For Caroline Berry, losing her grandfather brings back strong memories of her father's tragic death nine years earlier.  Stress induced vertigo keeps her from the funeral, but when she receives some money from his estate, Caroline opts to quit her two jobs in New York City and head to the Grand Hotel in Point Clear, Alabama.  This hotel meant a lot to her grandfather and her parents and she's hoping it might kick start her stagnant writing dreams. 

When Hurricane Ivan bears down on the hotel, everyone is evacuated, but Caroline opts to hide under the bed with her bags and hope to avoid being noticed.  With a good stock of supplies in hand, she plans to ride the storm out.  After the eye of the storm passes, she wanders outside and sees a man on the beach.  She shares a few words with him before heading back inside. 

A while later, she learns that this man, Walker Galloway, is missing.  She notifies police that she saw him a few days earlier and that he was planning to go swimming in the bay.  This brings her into Walker's world, including his family and friends, as she begins to ponder what might have happened to Walker. 

POINT CLEAR is well-written and incredibly fluid from start to finish.  The writing style is rather slow and almost seems to meander from one point to the next, yet this works incredibly well.  It presents a clear picture of the confusion that Caroline is feeling in her life.  She's unhappy with her jobs--very tired of working as someone else's lackey--but feels stuck in a rut because she can't find anything that urges her to write.  As the story progresses, Caroline's character finds new hope. 

One thing that the story does have is a lack of tension.  Most everything, even the storm, works out for the best and there is no real conflict presented. With one aspect of the story regarding Caroline's immediate family, I found this to be slightly unrealistic, but I won't go too far into the details because of the potential for spoilers.   There is romance, a touch of mystery, and plenty of emotion, but if readers are looking for conflict to put Caroline into a life or death situation, they will be disappointed.  For those that want a gripping tale of a woman's quest to find purpose, POINT CLEAR is an amazing read.