The High Water Mark is a 99,740-word commercial fiction based on St. Simons Is. Georgia in 1979. It is the second in the Dean Spalding series. Dean with his friend Jack Conroy begin their journey with a raucous trip to Daytona Beach, Florida in September. Hurricane David foiled their rowdy trip and the boys flee back to the island. But Hurricane David is not done with them yet.

​

This is not a hurricane story, this is a tale about love and relationships. Jealousy and class envy; islanders’ verses mainlanders. Factory workers and strippers verses philanthropic landed gentry. The storm serves as a catalyst to propel the plot.

​

Dean Spalding, after spending a year in Europe, finds himself back on his home town island. Believing he is returning to the quiet life of a student he becomes embroiled in the twists and turns of the conflict between islanders and mainlanders.

​

Darrell LaVey worked as a laborer/grinder at the Hercules chemical plant in Brunswick as a part of the Rosin and Terpene Specialties Division. He has picked Dean as his object of disgust with St. Simons inhabitants and plots to get even for perceived wrongs. After a fight with Dean on an island bar parking lot, Darrell seeks revenge.

​

Rachael does not think of herself as a stripper – exotic dancer the term preferred and the work was not as easy as it appeared. As a budding artist, she took classes at the local community college towards a degree in fine arts. This duel life tears at her daily as she longs for a handsome, wealthy beach boy. Her best friend Mindy, also a dancer, has her own demons with her struggle with substance abuse, discontent and enviousness relationship with Rachael.

​

Garth Pierce is the object of Rachael’s heart but her dubious career and perceived social status prevents her from acting on her desire. Garth, however has noticed her too and eventually, through a series of unlikely events, they begin to date. Enter Nancy Proctor, herself had a fling with Garth. In a jealous rage she shoots Garth and dumps his dying body near the river that separates the island from the mainland. The missing Garth causes great concern among the island youth.

​

Mistress Sheila and her older sister Mrs. Zillah William, Charlie’s mother, were busy preparing their garden in anticipation of the approaching storm. Sheila hears a distant faint pop carried by the increasing wind. Shelia is a seer, fortune teller and spiritual guide and it doesn’t take her long to figure out what has happened.

​

Dean and Jack are recruited to search for and rescue Garth. They end up meeting with Shelia who sends them on an errand to a graveyard to gather, among other things, a handful of dirt from the grave of Dean’s great grandfather. Back at Shelia’s old spooky house, she describes her vision to the boys who end up at the mysterious Ebo Landing. It is here they find Garth in the clutches of a large alligator.

​

The High Water Mark is a fast paced, character rich novel. The descriptions of the barrier island are lovingly told in detail by the author who grew up on the island. The gripping scenes and surprise ending will leave the reader with vivid imagery and characters with the full range of emotions.

​