help. Charlie leaves a day later and contacts Janice Gantry, whom Sam once had a fling with. Janice agrees to help Charlie, but then both of them disappear. Sam feels responsible and determines to find out what happened to Janice. He tries to make contact with Charity Weber. Charlie had a crush on her and was robbing her husband’s safe when he was arrested. Instead of Charity, Sam meets her sister Peggy. The two fall almost immediately in love, and Peggy agrees to help Sam find out what happened to Janice and Charlie. But then Charity’s husband finds out. He grabs Peggy and then, when Sam shows up to look for her, grabs him too. It turns out Weber is a small-time gangster who has some info on the mob. He uses it to blackmail them into giving him money to live on. When Janice and Charlie showed up to talk to Charity, Weber grabbed them and drowned them in the Gulf. Now he plans to do the same thing with Sam and Peggy — and Charity. Sam manages to get loose and free Peggy and the two of them dive overboard four miles from shore. They manage to swim to shore in time to alert the authorities. Weber is executed. Sam and Peggy marry.

Certainly not classic literature, but it kept my interest enough so that I stayed up until 12:45 to finish it, something I haven’t done in years.