A dreadlocked waif and a lover old enough to be her grandfather conspire beneath the lights of a Caribbean beach bar. Will the young stranger they've just glimpsed be the key to his salvation, or the end to all her hard-won happiness? Thousands of miles away, Steve Sears buries his nose in paperback thrillers to escape a life that is falling apart - his job, his savings and his marriage all heading south together. When he stumbles across Oscar Houk, an aging expatriate with enough energy and optimism for two men - and enough baggage for several more - Steve feels like he's entered the world of his paperback heroes, full of adventure and intrigue, fast boats and willing women. Before he and Oscar part ways however, the young man will learn the true price of that world and the value of the quiet life he may have lost forever. At the same time, his wife Sarah will discover what her husband truly values most, what she herself is capable of doing when the times demand it, and the real strength of the commitment they made to each other years ago. Moving back and forth between the charm of an historic Colorado ski-resort and the romance of the "Mexican Riviera", Playa explores the flip side of a thriller; the choices which real adults must make between adventure and accommodation, freedom and responsibility. Combining characters as deep and real as Michael Cunningham's with the wry humor you love from Michael Chabon, set against a plot right ouf of John LeCarre, Playa is the book which readers of literary fiction will want to bring along, when they head to the beach."--Back cover.