Paradise Overdose
SynopsisPlot
Chris Angostura already has. The scion of a prominent family in Freeport, he has nothing to lose - because he has nothing to gain. He doesn't need a job and he already has a yacht. With his lifelong friend Shark, the son of his former nanny, Chris spends his days sailing and diving, and his nights drinking and club hopping. Drifting with the current through the azure seas, Chris is a victim of too much time, too much money, and too much easy sex. And then Chris meets Robin - a conceptual artist and a stranger in his island paradise, as mysterious as she is alluring. The more he pursues her, the faster she retreats - until he realizes that she is in the Bahamas seeking an alternative cure for her rapidly spreading cancer. Robin is struggling to live, while Chris and Shark are killing themselves with their lifestyle.
Story
About this book
Chris Angostura comes from a wealthy family in Freeport, a city on Grand Bahama Island. He has no need for work and no particular ambitions. Alongside Shark, the son of his former nanny and his closest companion since childhood, Chris fills his days with sailing, diving, and drinking. The two drift through a routine of nightlife and easy pleasures, surrounded by warm water and empty hours. Brian Antoni sets the novel in a version of the Bahamas where privilege has curdled into restlessness, and where having everything available makes nothing feel worthwhile.
The story shifts when Chris meets Robin, a conceptual artist who has come to the islands for reasons she does not readily share. Unlike the people in his usual circle, Robin pulls away the closer he gets. Chris eventually learns that she is searching for an alternative treatment for cancer that is spreading quickly through her body. Her determination to stay alive stands in sharp contrast to the careless way Chris and Shark have been spending theirs.
The novel uses its island setting to frame a tension between abundance and purpose. Freeport, originally developed as a tax-free trade zone in the 1950s, serves here as a fitting backdrop for characters caught between comfort and self-destruction.
