Technically, this book takes place in both London and Bora Bora. It’s a fun read, from the perspective of Erin, a documentary filmmaker. The book starts with Erin talking about digging a grave and how hard it is, taking a long time and a ton of effort. She then jumps into the story that essentially leads up to that moment of grave digging. Without giving too much away, the gist is that she walks the reader through her engagement to, nuptials, honeymoon, and short time post-honeymoon with Mark, an investment banker who loses his job right before their wedding. The couple, from London, head to Bora Bora for their honeymoon. While there, the couple go scuba diving (something Erin fears doing but, hey, let’s do it for love) and come across a mysterious duffel bag floating in the ocean (hence the title of the book: Something in the Water). The couple then spends too much time wavering over whether they should or should not open the bag (open it, duh) and whether they should or should not keep the millions in diamonds and cash they find inside the bag or turn it in (keep it, duh – finders’ keepers, losers weepers). In trying to decide if the bag would be considered flotsam or jetsam (I never knew the difference: flotsam is debris not deliberately thrown overboard while jetsam is deliberately thrown away), they return to the area where they found the duffel bag and find that there was a wrecked plane below (so, it’s flotsam and presumably should be turned in to authorities, sigh). When Mark looks below the water at the wreckage, he reports back to Erin, “dead dudes in there look like shady characters” (paraphrasing, of course). Anyway, in Erin’s infinite wisdom, she turns on a cell phone they found in the bag, and she reads a text which marks it as “read” and she sees little dots on the screen showing somebody typing and realizes somebody clearly knows the phone is on, and, well, game on. The “plane people” know somebody has their stuff. [Dunh dunh dunh!!]

At this point, the couple makes efforts to cover their tracks at their resort, trying to eliminate evidence of their being there in case the “plane people” come looking for them. They return to London and commence putting money into Swiss bank accounts, trying to fleece the diamonds, and so forth. During this time, they have to pretend life is normal, so Mark keeps looking for work and Erin continues her documentary work, which at this time is covering the lives of three inmates that are up for release: the first is a young woman who was involved in political shenanigans, the second is a middle-aged woman who was convicted of helping her dying mom commit suicide, and the third is an old gangster dude (essentially) who was convicted of money laundering. This documentary work provides a secondary plotline that provides opportunities for questions about “who’s following me?”, “are the police after me because of the diamonds or because of my interview with the felon who skipped parole?”, and so forth. Yes, convenient, but it’s fine.

This is all I’ll say. Overall, the book is brain candy. The plot isn’t going to keep you on the edge of your seat, and the twists and turns are both predictable and convenient at times. Some of the drama is forced to create that sense of suspense, but it’s not the kind that actually leaves you with chills. Rather, it’s a nice, easy read (or listen if you do audiobook like I did) that will take your mind off other things for a little while. A beach read/listen that allows you to people watch – or even order another fruity drink – without pausing the audio or having to reread sections to get back up to speed.

Also, it’s brain candy – not brain nutrition. It’s not going to provide much in the way of learning. That said, I did learn some things, but not really about Bora Bora per se. Things I learned include the flotsam/jetsam thing I already noted, that it takes a long time to dig a grave (“however long you think it takes, double that”), and that Leicester Square is a great place to momentarily turn on a phone that can be traced because it’s unlikely you’ll be found since the square is the “busiest pedestrian thoroughfare in Europe” with more people moving through it in a day than anywhere else in Europe (her estimate is on average 250K per day – though, actually, I looked this up and everything online was pointing to Oxford Street being the busiest… so maybe turn the phone on there instead). I also learned just enough about Glocks to be dangerous. She talks about how to identify a Glock handgun (a G with the word ‘lock’ on the inside of the G), that Glock 22s are “absurdly easy to use” and don’t have a safety catch (good to know…), where the magazine release is on a Glock and how to release it and empty the chamber (I’m listening…), and how to apply duct tape to the gun handle because it’s easier to take duct tape off than to try to wipe down fingerprints after an altercation (I’m ready…), that it’s “about as hard to take apart a handgun and reassemble it as it is to change a Brita water filter, if you’re interested” (I sure am…), and that WD-40 is “an acceptable substitution for gun oil as long as you intend to re-lube and clean after a 3-4 day period” (I’ll just throw it in the ocean, thank you very much).

But what about Bora Bora?? Well, that’s the honeymoon, and a lot (most of the book) happens after the honeymoon. However, during the honeymoon, the author does provide some lovely descriptions of the island, Mount Otemanu, the waters and aquatic life they encounter while snorkeling, and the sunsets. So, nice descriptions that can get you excited about visiting and experiencing the beauty of the island, but do note that once the couple leaves Bora Bora, that’s it. So, enjoy those descriptions while you can, since after that you’re (back) in the hustle and bustle of London.