I was initially drawn to this novel because I was fascinated by the Mona Passage - this stretch of water so critical to immigrants and yet I had never even heard of it before. However, once I started reading the book I realized it had much more depth than I had ever expected. I learned a lot from this book: about immigration - in particular from Cuba, something I had never even considered, about the Coast Guard and its role in protecting our waters, and of course about the Mona Passage and Mona Island. I had no idea that so much US immigration was taking place in this location, with the goal of ending up in Puerto Rico. The book was fascinating and well written. It is clear that Bardenwerper is passionate about his career choice and that he also has a bright future in writing. The book is interesting, the characters are complex and fully developed, the relationships are real and fraught. There was a lot going on here, but it never felt overwhelming or overdone. All in all, I think this is a promising first book and I recommend it to anyone that enjoys learning about new things or has an interest in learning more about illegal immigration through coastal waters.