Jack Rourke left a dangerous life behind when he walked away from Wall Street and the predictive trading system he built—code so powerful it frightened him. Now he keeps his world small: living aboard his Bertram 46 in the Florida Keys, fixing problems quietly, and avoiding attention whenever possible.
But attention has a way of finding him.
When Jack helps with the buildout of a new squash center in Key West, he notices things other people would miss—subtle wiring anomalies, unexplained airflow, traces of access where no access should exist. What looks like a construction oversight begins to resemble something older, deliberate, and quietly operational.
As Jack digs deeper, he uncovers signs of a long-forgotten corridor tied to historic smuggling routes beneath the island—legacy infrastructure that never truly went away. Meanwhile, unseen operators move through their own systems: local intermediaries, corporate enforcers, and a strategist who treats people like expendable components.
Jack's instincts tell him to stay out of it. Experience tells him that ignoring a system already in motion can be more dangerous than confronting it.
With help from marina operations manager Lauren, dockmaster Hap, and Coast Guard Commander Swifty Mills, Jack chooses the only path he trusts: observe, document, and resist escalation. No heroics. No grandstanding. Just patience, discipline, and the hope that institutions will arrive before the damage becomes irreversible.
Because in the Keys, loud moves get people hurt—and the most dangerous threats are the ones that don't announce themselves.
Debugging the Tides is a slow-burn coastal crime thriller about hidden systems, quiet competence, and the cost of noticing too much, perfect for fans of Carl Hiaasen, Wayne Stinnett, and noir-inflected modern suspense.
