Fear is the Key
Alistair MacLean (1961)

A sunken DC-3 lying on the Caribbean floor. Its cargo: ten million, two hundred and fifty thousand dollars in gold ingots, emeralds and uncut diamonds guarded by the remains of two men, one woman and a very small boy.

Regarded as on of his better books, this starts with a ruthless murderer escaping court. Told from his point of view in first person, it’s not clear what to think about him.

As the story evolves, it becomes clear that he is out for revenge.  But at what price and who gets to pay.

As usual it’s a tightly written thriller, however it does suffer from confusion at times as the author keeps the reader in the dark for most of the story.