Flush

Teenage Noah Underwood finds himself facing the unpleasant task of visiting his dad in jail on Father’s Day. Paine Underwood has just sunk a casino boat called the Coral Queen because its owner, Dusty Muleman, has been dumping waste from the casino’s toilets into the bay and poisoning the surrounding waters. Paine is an environmental activist who sometimes gets carried away, as his long-suffering wife Donna can attest.

Since Paine hasn’t been able to prove Dusty’s crime to the satisfaction of the local Coast Guard, he asks Noah to continue the fight to end the illegal dumping once and for all. Noah and his younger sister Abbey try to find proof of the crime on their own but risk capture by Dusty’s thug, Luno, as well as bullying from Dusty’s son Jasper and his friend Bull.

Noah and Abbey eventually receive much-needed help from a bartender named Shelly and a former mate on the Coral Queen named Lice. Noah’s long-missing grandfather even arrives unexpectedly to lend a hand. Justice finally prevails after Noah concocts a scheme to flush fuchsia food coloring down the toilets on the Coral Queen. When the waste is dumped into the bay at night, the Coast Guard is finally able to trace the source back to the casino boat and its corrupt owner.

Although Dusty soon reopens the casino after being slapped with a light fine, his business is dealt its death blow when Jasper and Bull accidentally start a fire that burns down the Coral Queen and exposes evidence of Dusty’s embezzlement and income tax evasion. The Underwoods have succeeded in flushing out a scheme to defraud the government and the Indian tribe that partnered in Dusty’s venture. As Noah’s mother always says, “What goes around comes around” (258).

NOTE: All page number citations are taken from the Kindle edition of this book.