I was excited when I got this ebook through the LibraryThing Early Review program. I live in the Tampa Bay area, so several locations in the book were places I had visited. Top that with the promise of an Ecological Thriller, and I was ready for an action-packed ride. Unfortunately, the book doesn't deliver. The book has too much going on for anything to develop well. There is the chemical spill, the hurricanes, corrupt police, the main characters' emotional issues, the EPA, a pool tournament, espionage, a crossword puzzle, and an underage gay sex ring. Ecological disaster takes a back seat to all these other things. The book reads as if written decades ago; the female characters are weak or sexualized, and it goes hard on similes. "The humidity stuck to Derk Bryan's shoes like bubble gum, and his perspiration bounced off the pavement like water on a hot grill.". ( )

There is a lot going on in this book. Derk Bryan is an EPA investigator who somehow manages to get involved in much more than toxic spills and fish kills. There's illicit drugs, pornography, police criminality and, just for grins, someone is using herbicide tainted with illegal chemicals. This happens in Central Florida, so maybe it isn't all that unusual.
While I enjoy a juicy murder mystery as much as anyone, I was really hoping for a bit more environmental crime in the story. It's hard to beat a plot that involves exploding sewers, the sudden appearance of three-headed alligators or people beginning to shed large chunks of bloody flesh after their morning showers. That might be a bit much but the potential is there. Still, Dead Wrong is a good read. It will entertain you.