Review: Hang dead Hawaiian style

Hang dead Hawaiian style by Patrick Morgan
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This is the first in the the ten book Operation Hang Ten series, which featured Bill Cartwright as a surfing undercover agent. Unique twist on the spy genre. Cartwright, whose "cover" is that he's a private investigator, is a 23 year old ex-surfing champion recruited and trained by Operation Hang Ten, an "unorthodox" U.S. intelligence agency. He's sent to Hawaii to investigate a ring peddling opium to surfers, the death of CIA agent, and a missing microdot containing plans for a Chinese laser weapon. After shipping his woody and trailer via cargo plane from Los Angeles to Honolulu (!) he infiltrates the surfing scene and starts his three-pronged investigation. He's quickly surfing, bedding the previously un-beddable babe, getting beaten-up, and almost blown up by a car bomb. Smoothly written with plenty of action. The highlight, of course, is the surfing duel. Good start to the series.