Looking more carefully through her binoculars, she sees a small dark face. The rules say that in this situation she should call the Coast Guard, but common sense tells her to break the rules. She suspects that the girl is a Haitian refugee that managed to survive the sinking of Miss Agnes. Were she to contact the Coast Guard, they would immediately send her back to Haiti.

Something about the expression on the little girl’s face makes Seychelle decide to try and rescue the girl herself. She finds the girl barely coherent from lack of food and overexposure to heat and sun. To make matters worse, with her in the small craft is the corpse of a woman. Trying to keep her priorities straight, Seychelle contacts her friend and lawyer Jeannie Black. Because her call from the boat could easily be overheard by anyone on the same radio frequency, she keeps the details of her predicament nebulous, but the message to Jeannie is clear. “Meet me when I get to the marina.”

Jeannie is obligated to advise Seychelle that she should contact the authorities, but she agrees to help the young girl, Solange. From what little Seychelle can find out from Solange (the girl speaks little English and is severely dehydrated) her mother was Haitian but her father is an American. She needs help finding her father so that she can stay in the United States.

And what of the dead woman who was in the boat with Solange? Seychelle is unable to find out much about her. She is not Solange’s mother, but whether she died of exposure or by other means is unclear. Since Solange must be examined by a doctor and treated for dehydration, she must be taken to the hospital. The authorities learn what Seychelle has done and are not happy. As soon as the child has recovered, they have plans to send her back to Haiti. But Seychelle, struck by the child’s plight and show of raw courage, is adamant about her remaining in the United States.

Ratings: Characterization B, Description A, Plot B, Other extraneous but interesting information B+.

Kling’s main protagonist, Seychelle Sullivan, is a no-nonsense, capable young woman with a clear idea of what she wants out of life, and a reasonable idea of how to achieve it. She isn’t smitten with every eligible (or ineligible) man that crosses her path. Despite her assertion that she doesn’t like kids much, she is drawn to Solange, possibly because she sees in her parallels to her own childhood. The world in which she works is male dominated, but her male colleagues treat her with respect for her owns talents, not deferring to her because she is female. She has a glorified vision of her father and rejects any attempt to paint him as someone less than ideal. The other major female player is Jeannie Black, a smart but definitely unique lawyer. She has no qualms about advising Seychelle that she is not acting wisely or rationally and has good reasons to back up her assertions. The male characters are more stereotypical though they all have traits that make them a little unusual.

Where Kling really shines is her power of description. Introducing Detective Victor Collazo, the man from the Border Patrol in charge of the Solange’s case is well done. “His neck was shaved close all the way around. It looked like a firebreak in the black forest…. The sweat rings under his arms already reached nearly to his waist…I kept focusing on his fingers and noticing how fat they were, like plump, fuzzy caterpillars wrapped around his pen.”

The plot is predictable, but the plight of the Haitians is treated with sensitivity. It is fairly obvious that Solange’s father will be found, that she will be allowed to remain in the United States and the people responsible for the death of the woman in the boat will be brought to justice. Exactly how this is resolved provides a few twists and turns to keep the audience interested, but if this story had to depend on its plot alone it wouldn’t attract many readers.

South Florida is an important element in the novel, not only because it makes sense for Seychelle’s occupation. The climate, the geography, and the demography of the population contribute to the success of the book. Non-Floridians undoubtedly think of Voodoo as something that exists in the minds of novelists, but Kling graphically shows how great a presence this religion has in the lives of a significant portion of Florida’s population. Just how much is “real” is left to the judgment of the reader.

Kling speaks knowledgeably about her protagonist’s occupation in language those unfamiliar with salvage operations can understand. It is easy to imagine oneself on Gorda watching Seychelle do her thing. Cross Current is the second in a series following Surface Tension, which if it is anything like its sequel is well worth reading as well.

--Andy Plonka