Description for THIS FAR FROM PARADISE by Philip Shelby: Love and treachery weave a tantalizing tapestry in this breathtaking novel of a Caibbean empire and the beautiful woman who inherits it all before she is twenty. Rebecca McHenry's father was a legend---a personality and empire builder larger than life. Max McHenry gained international renown as a poor prospector who made one of the century's richest gold strikes and used it to found a financial kingdom, bringing prosperity and stability to the lush Caribbean nation, the Angelines. But this maverick millionaire made bitter enemies , and chief among them was Silas Lambros, who, despite his courtly air, controlled the most unscrupulous forces in the Angelines: the so-called Wreckers, the now-prominent families whose fortunes were founded on long-ago acts of piracy. Silas watched as the upstart Max McHenry built a power base to challenge that of the great house of Lambros itself; he watched and waited for the moment to destroy him... Now Max is gone, and his lovely and sheltered daughter takes the reins of a complex empire. In her struggle Rebecca must rely on those who served Max: Andrew Stoughton, the Englishman who became his right-hand man and whom Rebecca has loved from girlhood; Eric Walker, the dashing New York banker whose father supported Max in his battle with the Wreckers; and Dallas Gibson, whose explorations of ancient Mayan ruins have brought him closer than any man to Max's secret quest. But Max's enemies will strike again and again, until Rebecca must stand alone against them. And it is then she discovers that she is truly her father's daughter: strong enough, determined enough--ruthless enough---to beat them at their own games. As founder of The Tides, a lavish resort chain that grows from a scattering of primitive huts to a major economic force in the Caribbean and a name synonymous with opulent leisure throughout the world, Rebecca will summon all she has learned about survival to exact a final reckoning. And in seeking justice, she will discover unexpected redemption---in the power of love. Sweeping from the Caribbean to the South of France, from Wall Street to the London art world, THIS FAR FROM PARADISE is a roller coaster ride of a novel. Rebecca McHenry readers will discover a heroine they will never forget; and in this, Philip Shelby's remarkable debut novel they will discover a major new novelist.
