A Bahamian island becomes a battleground for a savage private war—inspired by a true story, artfully told by the author of Searching for Bobby Fischer. When the Ebb Tide cruises four hundred miles southeast from Fort Lauderdale to Rum Cay, the narrator finds the Bahamian island paradise he so fondly remembers drastically altered. Shoal covers the marina entrance, the beaches are deserted, and on shore there is a small cemetery with headstones overturned and bones sticking up through the sand. Charismatic expat Bobby Little had built his own funky version of paradise on the remote island of Rum Cay, a place where ambitious sport fishermen could dock their yachts for fine French cuisine and crowd the bar to boast of big blue marlin catches while Bobby refilled their cognac. Larger than life, Bobby was really the main attraction: a visionary entrepreneur, master chef, skateboard champ, surfer, even former undercover DEA agent. But...

Searching for Bobby Fischer is the story of Fred Waitzkin and his son Josh, from the moment six-year-old Josh first sits down at a chessboard until he competes for the national championship. Drawn into the insular, international network of chess, they must also navigate the difficult waters of their own relationship. All the while, Waitzkin wonders about and searches for the elusive Bobby Fischer, whose myth still dominates the chess world and profoundly affects Waitzkin's dreams for his son.