Ex-marine and current cab driver Sam Hill cannot seem to find peace on the Vineyard as he is embroiled in yet another nefarious plot in the third book in Michael G. West’s eco-thriller trilogy, Burn: A Year-round Place to Die For. The book was originally titled Roofs: A Year-round Place to Die, but in light of election season and everyone “Feeling the Bern” author Michael West decided to switch up the name to Burn: A Year-round Place to Die For, just in time for election year

The plot uses the issue of affordable housing on the Vineyard as a springboard for reluctant hero Sam Hill to become embroiled in a seamy mess involving a corrupt politician, shady organizations and lumberjack terrorists called The Roofing Crew.

Undocumented workers live shoulder to shoulder, packing themselves into small homes to pool their resources on an Island awash in expensive real estate — nothing out of the ordinary here. But then small town issues meet big time politics as presidential hopeful Sen. Jack Rotenborough is threatened if he won’t advocate for affordable housing. Arson takes center stage in the form of drone attacks on empty seasonal McMansions, and the heat keeps rising when the body of a young undocumented worker is found decapitated.

Senator Rotenborough hires Sam Hill for security, but simultaneously two different agencies also hire Mr. Hill to spy on Senator Rotenborough. It’s a complicated life for a cab driver, worse than five corners in August. Mr. Hill’s personal life is no less messy or busy. He’s involved with the daughter of a well known mobster, in therapy with an ex-girlfriend, and fending off the advances of the senator’s wife. But when the flames leap higher, it seems Sam Hill is a good guy to have on your side.

The story winds through the Vineyard as Mr. Hill attends a committee meeting at the Katharine Cornell Theatre, listens to music at the Ritz, and meets with the mysterious Treadway in iconic Vineyard spots from Ocean Park to Katama. But Mr. Hill rarely has a moment to enjoy the Island as the action begins on the first page and continues to the last.

Burn: A Year-round Place to Die For by Michael West is published by Sepiessa Press and available at Island bookstore.