Reviewer Dr. Wesley Britton: Dr. Britton is the author of four non-fiction books on espionage in literature and the media. Starting in fall 2015, his new six-book science fiction series, The Beta-Earth Chronicles, debuted via BearManor Media.
In 2018, Britton self-published the seventh book in the Chronicles, Alpha Tales 2044, a collection of short stories, many of which first appeared at a number of online venues.
For seven years, he was co-host of online radio’s Dave White Presents where he contributed interviews with a host of entertainment insiders. Before his retirement in 2016, Dr. Britton taught English at Harrisburg Area Community College. Learn more about Dr. Britton at his WEBSITE
Publisher: Berkley; First edition (March 1, 2011)
ISBN-10: 0425239772
ISBN-13: 978-0425239773
Click here To Purchase Murder on the High Seas: The True Story of the Joe Cool's Tragic Final Voyage
Author: Carol Soret Cope
Publisher: Berkley; First edition (March 1, 2011)
ISBN-10: 0425239772
ISBN-13: 978-0425239773
In September 2007, a U.S. Coast Guard cutter rescued
Kirby Archer and Guillermo Zarabozo in a lifeboat off the coast of
Cuba. Both men claimed they had chartered the boat, “The Joe Cool,”
for a trip to Bimini before pirates came aboard and murdered the
crew. In short order, the “Joe Cool” is discovered with no one
aboard and an investigation begins. While the story would have many
twists and turns to come, the pirate yarn was but one of the first of
many lies the rescued murderers would spin to cover their pointless
crime.
The crew of the “Joe Cool,” a luxury forty-seven-foot sport-fisher, included Captain Jake Branam, his wife Kelley, his brother Scott Gamble, and friend Sammy Kairy. As it happened, the relatives were part of a large, privileged, and quarrelsome family based in an exclusive section of Miami. Exploring the branches of the Branam tribe is where Carol Soret Cope begins her detailed report on the “Joe Cool” affair before diving into the court cases that followed, both involving the murders and then the fate of the orphaned young children of the Branams. It’s clear from the onset both Archer and Zarabozo are hiding the truth, and uncovering who did what and when was going to take considerable work by investigators and prosecutors. Was one of the killers a mastermind, the other an innocent dupe? How can you claim to be an agent for the CIA while also claiming you can make millions doing government work in Cuba? The outcome, not the slam-dunk some hoped for, isn’t the end of the story. After the killers are sentenced, another Branam brother is sued by family members for a lack of security on his boat, and years are spent in custody suits that, for many, rubbed salt into very raw and open wounds.
Not surprisingly,
it’s the courtroom where attorney Cope spends much of her time.
While Archer pleads out, it takes two trials to put Zarabozo behind
bars for life. And still there are unanswered questions until the
author interviews Archer in prison to hear the chilling, final
revelations. Like her two previous books, In the Fast Lane: A True
Story of Murder in Miami and Stranger Danger: How to Keep Your Child
Safe, Cope’s meticulous and exhaustive research is what Murder on
the High Seas is all about. The author interviews family members,
attorneys on both sides of the bench, and the investigators who
pieced together the courtroom presentations without a murder weapon,
corpse, or clearly defined motive.
In short, the “Joe Cool” mystery was a sensational, headlining news story from start to finish, but this book is the first time the tragedy is told with all stones overturned and every nuance explained in straight-forward, unbiased chapters. If you’re into True Crime, this one should be a page-turner.