Why You'll Love This
A guy chasing Nashville stardom ends up on a mystery island where rum flows like blood and nothing — including survival — is guaranteed.
- Great if you want: tropical escapism wrapped around a fast-moving crime thriller
- The experience: breezy but urgent — sun-soaked atmosphere with genuine danger underneath
- The writing: Fortner keeps chapters short and momentum tight, built for quick reads
- Skip if: you prefer grounded realism — this leans into the fantastical
About This Book
Some dreams have a way of dragging you somewhere you never intended to go. Sunny Ray heads to Nashville chasing music and a shot at something real — but what finds him instead is murder, danger, and a drug lord who doesn't forget. What follows is a chase that sweeps from the neon of country music's capital down to the sun-bleached Florida Keys and beyond, into territory that defies easy explanation. Fortner keeps the stakes personal and the danger immediate, grounding even the story's more surreal turns in Sunny's very human need to survive — and to figure out who, if anyone, he can still trust.
Fortner writes with the easy, sun-warmed rhythm of someone who knows how to keep pages turning without sacrificing atmosphere. The prose has a loose, breezy confidence that suits its protagonist perfectly, while the plot tightens steadily beneath that relaxed surface. The blend of Keys-style escapism with genuine thriller tension gives Rum City Bar a distinct personality — it's not quite like anything else on the shelf. Readers who like their danger served with a cold drink and a strong sense of place will feel right at home here.